Halliburton Swings To Profit In Q4; Beats Estimates

(RTTNews) - Oil-field service company Halliburton Company (HAL), on Monday posted a turnaround to profit for the fourth quarter, amidst a rise in revenue and a decline in impairment charges. In addition, the company's total revenues and adjusted earnings beat the Street view.

For the quarter ended in December, the Houston-headquartered firm recorded a profit of $824 million or $0.92 per share, compared with a loss of $235 million or $0.27 per share, reported for the same period a year ago.

Excluding items, the company registered an income of $320 million or $0.36 per share as against $160 million or $0.18 per share.

In a boost to the company's earnings, the firm's impairment and other charges for the December quarter moved down to zero, from $446 million, reported a year ago quarter.

Twenty-four analysts, on average, polled by Thomson-Reuters were estimating the firm to report earnings per share at $0.34. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The company will pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0.12, per share on March 23, to shareholders of record on March 2.

The company's total operating income for the last three-month period of 2021 was reported at $550 million, compared with a loss of $96 million, year-over-year basis.

On segmental basis, completion and production, and drilling and evaluation segments recorded revenues of $347 million and $269 million, respectively, compared with $282 million and $117 million, reported a year ago.

Interest expenses of the company moved down to $108 million for the December quarter, from $125 million, recorded for the same previous year quarter.

Halliburton also recognized a $409 million tax benefit, which included a gain of approximately $500 million, due to the partial release of a valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets. "This reversal is based on improved market conditions and reflects the Company's expectation to utilize these deferred tax assets," the company said in a statement.

Owing to a firm demand, the oil-field service provider registered a revenue of $4.27 billion for the final quarter of last fiscal, compared with $3.23 billion, recorded for a year ago quarter.

Analysts', on average, had expected the firm to report a revenue of $4.09 billion.