Mubasher: Halliburton turned to profit in the fourth quarter of 2018, while its total revenue declined marginally.

Net income came in at $664 million in Q4-18, compared with a loss of $824 million in Q4-17. Diluted earnings per share went up to $0.76.

The oilfield service company generated $5.93 billion in total revenue in the three months ended last December, compared with $5.94 billion a year ago.

“Our team optimised our performance in North America as the market softened, and the recovery of our international business continued,” Halliburton’s CEO Jeff Miller said.

Halliburton’s revenue from its completion and production segment totalled $3.83 billion between October and December 2018, slightly up from $3.80 billion in the same period of the previous year.

‘As expected, in North America, the demand for completion services decreased during the fourth quarter, leading to lower pricing for hydraulic fracturing services,” Miller added.

Meanwhile, drilling and evaluation revenue declined year-on-year to $2.10 billion in Q4-18 from $2.13 billion.

For the full year 2018, Halliburton posted a net income of $1.65 billion, compared with a loss of $463 million in 2017, while revenue rose to $23.99 billion, from $20.62 billion.