Houston companies release earnings

National Oilwell Varco Inc., CenterPoint Energy Inc., Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. NV, GulfMark Offshore Inc. and Stewart Information Services Corp. all reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Oil and gas services firm National Oilwell Varco Inc. posted net income of $397.6 million, or $1.11 per share, on revenue of $2.7 billion, for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. That compared with net income of $275.9 million or 78 cents per share, on revenue of $2.2 billion, in the same quarter in 2007.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected Houston-based National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) to have net earnings per share of $1.09.

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CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP) reported net income of $123 million, or 36 cents per share, on revenue of $3.1 billion, for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008. That compared with net income of $130 million, or 38 cents per share, on revenue of $3.4 billion, for the same period in 2007.

Analysts were expecting the Houston energy provider to have net income of 39 cents per share.

Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) reported net income of $42.2 million, or 43 cents per share, on revenue of $1.4 billion, for the three months ended March 31, 2008. That compared with net income of $36.6 million, or 38 cents per share, on revenue of $857.3 million.

Analysts expected the engineering firm, based in The Woodlands, to have net earnings per share of 54 cents.

GulfMark Offshore, a Houston offshore marine services company, posted net income of $32.3 million, or $1.40 per share, on revenue of $83.3 million, for the three months ended March 31, 2008. That compared with net income of $24.4 million, or $1.06 per share, on revenue of $65.5 million, for the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts were expecting GulfMark (NYSE: GLF) to have net earnings per share of $1.10.

Real estate services firm Stewart Information Services posted a net loss of $22.3 million, or $1.24 per share, on revenue of $394.1 million, for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. That compared with a net loss of $4.8 million, or 26 cents per share, on revenue of $531.7 million, for the same three months in 2007.

Analysts expected Houston-based Stewart (NYSE: STC) to have a net loss of 62 cents per share.