Schlumberger Says 'Worst' Is Behind It

HOUSTON (TheStreet) - Schlumberger(SLB Quote), the oil and natural gas services company, reported third-quarter earnings of $787 million, or 65 cents a share, a decline from a year earlier, but CEO Andrew Gould said he believes "the worst" is behind the company.

Schlumberger reported year-earlier earnings of $1.53 billion, or $1.25 a share.

Revenue in the quarter was $5.43 billion compared with $7.26 billion a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Schlumberger to earn 63 cents a share on revenue of $5.48 billion.

The company said oilfield services revenue in the quarter was $4.95 billion, flat sequentially but down 22% from a year ago. Increases in both North and South America offset further declines in the Middle East and Asia.

"As a result of this, coupled with the implementation of cost-cutting programs earlier in the year, overall margins slightly increased," Gould said, in a statement.

Gould said Schlumberger's outlook for the rest of the year "assumes a continued modest recovery in North American gas drilling but no significant improvement in service pricing."

"The worst, provided the economy continues to show signs of recovery, is behind us," the CEO said.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

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