Baker Hughes raises full year revenue forecast on demand for LNG equipment

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oilfield and liquefied natural gas supplier Baker Hughes on Thursday raised its full year revenue forecast, primarily on strong demand for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) equipment.

Baker Hughes in recent years has benefited from a boom in global demand for LNG and the race to build new export terminals and the post-COVID recovery of oilfield activity.

“The LNG project pipeline remains strong, both in the U.S. and internationally, said Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Simonelli.

The company expects revenue this year of between $25.4 billion and $25.8 billion, compared with a previous forecast for revenue between $24.8 billion and $26 billion, it said during an earnings call.

Shares of the company rose 3.5% to $35.22 in morning trading.

Baker Hughes raised its order outlook for its industrial and energy technology business segment for a second time this year.

Orders in the segment, which includes its LNG business, are now expected to range between $14 billion and $14.5 billion, from its original forecast of $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion.

The company has recently received an order from Venture Global to provide additional LNG equipment as well as an order from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

The company maintained its outlook for revenue from oilfield services and equipment business at a midpoint of $15.4 billion.

Baker Hughes had posted a quarterly profit of 42 cents per share on Wednesday, beating analysts’ estimate for a profit of 40 cents per share.

Rivals SLB and Halliburton earlier this week also reported results that beat quarterly profit estimates on international demand for equipment and services, offsetting a weaker North America.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; editing by Jonathan Oatis)