U.S. energy company FMC reports 32 mln USD net profit in Q3

FMC Technologies, a U.S. oilfield equipment maker, Thursday reported a better-than-expected net profit in the third quarter of this year partly due to its "aggressive restructuring" efforts.

According to a statement issued on Thursday, the Houston-based FMC recorded a 32-million-U.S.-dollar net profit in the third quarter of this year, which is less than the 82 million dollars earned during the corresponding period of last year, but better than the 2.2-million-dollar profit in the second quarter of this year.

FMC officials attributed the rise in profits to cost cutting.

Maryann Seaman, FMC's chief financial officer, said that the company's profitability in the third quarter was in part due to its "aggressive restructuring" efforts.

The company cut 1,000 jobs in the third quarter, including about 175 jobs in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the United States.

Within the last two years, the company has eliminated nearly 5,200 workers, more than 25 percent of its workforce, and now counts about 14,500 employees, 1,000 fewer than three months ago.

The company also warned that more job cuts are on the way through the end of the year.

Doug Pferdehirt, chief executive officer of FMC, agreed with Seaman, saying that cost cutting has boosted the company's profits over the past months.

Pferdehirt believed that this year is the "trough" for the subsea sector, and he also warned that next year will see more challenging operating results as well.

On Wednesday, Halliburton, an American multinational corporation and one of the world's largest oil field services companies, also reported a tiny profit in the third quarter of this year as the nearly two-year oil bust begins to fade. Endi