WRAPUP 2-Slow oilfield recovery hits Transocean, Baker Hughes
* Transocean, Baker Hughes both short of Wall St estimates
* Recovery seen slow, even if worst now behind industry
* Baker Hughes shares drop 5.9 pct, Transocean off 1.8 pct
* Oil States expecting steady activity in Q4
* Rig maker Sembcorp beats estimates (Adds Trinidad, Oil States, Transocean upgrade; updates share movement)
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Rig contractor Transocean Ltd (RIG.N) and oilfield services firm Baker Hughes Inc (BHI.N) posted sharp drops in quarterly profit on Wednesday as their industry recovers slowly from the past year's slump.
Oil and gas companies, faced with commodity prices sharply down from last year, have put pressure on the companies that serve them to get costs down.
A bounce in crude prices in recent months has weakened producers' bargaining power, leading oil service companies to to predict a mild recovery next year.
Bob Long, chief executive of world-leading rig contractor Transocean, saw no major recovery for shallow-water rig rates, but was surprised they had not fallen more sharply given how oversupplied that market is.
"For whatever reason, they have been moving very slowly, and now seem to have stabilized," Long, who is set to retire early next year, told analysts on a conference call.
For Baker Hughes, a weak performance outside North America, and in Latin America in particular, took a toll in the third quarter as the Houston-based company reshuffles its business to focus on geography rather than product lines.
Chief Executive Chad Deaton said profit margins in the Eastern Hemisphere and Latin America had bottomed out, predicting that the latter could double this quarter from just 4.9 percent in the third quarter.
Overall, net profit slid 87 percent to $55 million, or 18 cents per share, from $429 million, or $1.39 per share, a year ago. Revenue fell 26 percent to $2.23 billion. [ID:nBNG75879]
Excluding charges for reorganization and allowances for doubtful accounts worth 13 cents per share, Baker Hughes earned 31 cents a share. Analysts had expected 35 cents, on revenue of $2.26 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Tudor Pickering Holt said in a note to clients that while Wall Street expected "soft" Baker Hughes earnings due to the reorganization, the results would "test the fortitude of recent value buyers." Continued...
