Schlumberger in 24 per cent profit drop

Schlumberger Limited has delivered second-quarter 2014 revenue of $12.05 billion versus $11.24 billion in the first quarter of 2014, and $11.18 billion in the second quarter of 2013.

Second-quarter revenue was up 7% sequentially and increased 8% year-on-year with International Area revenue of $8.09 billion growing $604 million, or 8% sequentially, while North America Area revenue of $3.89 billion increased $205 million, or 6% sequentially.

Income from continuing operations attributable to Schlumberger, excluding charges and credits, was $1.80 billion—an increase of 13% sequentially and an increase of 17% year-on-year. Diluted earnings-per-share from continuing operations, excluding charges and credits, was $1.37 versus $1.21 in the previous quarter, and $1.15 in the second quarter of 2013.

Pretax operating income in the second quarter reached $2.62 billion, up 11% sequentially and 15% year-on-year. International pretax operating income of $1.94 billion increased 14% sequentially, while North America pretax operating income of $700 million increased 3% sequentially.

Pretax operating margin in the second quarter was 21.7% reflecting 39% incremental operating margins year-on-year. International pretax operating margin was 24.0% while North America pretax operating margin was 18.0%.

Schlumberger CEO, Paal Kibsgaard, commented: “Strong Schlumberger second-quarter results were driven by significantly higher activity both offshore and in key land markets. Growth was strongest internationally as activity rebounded in a number of regions but North America was also markedly higher with strength offshore and extremely solid progress on land in spite of the Canadian spring break-up. All Areas and all Groups recorded growth, underpinned by the strength of our execution and the penetration of our new technology.

Geographical results were led by Europe/CIS/Africa where Russia recovered markedly from the effects of a harsh winter and where Norway benefited from an active start to the summer seismic season. In Middle East and Asia, further growth from key markets in Saudi Arabia and Australia was amplified by stronger activity—both seismic and drilling—in the United Arab Emirates GeoMarket as well as growing seismic operations in Qatar. In North America, double-digit growth in US Land from increased rig count, efficiency gains and market share improvements more than overcame the effects of what proved to be a rapid spring break-up in Canada while offshore activity in the US Gulf of Mexico rebounded as rigs returned to drilling. Latin America benefited from strong growth in Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela but overall results were impacted by lower activity in Mexico, while revenue in the Brazil GeoMarket was flat sequentially.

Technology-fueled growth was strongest for Reservoir Characterization Group products and services as demand for Wireline services increased as drilling activity rebounded in Russia and Norway while seismic activity grew in the North Sea and the Middle East. Within the Drilling Group, M-I SWACO saw strong international activity in Russia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Drilling & Measurements improved on increased drilling in North America and Russia. Production Group Technologies grew as industry pressure pumping utilization improved on land in the US and as Completions sales expanded internationally. New technology sales remained strong across all Groups to offer opportunities for higher pricing although overall pricing levels remained competitive.

The overall global economic outlook continues to be mixed as the US recovery from the effects of the unusually harsh winter coupled with a weaker forecast in Brazil, anemic growth in the Eurozone, and stabilizing GDP in China produce a slightly more cautious short-term GDP growth outlook. The fundamentals for a slow and steady recovery, however, remain intact. On the other hand, the gap between oil supply and demand is tightening on stronger demand and lower non-OPEC supply leading to narrower spare capacity and consequent support for oil prices that modulate customer spend. Natural gas markets on the other hand appear comfortably supplied with little upward pressure on prices.

We believe that this outlook will be slow to change and that the scenario for growth that we unveiled at our investor conference in New York last month is highly realistic. The opportunities that new technologies offer in response to customer challenges coupled with greater integration will lead to clearly differentiated financial growth that can only be augmented by the gains that increased reliability and efficiency will provide. In this environment, Schlumberger will continue to outperform.”