Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE:SLB) saw its shares slip in premarket trade after the company unveiled a mixed set of fourth quarter numbers.
The oilfield services provider benefited from the higher oil prices, but had to take a US$2.7bn charge for its restructuring and investment in Venezuela.
Strong growth in demand to continue in 2018
In the quarter, total revenue rose 15% to US$8.18bn, thanks to the rise in drilling by shale producers which boosted the company’s revenue from its North American operations.
This beat market expectations for revenue of US$8.12bn.
Excluding non-recurring items, its per share came in at 48 US cents, beating market expectations for 44 US cents per share.
The US$939mln writedown on the Venezuelan investment, saw its net GAAP loss widen to US$2.26bn or US$1.63bn per share from the US$204mln or 15 US cents posted a year ago.
In a statement, Schlumberger said it expects a strong growth in demand in the oil market to continue in 2018.
In premarket trade, its shares were down 1.34% at US$76.37.