Baker Hughes tops profit estimates on international drilling demand

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(Reuters) -Baker Hughes beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by sustained demand for its drilling equipment and oilfield technology in international markets.

The robust activity in several international markets have helped oilfield services companies offset some of the declines in North America.

“We remain confident in achieving our full-year EBITDA guidance midpoint,” CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said in a statement.

Houston-based Baker Hughes has benefited from several liquefied natural gas projects as energy firms rush to build new LNG producing facilities betting on long-term demand for the super-cooled commodity.

Revenue from its industrial and energy technology segment rose 9% to $2.95 billion, from a year earlier.

Baker Hughes, which makes power generating turbines, has also inked several contracts for non-LNG projects this year in the Middle East with the likes of Saudi Aramco.

Larger rival SLB last week said natural gas projects in Asia, the Middle East and the North Sea are expected to grow regardless of decisions on oil production curbs by the OPEC+ producers’ alliance.

Baker Hughes said revenue in its bigger oilfield services and equipment segment rose 4% in international markets, helped by a 34% growth in Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.

However, the company said that oilfield services revenue declined by 6% in Middle East and Asia, a region which has seen increased drilling demand post-pandemic.

North America revenue at the unit fell 9%.

Total third-quarter revenue of $6.91 billion missed estimates of $7.22 billion.

Baker Hughes posted an adjusted profit of 67 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with the average analyst expectation of 61 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)