Schlumberger Ltd, the diversified global engineering company, has received a strong boost this quarter from its high technology divisions in semiconductor testing and smart cards. Third quarter net profits to September 30 were up 55.8% at $356.6m with revenues climbing 21.5% to $2.77bn. The company is predominantly oil business driven, with a highly successful oilfield measurement equipment business accounting for 75% of income. But the company’s automatic test equipment division grew its revenues by 65% in the quarter, driven by huge demand for semiconductor test products from high volume manufacturers in the US and Far East, the company said. The Electronic Transactions division, which encompasses Schlumberger’s smart card activities, increased revenues by 37% (or 57% before foreign exchange losses on translation) with demand particularly strong for the subscriber identity module (SIM) cards used in mobile phones. Compound annual growth rate in the smart card market as a whole is running at 59% according to a survey by US analysts Killen & Associates (CI No 3255).
