By Shariq Khan and Liz Hampton
(Reuters) – Halliburton Co <HAL.N> posted its fourth straight quarterly loss on Monday, as the world’s second-largest oilfield services firm struggled with a plunge in demand and lower oil prices.
Halliburton, the largest hydraulic fracturing provider in the U.S., still beat analyst estimates, earning 11 cents a share versus expectations of 8 cents per share. The Houston, Texas-based company has undertaken aggressive cost-cutting measures, including cutting thousands of jobs.
Oil prices have recouped some of their losses from the historic lows of March and April, but fresh lockdowns in some parts of the world due to a resurgence in COVID-19 infections are threatening that recovery. U.S. oil futures were trading around $40.75 on Monday morning <CLc1>.
“The pace of activity declines in the international markets is slowing, while the North America industry structure continues to improve, and activity is stabilizing,” Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller said in a statement.
Larger rival Schlumberger NV <SLB.N> on Friday posted a third straight quarterly loss and warned that the recent economic recovery remained “fragile”.
Halliburton, which last year recorded more than half of its business from North America, saw revenue from the region drop 66.6% to $984 million in the third quarter.
Revenue from its completion and production business was $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared with $3.51 billion a year ago, a decline of roughly 55%. Total revenue fell 46.4% to $2.98 billion.
Shares were down 0.25% in premarket trading at $12.21. They have declined roughly 50% in the year to date.
Net loss attributable to the company was $17 million, or 2 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of $295 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.
The company took $133 million in severance and other charges.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru and Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Bernadette Baum)
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