Baker Hughes Inc. BHI, +0.87% posted a first-quarter profit that was down 30% from a year earlier as the oilfield services company reported lower revenue from its key North America segment, although results beat Street views.

An overproduction of natural gas has resulted in low prices and pushed energy companies to shift their operations to oil-rich shale, a transition that has resulted in inefficiencies and higher costs for oil-field service providers as they haul their crews to new, harder-to-tap fields. The transition has weighed on Baker Hughes's pressure-pumping business.

The company has seen strong revenue growth in its international business, however, which has helped offset declines in prices and revenue in North America.

For the quarter, the company reported revenue from North America, its largest segment, slipped 9.1% to $2.6 billion. Baker Hughes saw revenue rise 3% in Latin America; fall 4.4% in Europe, Africa and Russia Caspian. Revenue jumped 20% in the Middle East/Asia Pacific region.

"Across our international segments, we saw our typical seasonal declines during the quarter, with particular weakness in our Europe/Africa/Russia Caspian segment," Chief Executive Martin Craighead said. However, he pointed to an "improving performance" in the Middle East region, noting that for the first time, the Middle East/Asia Pacific segment ended the quarter as Baker's largest international segment.

The company reported a profit of $267 million, or 60 cents a share, versus $379 million, or 86 cents a share, a year-earlier. The results include a foreign exchange loss of $23 million related to the devaluation of Venezuela's currency in February. Stripping out one time items, the per-share profit as 65 cents.

Revenue slipped 2.3% to $5.23 billion.

Analysts were looking for earnings of 62 cents a share on $5.18 billion in revenue, according to a poll conducted by Thomson Reuters.

Following five consecutive quarters of declines in the U.S. rig count, the company is now forecasting a "modest increase" for the rest of the year.

Operating margin narrowed to 8.7% from 11.7% as input costs rose 1.4%.

Baker Hughes has previously revealed it plans to cut capital expenditures by 30% in 2013 and reduce the share that goes to North America. The company is ramping up activity in the Gulf of Mexico and is examining all of its operations with a critical eye toward efficiency, margin improvement and cost savings.

Shares closed Thursday at $44.60 and were inactive in recent premarket trading. The stock has risen 8.7% in the past 12 months.

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