Schlumberger profits jump 88% in first quarter

Companies in the energy sector have started rolling out their earnings. And one of the big oilfield service providers Schlumberger (SLB) set a positive tone for the industry by reporting profit growth in its latest first quarter 2018 results.

The French company posted quarterly results that narrowly beat the profit consensus as increased costs weighed on a strong performance of the company’s business in North America.

Oil prices this year have been on the rise, with Brent oil going up 5% since the start of the year and the U.S. crude oil prices going up almost 7.5%. Oil prices rose as OPEC, and other suppliers look to withhold output for this year as well in 2019.

But the crude prices turned negative after President Trump sent out a tweet criticizing OPEC over the output reductions that in turn led to sharp rise in oil prices.

This even reflected in Schlumberger stock price that fell 1.58% to $69.19, despite a jump in its profit

Net income during the first quarter 2018 jumped 88% to $525 million, or $0.38 per share when compared to $347 million, or $0.20 per share during the prior year period. Revenue rose 14%year-over-year to $7.82 Billion. This increase in revenue was due to the increased activity in Canada.

The company’s overall activity was boosted by business in Russia, North Sea, and the Middle East.

“We remain optimistic about the outlook for sustainable activity growth in our global business over the course of 2018 and into 2019. This is driven by higher customer activity and our ability to capture a major share of the emerging opportunities as performance-based contracts and integrated projects continue to gain traction as the preferred business models for many of our customers,” CEO Paal Kibsgaard commented.