Halliburton posts third-straight quarterly loss on shale slump

[July 20, 2020] (Reuters) - Oilfield services giant Halliburton Co <HAL.N> posted its third straight quarterly loss on Monday as it took a $2.1 billion impairment charge to deal with a slump in oil prices and the resulting collapse in drilling by North American customers.

Demand for services offered by Halliburton and rivals Schlumberger <SLB.N> and Baker Hughes <BKR.N> sank after oil prices collapsed in March, and at around $40 per barrel they remain at the bottom end of the range that most producers need to turn a profit.

Halliburton reported a net loss of $1.7 billion, or $1.91 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, compared with a profit of $75 million, or 9 cents per share, a year earlier.

However, the company posted a surprise adjusted profit of 5 cents per share, benefiting from aggressive cost cutting. Analysts had expected a loss of 11 cents, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Halliburton last month slashed it quarterly dividend by 75%, having already cut capital spending forecast to half of last year and targeting other cost reductions of about $1 billion to shore up cash. Its executives have also taken pay cuts and the company has been laying off workers.

Shares of the company rose 2.4% in premarket trading.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru;Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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