Wednesday after the bell, service provider for oil companies Core Laboratories NV (CLB) reported a decline in its profit for the third quarter, as revenues slid 17% from last year. In addition, the company provided outlook for the fourth quarter.
Net income attributable to Core Labs decreased to $30.98 million from $36.83 million in the year-ago period. On a per share basis, the net income decreased 13% to $1.33 from $1.53 in the prior-year period.
The company said foreign currency exchange gains and a lower effective tax rate accounted for $0.18 of the quarterly earnings. Excluding the impact of these items, Core Lab operations generated net income per share of $1.15 for the quarter. On an average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.13 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
The company's total revenues went down 17% to $167.80 million from $202.52 million in the year-ago period. The Street expected revenues of $162.18 million for the quarter.
Segment-wise, Reservoir Description operations reported quarterly revenues of $101.47 million down 9% from last year's quarter, and operating income of $26.79 million, up 5% from the year-earlier quarter. Production Enhancement operations revenue was $54.39 million, down 31% from the year-ago period.
Reservoir Management operations revenue increased to $11.92 million, while operating income reached $3.49 million, on operating margins of 29%.
For the nine-month period, Core Labs reported net income of $89.98 million, down 6% from $95.94 million in the year-ago period. Year-to-date, the company posted revenues of $513.94 million, down 11% from $579.64 million in the prior-year period.
Year-to-date free cash flow reached a record high of $134.90 million or $5.81 per share, up from $124.00 million or $5.19 per share in the year-ago period.
For the fourth quarter, Core Labs expects earnings per share in the range of $1.15 - $1.20 and revenues of $165 million - $170 million. The company said the midpoint of this guidance would result in operating margins of approximately 26%. Analysts expect earnings of $1.12 per share, on revenues of $163.07 million.
The company also announced that the new exchange rate on its Senior Exchangeable Notes will be 10.8012 per $1,000 principal amount of the outstanding notes and is effective 26 October, 2009.
Core Labs stock closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $109.36, up $0.31, on the NYSE.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com