Business
Halliburton reported a worse-than-expected quarter. Halliburton Co (HAL.N), the world's No.2 oilfield services provider, reported a bigger-than-expected 36 percent drop in quarterly revenue, hurt by weak drilling and pricing in North America, reports Reuters. Halliburton and bigger rival Schlumberger Ltd's (SLB.N) disappointing results highlight the struggles of the oil and gas industry, which is seeing little hope of a rebound in crude oil prices.
The outlook for the battered industry continues to look gloomy even as Venezuela, an OPEC partner, plans to set a price band of $70 per barrel to stabilize the oil market. Analysts have said the plan would be doomed from the start as Saudi Arabia, the group's de facto leader, has so far shown zero interest in returning to a strategy of supporting prices.
Halliburton further cut its 2015 capital budget by $200 million to $2.4 billion and said it had reduced global headcount by 21 percent since the beginning of the year. The company also said fourth-quarter revenue and margins were likely to be flat to modestly low compared with the prior quarter.
Halliburton Co. cut another 2,000 jobs in the past month as the worst oil market slump in decades saps demand for work at the world’s largest provider of fracking services, writes Bloomberg. The Houston-based company said the first quarter of next year may represent the lowest point for its North American profit margin as customers start fresh with new spending budgets for 2016 and tap Halliburton’s pressure-pumping expertise to start new wells. The comments came after the company reported a third-quarter loss of $54 million. "The pumping business in North American is clearly the most stressed segment of the market today, but it’s also the market we know the best," President Jeff Miller told analysts and investors Monday on a conference call. "This is the segment that we expect to rebound the most sharply."
