Schlumberger just announced third-quarter earnings results with a bearish outlook for the energy sector.
The world's largest oilfield services provider reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.78, down 11% year-on-year, and revenues of $8.47 billion, down 6%.
CEO Paal Kibsgaard said in the statement: "In light of conservative customer budgets for next year, we are therefore entering another period during which we will continually adjust resources in line with activity, as the recovery now appears to be delayed."
He also said, "As we enter the last quarter of the year, the oil market is still weighed down by fears of reduced growth in Chinese demand and the expectations regarding the timing and magnitude of additional Iranian supply. However, the fundamental balance of supply and demand continues to tighten, driven by both solid global macroeconomic growth and by weakening supply as the dramatic cuts in E&P investments are starting to take effect. We expect this trend to continue as the oil market further recognizes the magnitude of the industry's annual production replacement challenge."
Analysts had expected adjusted earnings per share of $0.766 on revenues of $8.5 billion, according to Bloomberg. The company has missed projections for revenues in five out of the past seven quarters.
Earlier this year, Schlumberger cut as many as 9,000 jobs as oil prices tumbled and companies trimmed costs in response.
In the third quarter, North American revenues fell 4% to $2.3 billion, and the count of horizontal oil rigs dropped 7%. International revenues decreased 7% to $6.1 billion.
The company's stock has fallen 15% over the past year, and was down about 1% in after-hours trading.
Earlier on Thursday, Schlumberger announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share of outstanding common stock.