Renewable Revolution

Nicolas Torres  April 22, 2016

Schlumberger said Thursday that it cut another 2,000 jobs in the first quarter as pretax operating income dipped 55 percent year-over-year.

The Houston-based company earned $901 million in pretax operating income in the first quarter, down 55 percent from the year ago quarter, on revenues of $6.52 billion.

A company spokesperson told Bloomberg that Schlumberger cut another 2,000 jobs in the first quarter, dropping the company’s headcount down to 93,000 as of the end of the quarter.

Schlumberger has reduced its headcount by more than 25 percent, or about 36,000 positions, since oil prices began to fall in the summer of 2014, Bloomberg said.

Schlumberger’s net income, excluding charges and credits, dove 63 percent-year-over year to $501 million while diluted earnings per share fell to $0.40 from $1.06 in the first quarter of 2015.

North American pretax operating income fell to a loss of $10 million as revenues declined 55 percent year-over-year to $1.46 billion.

International pretax operating income dropped 36 percent year-over-year to $1.062 billion on $4.97 billion in revenue, a 28 percent decline from the year ago quarter.

“During the first quarter of 2016, the decline in global activity and the rate of activity disruption reached unprecedented levels as the industry displayed clear signs of operating in a full-scale cash crisis….This environment is expected to continue deteriorating over the coming quarter given the magnitude and erratic nature of the disruptions in activity,” Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard said.

Kibsgaard added that recent spending surveys for 2016 now indicate “sharper declines than previously forecasted,” with global spending reductions approaching 25 percent in 2016.

Schlumberger’s Reservoir Characterization Group revenue declined 20 percent sequentially $1.7 billion, primarily due to seasonal winter slowdowns and project cancellations that impacted Wireline activities.

The group’s pretax operating income fell 51 percent year-over-year to $331 million.

The company’s Drilling Group saw pretax operating income decline 52 percent from the year ago quarter to $371 million on revenues of $2.49 billion.

Production Group pretax operating income dropped 62 percent year-over-year $208 million as revenue fell to $2.3 billion, down 74 percent year-over-year.

During the quarter, Schlumberger repurchased 7.1 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $67.34 per share for a total purchase price of $475 million.

http://petroglobalnews.com/2016/04/schlumberger-slashes-2000-more-jobs/

Agelbert NOTE: Please be cognizant of the FACT that, had these corporate crooks NOT gotten into the stock repurchase head fake game to DELIBERATELY make the company valuation look healthy, when the truth is they are drowning in a torrent of red ink, the present "value" of the stock would be a lot less. IOW, they are NOT worth what they are selling for.