In midst of recession, Halliburton rakes in billions.
By on Apr 21st, 2008 at 9:47 am
In midst of recession, Halliburton rakes in billions.
Economists are forecasting a recession, U.S. company profits in almost all sectors are taking a hit, and many American families cannot say they are better off than they were eight years ago. But one giant oil services company is weathering the economic storm quite well. Reuters reports Halliburton “said on Monday that first-quarter profit rose 6 percent as customers in markets including the Middle East and Asia spent more on oil and gas exploration and production”:
In North America, Halliburton’s revenue rose 11 percent to $1.86 billion while operating income was nearly flat at $491 million.
Halliburton said revenue outside North America soared 24 percent to $2.16 billion, while operating income rose 21 percent to $422 million.
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So??????
April 21st, 2008 at 9:48 amHalliburton; the only winner in Iraq
April 21st, 2008 at 9:50 amCost plus.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:50 amThe definition of treason: Dick Cheney.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:51 amThat’s not true, Zimzone…
Blackwater’s bin makin’ out like a thief in the night too!
April 21st, 2008 at 9:51 am… and rapes it’s employees… LITERALLY.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:00 amWar pays very well, doesn’t it?
April 21st, 2008 at 10:01 amIn North America, Halliburton’s revenue rose 11 percent to $1.86 billion while operating income was nearly flat at $491 million.
And very little of this money they are being paid by our taxpayer dollars is being taxed because Halliburton is incorporated in Dubai.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:02 amI’m hoping the first thing Obama does is to fire Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:02 amDefine victory in Iraq…
April 21st, 2008 at 10:10 am“Halliburton said on Monday that first-quarter profit rose 6 percent”
let’s not beat around the bush (pardon the very bad pun)… this is war profiteering, plain and simple… there is no other way to describe it… well, than again, OBSCENITY does spring to mind…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
April 21st, 2008 at 10:10 amGreat points guys. Not just because Halliburton is not incorporated in Dubai, or the fact Halliburton is an oil well company, which basically fluctuates with the price of oil, and all oil related companies are massively profitable with current oil prices.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:12 amNationalize Halliburton!
April 21st, 2008 at 10:15 amHalliburton thinks they have the best vice president money can buy in Dick(head) Cheney.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:17 amYes after looking at Halliburton’s profit 7 years ago one could say their former CEO Dick Cheney has done a great job for the Company. As Halliburton moved overseas and is selling Iraq oil to the United States at 116 dollars a barrel that gives shareholders like Dick Cheney a big profit. Americans paying a fraud price for oil and kick doesn’t have report his profit on his taxes as it’s not gained in the USA. Now Americans see why Dick was so busy setting up the illegal invasion of Iraq and leaking Plame’s name. I guess Cheney really does know the American people. With the help of the Press and the paid Law Makers both Democrat and Republican the biggest thief in the World was done by the Vice President of the United States and the victims were the American people.
Dick Cheney got a helluva bonus for his hard work. 10 per cent would be 186 million dollars. Dick will continue to raise the prices and brake the backs of the American people.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:29 amAs Americans act like lost sheep and blame Bill Clinton.
Teflon John will stay the course and get as much money as he can before the recession turns into a depression. Obama is looking to increase his so he can get a second home and not have to make a deal with another indicted criminal. This time he wont be turned down by the bank as he’ll have cash to buy his second multi-million dollar home. As for Hillary well as the Media polls show she’s hated by Americans because she wants to repair the Economy like her husband had to do when he took office and American don’t want that.
Great points Jackie!
I didn’t even realize Halliburton sells oil (Iraqi Oil!) (they don’t).
I didn’t realize they don’t have to pay taxes (They do since Halliburton is incorporated in the US)
Also, great point on the 10% bonus, it’s not like you just pulled that entirely out of your ass, I’m sure Dick does get 10% of their entire revenue for a year.
