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Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) rose in morning trades on Wednesday even as the oilfield services provider anticipated less drilling in the current quarter due to reduced customer spending while it switched to a loss in its latest quarter.
Shares climbed 2.2% to $54.34 at 11:21 a.m., paring this year's retreat to 3.3%.
Chief Executive Officer Martin Craighead said in a statement on Wednesday that he expects Baker Hughes to face further reductions in activity and pricing pressures throughout the remainder of the year.
Baker Hughes, which is being taken over by larger competitor Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), has eliminated thousands of jobs and shut down facilities as plummeting crude prices have prompted many of its customers to shrink or cancel projects.
The Houston, Texas-based company reported a net loss of $159mln, or $0.36 loss per share, in the July-to-September quarter, compared with a profit of $375mln, or $0.86 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding restructuring charges and merger costs, adjusted per-share loss was $0.05 per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations. Fifteen analysts surveyed by Capital IQ had predicted a loss of $0.15 per share.
Revenue declined 39.4% to $3.79bn, in line with the Wall Street consensus.
By geography, the North America division saw a 57% decline in revenue to $1.4bn, as average rig counts fell 54% and customers cut spending.
Latin America posted a 23% drop in revenue, while revenue slumped 21% in the Middle East and Asia Pacific division.
Halliburton earlier this week posted a third-quarter loss on asset write-downs and acquisition-related expenses, while Schlumberger Ltd. recently reported a 49% drop in earnings for its third quarter.