OILFIELD SERVICES GIANT SCHLUMBERGER ANNOUNCES ANOTHER ROUND OF MASSIVE JOB CUTS

There are more massive job cuts at one of the biggest oilfield services companies in the world.

Schlumberger released first quarter results Thursday, and they are ugly.

Revenues fell 19% to $10.25 billion, missing forecasts of $10.4 billion, according to Bloomberg.

First quarter earnings per share, however, topped expectations as adjusted EPS totaled $1.06 against expectations for $0.89.

But the big news is that the company announced that it is laying off another 11,000 people.

The company had already been cutting down its workforce, announcing 9,000 layoffs back in January in response to the sharp drop in oil prices.

In a statement, CEO Paal Kibsgaard said: "In spite of the detailed preparations we made in the fourth quarter, the abruptness of the fall in activity, particularly in North America, required us to take additional actions during the quarter. These included the difficult decision to make a further reduction in our workforce of 11,000 employees, leading to a total reduction of about 15% compared to the peak of the third quarter of 2014."

Kibsgaard added that the fall in value of the Russian ruble and Venezuelan bolivar dented revenues, as well as reduced customer spend internationally and lower oil prices.

The company expects to cut its exploration and production spend internationally by 15%, but the biggest drop will come in North America with a 30% decline.

North America revenues fell 25% to $3.2 billion in the quarter.

The stock rose by up to 2.4% in after-hours trading.

Business Insider