Halliburton Company (HAL) , one of the world’s biggest and perhaps most infamous oilfield services providers, reported earnings before the opening bell on Monday that showed the company beating on both the top and bottom lines during the second quarter of 2013.
Halliburton reported net income for the second quarter of $679 million, of $0.73 per share on revenue of $7.32 billion, a quarterly record, against the prior year period during which the company $737 million, or $0.79 per share on revenue of $7.23 billion. The company beat an average of analyst expectations on earnings of $0.72 per share, and $7.25 billion in revenue.
The company did not give guidance for the third quarter, but estimates put earnings-per-share at $0.84, while revenue is expected to come in at $7.57 billion. For the full year of 2013, EPS is expected at $3.17 per share on revenue of $29.6 billion.
Halliburton’s second-quarter performance was most affected by an 8 percent decline in revenue in North America, but this was offset by a significant increase in overseas operations. Company president and CEO David Lesar noted that the Middle East/Asia market was its fastest-growing, with revenue up 12 percent and operating income up 17 percent. In Europe and Africa, revenue was up 9 percent, and operating income had increased by 33 percent, while gross income from Latin America was down 7 percent, and North American revenue was more or less flat.
The company’s board of directors announced a third quarter dividend of $0.125, and reasserted its desire to pay total annual dividends of at least 15 percent of earnings. The board also authorized an increase the company’s share-repurchasing capability to $5 billion.
Furthermore, the company could see some benefit from the fact that BP Plc. (BP) has challenged part of its settlement deal over the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which has allowed the company to delay payments that were part of its own settlement deal over the disaster.
Shares were down nearly 1.5 percent to $45.16 as Halliburton’s results, while positive, fell short of the performance of its larger rival Schlumberger (SLB) , who released an impressive earnings report late last week.
