Halliburton to Sell Stake in 2 Ventures

Halliburton Co., the world’s biggest oil field services company, said it will sell its stake in two joint ventures to partner Ingersoll-Rand Co. for about $1.1 billion in cash. Dallas-based Halliburton also warned that poor results from the two joint ventures will hurt third-quarter earnings, which are likely to be between 11 cents and 13 cents a diluted share. Industry analysts had expected earnings of 19 cents, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. The sale of the joint ventures, Dresser-Rand and Ingersoll Dresser Pump, will result in an after-tax gain of about $380 million, or 84 cents a diluted share, in the fourth quarter. Ingersoll-Rand, an industrial equipment maker based in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., said in August that it planned to end its involvement in the joint ventures with Halliburton. Under the agreements governing the ventures, Halliburton had until Oct. 5 to decide whether to buy Ingersoll’s stake or sell its own interest in the ventures. Because of the poor performance of the ventures, Halliburton said its Dresser Equipment Group unit was falling significantly short of expectations. Halliburton said the entire group was looking at weaker third- and fourth-quarter operating results than previously forecast. Halliburton shares fell $2.06 to close at $39.75, while Ingersoll shares rose $3 to close at $55.63. Both trade on the NYSE.