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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (85713)	1/30/2001 10:35:27 PM
From: Razorbak	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

"Halliburton Q4 Earnings Beat Consensus" Tuesday January 30, 8:25 pm Eastern Time (UPDATE: Adds new analyst comment paragraphs 8-9, CEO comment 10-11) By Andrew Kelly HOUSTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL - news), the world's No. 1 oil field services company, said on Tuesday fourth-quarter operating earnings rose 62 percent as an improved performance from its core energy services business was offset by a deterioration at its engineering and construction operations. Net income, excluding extraordinary items, rose to $123 million or 28 cents per share from $76 million or 17 cents in the same period of 1999 as high oil and gas prices drove a continuing recovery of the company's oil field services business. Analysts had expected earnings per share of 26 cents, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Halliburton, which was headed by new U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney until last August, saw its revenues from continuing operations rise 6 percent to $3.2 billion. The company took one-time after-tax charges of $118 million or 27 cents per share against fourth-quarter earnings to cut costs and raise profitability at its engineering and construction business which has been hit by a lack of new orders. It announced the charges last month, saying then that earnings per share excluding them would amount to 25-27 cents. Halliburton shares closed 36 cents higher at $40.26 before the earnings report was released on Tuesday. So far this year they have risen some 11 percent, helping to make good some of their underperformance last year when they fell 10 percent, versus a gain of 45 percent for the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's oil field services index (^OSX - news). Jamie Stone, an analyst with UBS Warburg, said he would probably raise his estimate of Halliburton's 2001 earnings per share to $1.15 from $1.10 but would retain a hold rating on the company's stock and a target price in the mid $40s. ``They're still not our favorite name in the group. There are other stocks that we like better,'' Stone said, naming competitors Weatherford International Inc. (NYSE:WFT - news) and Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE:BHI - news) as better investment picks at current prices. CEO SEES REVIVAL OF EXPLORATION Dave Lesar, who succeeded Cheney as Chief Executive Officer at Halliburton, said he was increasingly confident about the outlook for the global oil and gas industry and its renewed willingness to push ahead with exploration for new hydrocarbons in response to strong oil and gas prices. ``Overall exploration and production continues to increase and I estimate that the rebound in the international markets that we're starting to see will speed up as customers look to explore outside the proven, mature areas,'' he said in a conference call. Halliburton's fourth-quarter operating income from oil field services rose to $124 million from $60 million a year earlier. Operating income at the engineering and construction division fell to $35 million from $41 million a year earlier, but after reorganization charges it posted a loss of $99 million. While the engineering business has suffered from a slow rate of new orders lately, the company's core oil field services business has benefited from a gradual recovery in demand, linked to recent strength in oil and natural gas prices. Halliburton executives said that they expect a doubling of operating income from the Halliburton Energy Services oil field unit this year from around $450 million in 2000. Lesar said a reorganization of the engineering and construction division, was well under way and would be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year. The move is intended to separate the division more cleanly from the oil field service business and consolidate it under a single management team. Some analysts view the reorganization as a prelude to a possible sale of the business. Despite strong oil and gas prices, oil companies have been fairly slow to reinvest the money they have been earning, leading to a correspondingly gradual pace of recovery in revenues and earnings for oil field service firms which provide a wide range of vital services and equipment to oil and gas producers. Investment has been particularly sluggish in the ``downstream'' refining and processing segment of the oil and gas industry which has hurt Halliburton's engineering and construction division. biz.yahoo.com