HOUSTON (AP) - Baker Hughes Inc.'s first-quarter profit slipped as its costs and expenses climbed, but its performance still beat Wall Street's expectations.
The Houston oil field services provider reported Tuesday that its net income fell to $379 million, or 86 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31 from $381 million, or 87 cents per share, a year earlier.
The results topped the 81 cents per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast.
Revenue rose 18 percent to $5.36 billion from $4.53 billion, benefiting from strong business overseas.
Wall Street expected $5.24 billion in revenue.
Total costs and expenses increased to $4.73 billion from $3.89 billion.
President and CEO Martin Craighead said the performance of the Europe/Africa/Russia Caspian segment was "excellent."
He said it was driven by "strong results across Africa where the company provided drilling and evaluation services on multiple high-profile exploration wells in Nigeria, Angola and Mozambique."
