18 October 2013, News Wires – Oilfield services giant Baker Hughes saw its third-quarter profit surge 22% year-on-year as it notched up record revenue on strong global drilling activity.
Its quarterly net income of $341 million was up from $279 million a year earlier, with revenue rising about 8% to $5.79 billion compared with the same quarter of 2012.
Chief executive Martin Craighead said revenue from the company’s eastern hemisphere operations increased by 20%, driven by a strong performance in the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Caspian region.
The balance sheet of the third-biggest oilfield services player was further strengthened by a $334 million reduction in debt to $4.58 billion, while its cash reserves rose $245 million to $1.37 billion.
Cowen & Company analyst James Crandell said though the total revenue figure was still shy of its $5.9 billion estimate.
Latin America revenue of $557 million was also below Cowen’s $562 million estimate, while the contractor reported an operating loss of $4 million for the region – a reversal of a $28 million profit forecast – due to pre-tax severance charges.
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