Weatherford 1Q profit slides 38 percent

Weatherford International Ltd., a provider of technology and services for the oil and gas drilling and production industry, on Monday said its first-quarter earnings fell 38 percent due to a sharp decline in demand amid an energy market battered by volatile commodity prices and a nationwide fall off in energy demand.

Quarterly earnings slid to $164.8 million, or 23 cents per share, from $264.2 million, or 38 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Results include a loss of 4 cents per share for the investigation and exit costs incurred in connection with the company's withdrawal from sanctioned countries and severance costs related to restructuring activities in North America.

Revenue for the quarter rose 3 percent to $2.26 billion, from $2.2 billion in the prior-year period.

On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast a quarterly profit of 29 cents per share on revenue of $2.26 billion.

Customer activity dropped-off sharply in the first quarter, especially in North America, Weatherford said. The Switzerland-based company said that North America revenue declined 23 percent, which was in line with a 27 percent decline in rig count, but international revenue jumped 28 percent despite a 2 percent decrease in international rig count.

Weatherford added that companywide revenue was hurt by about $160 million due to the relative strengthening of the U.S. dollar compared to the year-ago period.

Shares of Weatherford slid 83 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $13.95 in Monday morning trading.