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OUR SHARE ADVICE ON SCHLUMBERGER – With energy prices falling, the share price of the oilfield services giant has fallen. But results are good and the outlook remains promising.
Growth was still the order of the day for global oilfield services giant Schlumberger in Q3. Over the period, sales for the group, whose shares are now listed only in New York, rose by 10% to $9.16 billion.
Once again, International business, which accounts for 81% of billings, drove the trend (+12%), with varying fortunes according to geographical zone: growth was the order of the day in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa. Latin America, however, was less buoyant. The Group’s second-largest region, North America, continues to make slow progress (+3% only).
Further increase in margins
That said, EBITDA, the Group’s preferred indicator of profitability, grew slightly faster than sales (+13%). The corresponding quarterly margin thus improved by 55 basis points to 25.6%, thanks to “the ongoing focus on cost optimization, the growing success of our products…