HAL Halliburton Co

By Micah Maidenberg 

Halliburton Co. beat profit expectations for the second quarter, but the oilfield-services company said its business in North America slowed down.

Halliburton on Monday reported second-quarter profit of $75 million, or nine cents a share, down from $511 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding impairments and after other adjustments, Halliburton reported a profit of 35 cents a share, five cents more than expectations of analysts polled by FactSet.

Shares rose 2% in premarket trading.

North American revenue for the second quarter dropped 13% to $3.33 billion from a year earlier, the Houston-based company said.

Overall, Halliburton reported revenue of $5.93 billion, down about 4% from a year earlier. Analysts had predicted revenue of $5.97 billion.

Oilfield-services companies have been challenged as U.S. shale drillers have moved to cut spending amid a production slowdown. Facing pressure from investors, producers have been looking to focus more on returns and less on growth.

Last Friday, Schlumberger Ltd. estimated that U.S. shale drillers have cut spending this year by 10%. The company said its North American revenue fell to $2.8 billion in the second quarter.

Houston-based Halliburton said revenue from other international markets rose 13% to $2.6 billion.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2019 09:47 ET (13:47 GMT)

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