Halliburton profit beats on higher international demand, N.America lags

(Reuters) - Halliburton Co beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit on Tuesday, as higher demand for its oilfield services in international markets offset a slowdown in North America.

Clients in North America, Halliburton's biggest market by revenue, have been cutting back on drilling as transportation bottlenecks take a toll on regional oil prices.

An oil glut and concerns about a global economic slowdown have pushed U.S. crude down about 30 percent since their October high.

Houston-based Halliburton said revenue from North America fell about 2 percent to $3.3 billion from a year earlier and dropped 11 percent from the third quarter.

 

International revenue rose to $2.6 billion from $2.5 billion from a year earlier. It rose 7 percent from the third quarter.

"Our international business continues to show signs of a steady recovery," Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller said in a statement.

The company said net income attributable to the company was $664 million, or 76 cents per share, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $824 million or 94 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 41 cents per share, beating analysts' estimates of 37 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refninitiv.

Revenue was largely flat at $5.94 billion.

(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)