Oilfield services giant Cameron International’s profits dipped during the past three months despite increasing its subsea operating income and slashing costs.
Chief executive Scott Rowe, said the company has reported strong operating results in the third quarter of 2015, despite the severity of the global downturn in energy markets, particularly in the United States.
“These results validate the journey we began in 2014 to reduce the company’s fundamental cost structure and improve execution across our four segments,” said Rowe.
He added: “The Company’s earnings for the third quarter of 2015 were comparable to those of the third quarter of 2014, as a near-tripling of operating income in the Subsea segment.”
The company generated cash from operations of $376 million during the third quarter and ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $1.9 billion.
Cost reductions and a lower tax rate were offset by reduced operating income in the company’s other three business segments. Revenues were down in all four segments relative to the year-ago quarter, reflecting weaker demand in the company’s served markets; Subsea; Surface; Drilling; Valves and Measurement.
Cameron posted earnings of $213 million in the three-month period ending September 30, down from $238 million during the same time 12 months ago.
Revenues fell from $2.7billion to $2.2billion amid weaker demand for its products and services.
Its surface divisions and valves and measurements segments were affected by reduced demand.
Rowe said: “Although our operational improvements partially mitigated the third-quarter impact of the cyclical downturn, we have seen no easing of market pressures and – as a result – we expect operating income margins to decline sequentially in the fourth quarter in each of our four segments.
“In the face of market headwinds, we will maintain our relentless focus on the things we can control: execution, customer relationships, cost reduction and technology.”
The company said it had cancelled conference calls with investors as it continues to work on its $14billion merger with Schlumberger.
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