HAL.WD Halliburton

By Tess Stynes 

Halliburton Co. swung to a third-quarter loss on asset-write-downs and acquisition-related expenses, as its business in North America continued to be hit hard by slumping demand.

Halliburton, the second largest oil-field-services company behind Schlumberger Ltd. and a bellwether for the industry, is in the process of acquiring smaller rival Baker Hughes Inc. in a $35 billion deal.

For the third quarter, Halliburton reported that revenue in its North America business skidded 47% to $2.49 billion amid continued activity declines and pricing pressure.

Overall, Halliburton reported a loss of $54 million, or six cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $1.2 billion, or $1.41 a share. Excluding items such as asset write-downs and costs related to the Baker Hughes deal, per-share earnings from continuing operations were 31 cents. Revenue slumped 36% to $5.58 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 27 cents and revenue of $5.64 billion.

Weak oil prices and a pullback in drilling activity have spurred consolidation in the sector, also including rival Schlumberger's cash-and-stock deal for joint-venture partner Cameron International Corp., initially valued at roughly $12.7 billion.

On Thursday, Schlumberger reported its third-quarter earnings slid 49% as low commodities prices continued to pressure pricing and demand for its services from oil producers. Baker Hughes is set to report its results on Wednesday.

Shares of Halliburton were inactive premarket. They have declined 5.5% in the past three months.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2015 07:33 ET (11:33 GMT)

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