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Halliburton Co., the world’s second- largest oilfield-services provider, reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates as customers around the world boosted spending at the end of the year. Shares rose the most in more than a year.

Excluding discontinued operations, the Houston-based company earned 63 cents a share, 2 cents higher than the average of 33 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales climbed 3.2 percent to $7.3 billion, which was more than the average of 24 analysts’ estimates.

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Halliburton, which generated 56 percent of its sales in North America last year, is increasing its international operations to take advantage of increased oil-company spending globally.

“Across the board they did better than expected,” Stephen Gengaro, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. in New York, who rates the shares a buy and owns none, said today in a telephone interview. “We expected declines in North America. They just didn’t decline as much as expected.”