Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corp. (NE) reported a 25 percent increase in profit for the first quarter on strong revenue growth. The company said it saw an improvement in its operational performance across several regions during the quarter. Earnings per share beat analysts' expectations, while revenues missed their estimates.
The Switzerland-based company's contract drilling services revenues for the quarter rose 24 percent to $928.74 million, due primarily to improved fleet utilization and higher average dayrates.
Average rig utilization for the quarter rose to 86 percent from 74 percent in the prior-year period, while average dayrate increased 4 percent to $174,578. Contract drilling margin for the quarter was 47.9 percent.
David Williams, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said, "During the first quarter, we saw an improvement in our operational performance across several regions, compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. Two rigs accounted for most of the downtime in the quarter."
Williams added, "While our performance improved in the quarter, achieving further reductions in downtime and improving operational performance remain key objectives for the Company."
Noble's first-quarter net income to common shareholders was $148.40 million or $0.59 per share, up from $119.05 million or $0.47 per share in the year-ago quarter. On average, thirty six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.56 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenues for the quarter grew 22 percent to $970.97 million from $797.69 million in the same period last year, but missed analysts' consensus estimate of $987.18 million.
Total backlog at March 31, 2013 was about $14.0 billion, compared to $14.3 billion at December 31, 2012.
Looking ahead, Williams said, "We are increasingly confident that key fundamental factors in our business will remain in place, supporting robust deep and shallow water drilling activity beyond 2013. We are evaluating a number of contract opportunities, both for existing rigs in our fleet, and those to be added this year and next, following the completion of construction programs."
NE closed Wednesday's trading at $34.95, down $1.27 or 3.51 percent on a volume of 5.07 million shares. However, in after-hours, the stock gained $0.03 or 0.09 percent to $34.98.
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