Halliburton Co.’s third-quarter profit dropped less than analysts estimated on projects the world’s second largest oilfield services provider is working on outside of North America. Net income fell to $262 million, or 29 cents a share, from $672 million, or 74 cents, in the third quarter of 2008, Houston based Halliburton said today in a statement. Excluding costs for job cuts, profit was 31 cents a share, 5 cents higher than the average of 24 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Oil futures in New York averaged $68.24 a barrel in the third quarter, 42 percent lower than a year earlier. Crude climbed from $59.79 in the second quarter. Operating profit from a region that includes Africa, Europe and the former Soviet Union fell 2 percent, and income declined 16 percent in the Middle East and Asia. The drop in North America was 93 percent. “I thought that the numbers in the Middle East and Europe came in stronger than I expected, both in terms of revenues and margins,” said Mark Brown, a senior analyst at Pritchard Capital in New York who has a “buy” rating on Halliburton shares and owns none. “I thought that was a good sign for Halliburton”.....Read the entire article
