Schlumberger beats 3Q profit forecasts

Schlumberger NV on Thursday reported third-quarter profit of $176 million.

On a per-share basis, the company based in The Hague, Netherlands said it had net income of 13 cents. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs and costs related to mergers and acquisitions, came to 25 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 19 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 22 cents per share.

A year earlier Schlumberger earned $989 million, or 78 cents per share.

The world's largest oilfield services company posted a revenue decline of 17 percent, to $7.02 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Twelve analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $7.13 billion.

Schlumberger shares have increased 19 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen almost 5 percent. The stock slipped 49 cents in after-hours trading, to $82.50, following the earnings report.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SLB at http://www.zacks.com/ap/SLB

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Keywords: Schlumberger, Earnings Report