US: Halliburton's 2005 profit 'Best in our 86-year history'

After three years of losing money, Halliburton reported a hefty profit for 2005 and announced that all six of its divisions posted record results.

"The year 2005 was the best in our 86-year history," Dave Lesar, Halliburton's chairman, said Thursday.

The company posted a year-end profit of $2.4 billion, or $4.54 per share, on revenue of $21 billion. That compares with a $1 billion loss in 2004 when Halliburton finally settled scores of asbestos and silica lawsuits.

For the fourth quarter, Halliburton booked a profit of $1.1 billion on revenue of $5.8 billion.

Lesar attributed the fourth-quarter comeback primarily to the Energy Services Group, which has been able to charge more for its business. The group now has an operating margin of 24 percent, up 2 percent from the third quarter.

Halliburton, which has 100,000 employees, is better known for its high-profile and often controversial KBR subsidiary, which is a major government contractor that builds and operates bases for the U.S. military and is heavily entrenched in Iraq.

Earlier in the week, the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement awarded Halliburton a new contract valued at up to $385 million over five years.

The contract calls for KBR to build and operate new detention facilities in case of an "emergency influx of immigrants" into the country.

Halliburton announced its year-end profit late Thursday after its stock closed at $75.15. The stock price has doubled in the past year.

Earlier on Thursday, Lesar sold off 75,000 shares, netting $2.6 million, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A Halliburton spokeswoman said Lesar was exercising stock options that were about to expire. In the past 10 months, Lesar has sold 63 percent of his Halliburton shares.

David Ivanovich contributed to this report.

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