By Steve Gelsi
Smith International Inc.'s second-quarter income fell by 87% in
the face of a steep drop in natural-gas demand in North America,
financial results showed Tuesday.
The Houston energy-services provider (SII) earned $24.4 million,
or 11 cents a share, down from $183.3 million, or 91 cents, in the
year-earlier quarter.
The latest quarter's adjusted earnings from continuing
operations came in at 15 cents a share.
Quarterly revenue fell to $1.94 billion from the prior year's
$2.49 billion.
A survey of analysts by FactSet Research yielded a consensus
profit estimate of 23 cents a share for the latest quarter.
Smith's management said unfavorable natural-gas fundamentals
reduced North American spending on exploration and production.
Moreover, excess industry capacity led to "higher discounting in
the number of the company's product and service offerings," the
company said.
Shares of Smith International fell 5.8% to $24.72.
-By Steve Gelsi, 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com