Halliburton’s profit soars 83 percent in second quarter

Halliburton Co., the biggest provider of land-based oilfield services in the United States, added 1,700 jobs in the second quarter as gains in onshore drilling spurred an 83 percent jump in profit.

New hires increased Houston-based Halliburton’s work force by about 3 percent, according to company spokeswoman Cathy Mann, and followed the addition of 1,200 jobs in the first quarter. Net income surged to $480 million, or 53 cents a share, as gains in onshore business cushioned the impact of BP PLC’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Earnings in North America advanced more than fivefold even as the oil spill, the largest in U.S. history, led to a ban on new deep-water wells and a slowdown in shallow-water drilling permits. The number of active U.S. onshore rigs jumped 76 percent from a year earlier at the end of June to a 17-month high.

 

Nokia Siemens to acquire Motorola wireless division

The long-planned breakup of Motorola Inc., one of the founders of the U.S. electronics industry, came a step closer Monday with a deal to sell most of its wireless networks division.

The agreement to sell the division for $1.2 billion to Nokia Siemens Networks, a Finnish-German joint venture, sets up Motorola to separate its cell-phone manufacturing operations from the police radio business early next year, essentially dividing the 82-year-old company into three parts.

The parts are aimed at different types of customers. The division that is being sold supplies wireless carriers such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. with the equipment they need to connect to cell phones.

 

Texas Instruments’ gains fail to impress investors

Texas Instruments’ second-quarter income and revenue jumped as demand continued to recover from the recession, yet investors had wanted even better results after seeing strong reports recently from other technology companies.

Shares fell $1.33, or 5.2 percent, to $24.22 in extended trading, reversing nearly two weeks of gains.

TI said net income nearly tripled to $769 million, or 62 cents per share, for the quarter that ended June 30. That matched the average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. In the same period last year, TI earned $260 million, or 20 cents per share.

Revenue rose 42 percent to $3.5 billion, matching the average analyst forecast.

 

Delta’s profit for quarter airline’s biggest in decade

Delta Air Lines Inc. reported its largest quarterly profit in a decade Monday, but investors dumped its shares as sales didn’t meet expectations and the carrier gave a cautious outlook amid economic uncertainty.

The world’s largest airline said its second-quarter net income was $467 million, or 55 cents per share. That reversed a year-ago loss of $257 million, or 31 cents a share, when the airline industry was still reeling from the recession.

Delta’s revenue rose 17 percent to $8.17 billion from $7 billion a year earlier. But that figure was below analysts’ revenue estimate of $8.25 billion. Delta shares declined 2.9 percent to $11.38.

 

Boeing announces orders for $12 billion in new planes

Boeing Co. unveiled more than $12 billion in new aircraft orders Monday during the first day of the Farnborough International Airshow in Britain, the largest aerospace trade event of the year.

The company announced an order for 30 Boeing 777-300ERs with a list price of $9.1 billion from Emirates Airline. The Dubai-based carrier is the world’s largest 777 operator with a fleet of 86.

In a welcome development for Boeing, aircraft leasing firms again are shopping for jets. On Monday, GE Capital Aviation Services placed an order for 40 Boeing 737-800s with a list price of $3 billion.