Halliburton shares dipped in pre-market trading on Wednesday after the oilfield services group’s chief executive said a slowdown in North America and delays in the Middle East would carve a chunk out of earnings in the current quarter.
Jeff Miller told a conference in New York that third-quarter earnings would take a hit of between 8 cents and 10 cents a share, Reuters reported.
Mr Miller said labour and inflation constraints would result in a moderation of growth in its North American business, particularly the Permian basin area around Texas and New Mexico.
A little more than two months ago, the company said in its June quarter results it had seen strong performance in North America which it hailed as the “largest and fastest growing energy market in the world.”
Mr Miller also said the company’s earnings in the short term would also be affected by slower activity in ramping up for new contracts in the Middle East.
Halliburton is expected to report earnings of 59 cents a share on revenue of $6.35bn, according to the median estimates from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Shares were down 2.5 per cent in pre-market trading on Wednesday, a steeper drop than that for Wall Street futures. At the close of regular trade on Tuesday, Halliburton shares were down 19.2 per cent in 2018.
