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

To: Ms. X who wrote (9298)	1/22/1998 5:54:00 PM
From: Redman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Thursday January 22, 5:32 pm Eastern Time Schlumberger Q4 earnings $0.01 under consensus NEW YORK, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Schlumberger Ltd (SLB - news) said on Thursday that the consensus Wall Street analysts' estimate for its fourth quarter earnings referred to the company's basic earnings per share, not to its diluted earnings. First Call confirmed that its consensus estimate of $0.76 per share for Schlumberger's fourth quarter referred to basic earnings. Schlumberger earlier on Thursday reported that its basic earnings were $0.75 per share, compared to $0.52 for the same period a year ago. Schlumberger's diluted earnings-per-share figure was $0.72, compared to $0.50 for the year-ago quarter. Schlumberger shares tumbled 9-15/16 to 71-9/16 on Thursday. Analysts ascribed the fall to lower oil prices and to Schlumberger coming in slightly under the consensus earnings estimate. Also contributing to the stock's decline, analysts said, was a statement from Schlumberger that its clients' plans to increase exploration and development spending this year may be modified as the impact of Asia's problems on oil demand becomes more clear. The introduction of new accounting rules requiring companies to report ''basic'' and ''diluted'' earnings per share has led to some confusion during the current reporting period. Under the new rules the First Call consensus is meant to be compared to a company's diluted number. But during the transition period some of the consensus numbers, including Schlumberger's, should instead be compared to the basic earnings number, a First Call spokesman said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ More Quotes and News:Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE:SLB - news)Related News Categories: oil/energy