Halliburton, the world’s second-biggest oilfield services provider, reported a bigger first-quarter loss, hurt by US$2.77 billion in charges for asset impairment and other reasons.
Net loss attributable to the company widened to $2.41bn, or $2.81 per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $643 million, or 76 cents per share, a year earlier.
Halliburton had, on April 22, reported a 40.5 per cent fall in revenue, to $4.2bn, for the quarter, and said it had taken a $2.1bn restructuring charge.
The company had at that time said it postponed releasing its full results to accommodate the April 30 deadline to close its $28bn acquisition of Baker Hughes.
The deal was called off on Sunday after opposition from US and European anti-trust regulators.
Investment banks involved in the scrapped merger between Halliburton and Baker Hughes are set to lose nearly $100m in advisory fees.
Goldman Sachs was advising Baker Hughes and was expected to see $54m in fees, according to Freeman & Co, which tracks investment banking fees.
Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised Halliburton and were in line to split $54m in fees with Credit Suisse taking the lion’s share of $41m.
With the merger called off, the banks may now get only 10 per cent of their fees, according to Freeman.
The only one in line for a big pay day is Baker Hughes, which will receive $3.5bn in break-up fees from Halliburton.
Halliburton will use proceeds from last year’s bond sale to pay Baker Hughes the break-up fee as a result of the deal’s collapse after opposition from US and European antitrust regulators.
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