And the Hillary stuff is spot on too. She will save us.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:44 amMajor General Smedley Butler USMC, who at the time of his death in 1940 was the most decorated military man and had received the Medal of Honor twice, said the following: “War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.”
April 21st, 2008 at 10:49 amWomp it’s to bad you don’t read the business international news. Halliburton left the US years ago. Check out the countries that sell oil to the US as Iraq is just one. Remember Chavez should oil to the East cost a 40 per cent discount during the winter. Here in California our old is from Iraq. Now it’s hard to education someone on business news that’s about 6 years old. Just as Dubai now has an airlines that will take people from San Francisco to Dubai for business and vacation. Well if you don’t know what’s happen and prefer to not read the business international news your in right group of those who don’t know.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:56 amI wonder how many senators own Halliburton Stock?
Jackie is right, Cheney helped Halliburton even more after he left. I’m sure the board of directors never envisioned this kind of profit margins.
I wonder how they are going to repay him for all of his hard work??? It’s all blood money. Historians will never be able to put into words the damage and heartache this man has truly caused our country.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:03 amNew Yorks Times date March 2007
Briefing: Halliburton moving headquarters to Dubai
I know it was in the business news and it’s old news but just google you can read it for yourself. As Halliburton has it’s headquarters overseas it is spared from US taxes. But that’s another subject. It was a smart move on Dick’s part and as for Iraq oil fields you only have to ask a US soldier who is guarding the fields from attack, as the drilling is done. As a Military Mom the soldier do alot more talking than the Media reports. Sorry if the truth hurts or you didn’t hear it on your local news. That’s not something the White House or Dick Cheney like talking about.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:06 am“In North America, Halliburton’s revenue rose 11 percent to $1.86 billion while operating income was nearly flat at $491 million.”
“Operating income” is earnings before interest or taxes (EBIT). So if NA Halliburton’s OI is “flat” BEFORE accounting for borrowed money or taxes then at least their income taxes would be “flat” also, despite the 11 percent increase in NA revenue.
Put another way, because their EBIT is supposedly “flat”, once they deduct interest on borrowed money used to operate (but described as “income” instead of an expense) and then deduct their income taxes, their NET earnings or income is also “flat”.
And where is the “earnings before interest” which is apparently actually borrowed money, coming from?
Is “earnings before interest” actually the money provided by the purchase of shares, and the ‘interest’ the return on investment?
Following a related topic to EBIT I found this:
‘Operating Leverage’—“The higher income vs. sales ratio results from a smaller portion of variable costs, which means the company does not have to pay as much additional money for each unit produced or sold. The more significant the volume of sales, the more beneficial the investment in fixed costs becomes.”
Is Halliburton reducing its operating costs AND increasing NOT ONLY it’s gross revenues BUT then REDUCING its TAX BURDEN and thus INCREASING its PROFITS BEFORE AND AFTER TAXES AND EXPENSES?
That’s a pretty neat trick, especially in the current economic climate.
Any wonks who can set me straight on this?
April 21st, 2008 at 11:08 am#16 Jackie Says:
Great post Jackie.. Cheney has made Halliburton more money than they ever imagined..
April 21st, 2008 at 11:08 amWill Cheney have to put his Halliburton stock in a blind trust when he’s in prison?
April 21st, 2008 at 11:14 amTawdry…
Glad you brought “Racket” up.
“War is A Racket” can never be recommended too highly or too often.
It should be required reading at West Point, in Pol-Sci. History and Journalism classes. It should be reprinted–it ought to be a best seller. It should be made into, or made part of, a documentary and/or a movie.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:15 amJackie,
Thanks for the news reading tips, I invite you to learn how to actually read the news properly.
Halliburton built a headquarters in Dubai, and remains incorporated in the US, and where they pay their taxes, so you’re totally wrong still, even with your sassy rebuke and 6 year old claims.
Keep stupid
April 21st, 2008 at 11:19 amIs “womp” the sound made when someone kisses Cheney’s a**?
