Shares of oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) have been climbing somewhat in early trading after the company released its fourth-quarter earnings results.

For its quarterly profit, Halliburton posted a rise of nearly 5%. The press release claims "This increase was attributable to increased worldwide activity, particularly in the Eastern Hemisphere," where the company is placing greater resources. Halliburton said its profit climbed to $690 million, or 75 cents per share from $658 million, or 64 cents a share, during the same period a year ago. Included in the company's figures was $22 million after-tax charge related to the impairment in Bangladesh, and $8 million of after-tax expenses related to executive-separation costs.

Income from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2007 was $674 million, or $0.74 per diluted share, beating analysts expectations of earnings of 69 cents per share.

The company's results also show a respectable 19% jump in revenue to $4.2 billion, up from $3.5 billion a year earlier. Analysts had forecast $4.1 billion in revenue, according to Reuters Estimates.

According to Dave Lesar, the company's chairman and chief executive, Halliburton is "very pleased" with its 2007 performance, especially after its North American results had to face higher costs and falling prices in the United States. Halliburton's income figures also saw a decline of 11% in the Middle East and Asia, in part from the impairment in Bangladesh.

On a positive note, Lesar cited strong growth in the Eastern Hemisphere, where revenue increased by 27%. He also added that the company benefited from a strong international growth that allowed it to offset "the challenging North American market, with over 55% of our fourth-quarter revenue now coming from outside of North America."

Despite the fact that the oil sector has been under pressure recently on increased worries over an economic slowdown, this was not the case last year as evident by Halliburton's full year results. Halliburton posted an increase for its full-year net income to $3.5 billion, or $3.68 per share, up from $2.3 billion, or $2.23 a share, in 2006. Full-year revenue also climbed to $15.3 billion, compared with $13 billion in 2006.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.