Baker Hughes has reported disappointing financial results for the fourth quarter of 2019. The US-based oilfield services provider posted revenues of $6.25 billion for the last three months of the year, topping the figure recorded in the same period of 2018 by about 1% but falling short of analysts’ average forecast of $6.47 billion, Reuters reported on January 22.
According to the news agency, Baker Hughes’ latest quarterly report shows that the company has been negatively affected by the slowdown in the U.S. shale oil and gas industry. The firm’s oilfield services unit saw its revenues drop by 15% in the fourth quarter of 2019, it explained.
This is in line with the latest quarterly reports released by two other oilfield services giants, Schlumberger and Halliburton. Both companies said earlier this month that their North American revenues had gone down between October and December of 2019.
Nevertheless, Baker Hughes’ CEO Lorenzo Simonelli expressed optimism about the company’s prospects in 2020. “As we look ahead to 2020, we see a macro environment that is slowly improving,” he said.