Halliburton Delays Release of First-Quarter Financial Data
April 22 2016 - 8:07PM
Dow Jones News
By Ezequiel Minaya
Halliburton Co. is delaying the release of its first-quarter
financial results until next month, amid a looming April 30
deadline for its merger with Baker Hughes Inc., which has faced
stiff regulatory opposition.
Halliburton said on Friday that it would release its latest data
on May 3. But the oil-field-services company, nonetheless,
disclosed first-quarter revenue of $4.2 billion, down 40% from a
year earlier but above the average estimate of $4.16 billion by
analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
The prolonged collapse in oil prices has resulted in a decrease
in investment, leaving the oil-field-services industry with
battered top lines.
Halliburton also reported on Friday that it had cut some 6,000
jobs during the quarter ended March 31 and that its head count has
fallen by roughly a third since the oil downturn began in 2014. On
its website, the company says it has more than 55,000
employees.
Halliburton and Baker Hughes set the April 30 deadline for
obtaining all regulatory approvals for the merger, after which
either company could terminate the deal, though they could also
choose to stay the course.
The $35 billion deal was struck in November 2014, during better
times for the energy sector and would combine the world's second-
and third-largest oil-field services firms after Schlumberger
Ltd.
Since the deal was struck, the oil-field services industry has
faced severe setbacks, as persistently low oil prices have slashed
demand for the business of drilling wells and pumping oil and
natural gas.
The proposed merger also has faced antitrust resistance around
the globe. Earlier this month, the Justice Department filed an
antitrust suit challenging the deal, alleging the merger would
threaten higher prices and reduce innovation in the sector.
The lawsuit, filed in a Delaware federal court, asserted that
the transaction would eliminate important head-to-head competition
in markets for 23 products and services used for U.S. oil
exploration and production, from drill bits to offshore cementing
services.
Halliburton and Baker Hughes have been trying to ease those
concerns by offering to sell off assets worth billions of
dollars.
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 22, 2016 19:52 ET (23:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024