Schlumberger Profit Tops Estimate, Revenue Misses

(RTTNews) - Oilfield services provider Schlumberger Ltd (SLB) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $302 million or $0.23 per share compared with $1.66 billion or $1.26 per share last year.

Results for the recent quarter included impairment and other charges of $1.77 billion.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.50 per share compared with $1.35 per share a year ago.

Revenues for the quarter were up 6% at $12.64 billion compared with $11.90 billion in the prior year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $1.46 per share on revenues of $12.72 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company said drilling and production revenues improved during the quarter, while reservoir characterization revenue slid.

Among regions, strong growth was seen in North America, and to some extent in Middle East and Asia, as well well as in Latin America. Meanwhile revenue slackened in Europe, CIS and Africa regions.

The company said it faced challenges in 2014, including in Brazil, Mexico, and China; reduced spending in deepwater, exploration; unrest in Libya and Iraq; international sanctions in Russia; and the slump in the oil price toward the end of the year. Some strength was seen in Argentina, Ecuador, Sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and North America.

Earlier today, the company declared a 25% increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share.

SLB closed Thursday at $76.63, down $1.76 or 2.25%, on a volume of 10.9 million shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock gained $0.61 or 0.80%.