DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Halliburton Co.'s (HAL) second-quarter earnings fell 48% on weak
demand and lower prices, but results were better than feared.
Oil-and-gas producers are slashing spending on oilfield services
as commodity prices have slumped and demand wanes. Halliburton and
other companies began offering contracts tied to oil-price indexes
earlier this year to keep project afloat.
Chairman and Chief Executive Dave Lesar said weak global demand
and commodity-market volatility continue to weigh on the
oilfield-services industry. He added North America continued to see
a steep drop in drilling activity as average rig count fell 39%
sequentially.
"Due to the continued weakness in natural gas demand, reflected
in the high injection rates for working gas storage, we believe it
is unlikely that there will be a meaningful recovery in natural gas
prices and, consequently, drilling activity for the remainder of
the year," Lesar said.
The company reported a profit of $262 million, or 29 cents a
share, down from $504 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier.
The latest period included a 1-cent job-cut charge while the prior
year included a 13-cent loss from discontinued operations.
Revenue decreased 22% to $3.49 billion, weakened by a 37%
decline in North America and a 17% drop in the Middle East and
Asia.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently were looking
for earnings of 27 cents on revenue of $3.43 billion.
At Halliburton's completion-and-production arm, earnings
declined 33% on a drop in North America primarily because of the
decline in U.S. land activity, volume reductions and price declines
in the U.S. At its drilling-and-evaluation division, profit fell
6.6% on lower prices and volumes in North America.
Shares closed at $21.38 on Friday and didn't trade premarket.
The stock is down roughly 55% in the past year.
-By Tess Stynes and Kerry Grace Benn, Dow Jones Newswires;
212-416-2481; tess.stynes@dowjones.com