Thursday, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) reported higher profit for the third-quarter, reflecting foreign currency transaction gain, lower income tax expense and higher sales.
The Houston, Texas-based company earned $364.1 million or $2.62 per share, compared with $310.5 million or $2.23 per share in the same period a year earlier.
On average, 29 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report $2.30 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenues for the third quarter grew to $908.4 million from $900.4 million in the third quarter of 2008 and came above twenty analysts' consensus estimate of $874.23 million.
Contract drilling revenues for the quarter were $855.28 million, higher than last year's $881.95 million. The company's contract drilling revenue includes revenue from High Specification Floaters, Intermediate Semisubmersibles and Jack-ups.
High Specification Floaters contributed revenue of $353.32 million, up from $344.02 million last year. Day rate for the quarter was $389, compared to $394 last year. The utilization was 75% for the quarter, up from 86% in the comparable period last year.
During the latest quarter, Intermediate Semisubmersibles contributed revenues of $421.14 million, had a dayrate of $278 and utilization of 84%. This compares with revenues of $401.89 million, dayrate of $288 and utilization of 79% in the year-ago quarter.
Jack-ups contributed quarterly revenue of $110.82 million, compared to $136.04 million in the year-ago period. Dayrate for the quarter was $117, up from $112 in the year-ago period. Utilization declined to 65% from 89% a year ago.
Operating income for the quarter was $479.46 million, an increase from $475.82 million recorded a year earlier. Total operating expenses increased to $428.91 million from $424.55 million in the prior year quarter. The company incurred income tax expense of $111.15 million in the recent quarter, down from last year's $136.89 million.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, the deepwater oil driller reported net income of $1.1 billion or $7.91 per share, versus $1.0 billion or $7.31 per share in the same period last year. Revenue for the nine-month period was $2.7 billion, up from $2.6 billion in the comparable period a year ago.
In a separate communique, Diamond Offshore Drilling declared a special cash dividend of $1.875 per share of common stock and a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share of common stock. Both dividends are payable on December 1, 2009 to shareholders of record on November 2, 2009
DO closed the wednesday's regular trading session at $105.88. In the past 52 weeks, shares have been trading in a broad range of $53.30 - $108.78.
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