April 21st, 2008 at 11:27 amNo, “womp” is the sound of facts hitting a bunch of people who all gather and tell each other how great they are for “reading between the lines” when they’re completely and utterly wrong.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:36 amWatch the movie “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers” by Robert Greenwald.
I watched it over the weekend. It’s eye opening.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:40 amSo THIS is how Halliburton made back all that money they gave to Cheney when he resigned as CEO to become VPOTUS.
I was worried. Good thing they were conveniently poised to “rebuild” Iraq before the war started.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:50 amJackie…
it;s my understnading that Haliburton doesn’t sell oil. it provides services to the oil industry, ficiliating the exploitation of oil.
But Womp, Halliburton of course profits from the oil business and thus shares by default in the increased revenues that increased oil prices generate. As the value of oil goes up so does the value of their services in exploiting the product.
The greedier the oil producers get the more Halliburton can charge to satisfy that greed. Though Halliburton must also be subject in principle to higher operating costs and expenses due to the increase in the cost of energy (as do we all) don;t you think they would be in a position to negotiate to some extent their own energy costs, given their clients? The argument would be “either you give us a discount on oil energy supplied direct to us, or we will pass the open market indirect costs back to you in our service charges-take your pick”.
Furthermore as a SERVICE company, Halliburton’s oil-energy dependence is relatively limited and distributed–it’s not like they taxi drivers who HAVE to charge more when the price of gas goes up but are constrained by regulations, immediate competition and the competition of alternative public and to a lesser extent private transportation. Halliruton functions as a broker far more than it does as an owner of energy dependent machinery.
In addition, and here’s where the thrust of jackie’s arguments come in regarding profits and Cheney, by moving it’s headquaters offshore and re-tasking its American presence as a branch office, Halliburton makes a greater profit not from increased oil production, but from the increased revenue due to the increas in the global oil price combined with lower taxation that drives the stock price up on the promise of greater profits that benefit the shareholders, AND that benefits Cheney as though he apparently has no shares in Halliburton any more, the “stipend” he was provided upon his departure is LINKED to Halliburton’s revenues and profits—ergo Cheney STILL profits from Halliburton’s profits.
That’s not to say Cheny does what he does just for the moolah, I think he’s rewarded more by the power and influence he gets to weild. But the money gives him more security and more power so each feeds the other. Both directly and indirectly he benefits, and the rest of us get screwed.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:52 amYes, this IS the military industrial complex Dwight Eisenhower warned us about.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pmNot Halliburton, but Halliburton’s child:
April 21st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Much of what you said above I said in my initial post (all oil-related companies are raking in the money).
For the record, I’m not pro-Halliburton or pro-Cheney, I just don’t like when the facts are totally misrepresented.
Estate, I agree with you on 95% of what you said. However, Halliburton’s increase in profits isn’t due to increased prices/greed, it’s because previously untapped oil is now economically viable to tap into, and that’s where Halliburton makes their money.
I don’t deny Cheney may get some benefit, but he doesn’t get the 10% of global revenues as Jackie suggested.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:01 pmWelcome to the Golden Age of War Profiteering!
April 21st, 2008 at 12:32 pmMake that the Golden of Criminal War Profiteering!
April 21st, 2008 at 12:34 pmCan you say “conflict of interest”?
Does anyone other than us care, and if not, why not?
April 21st, 2008 at 1:05 pmHALLIBURTON = WAR PROFTERING! HANG CHENNEY FOR TREASON AND WAR CRIMES!
April 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pm“However, Halliburton’s increase in profits isn’t due to increased prices/greed,…”
Who are you trying to kid? The increase in profits is due to greed and war profiteering, plain and simple. Greed being the primary reason.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:40 pmbratboy,
Thanks for the great factual point! Cause it’s not due to demand for new wells and an unchanging supply of those who’ll help you do it. It’s greed!
April 21st, 2008 at 3:54 pm