Oil prices have recovered somewhat over the past few months, but they’re still well below the levels of only a few short years ago. This has been hard on the oil and gas industry, and the people who run its enterprises. Case in point, Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT), an international oil and natural gas service companies, which just announced that Chairman and CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner has resigned his post, effective immediately.
He has been replaced as CEO on an interim basis by CFO Krishna Shivram, and as chairman by Vice Chairman Robert Rayne. Shivram will hold both his old and new job while the company hires a new CFO, which it said would happen “in the coming days.” He was named CFO in late 2013.
Weatherford did not provide the reason or reasons for Duroc-Danner’s resignation. It wasn’t particularly a surprise, as the company has struggled mightily in the face of those weak oil prices. In its most recently reported quarter, Weatherford suffered a nearly 40% year-over-year decline in revenue, while its net loss deepened to nearly $1.8 billion from $170 million. This, despite aggressive cost-cutting that has included around 8,000 layoffs. Debt is also weighing heavily on the company; long-term borrowings stood at around $7.5 billion as of the end of September. This is well above Weatherford’s current market capitalization.
Although the company’s shares rose on news of the CEO’s departure, they are still well below their level at the beginning of this year. So far in 2016, the stock price has declined by almost 40%.
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Eric Volkman has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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