Northern Offshore Reports Q/1 Results
Bermuda holding company Northern Offshore, Ltd. this week reported net income for the three months ended March 31, 2013 of $1.1 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, on revenues of $41.4 million.
The company generated $9.8 million of first quarter in earnings before interest, taxes and amortization [EBITDA].
The positive net cash balance stands at $18 million and the company’s directors have declared a dividend of $0.05 per share, or approximately $8.2 million.
Gary W. Casswell, Northern Offshore’s president and CEO, commented, “Earnings for the quarter were slightly less than we expected because of approximately 20 days of downtime for the Energy Driller due to unscheduled maintenance on one of the pontoons. We are also expecting a flat second quarter due primarily to a transition of the ‘Energy Endeavour’ back to operations in the UK and the Energy Searcher remaining idle. However, we still anticipate positive cash flow for the next quarter, as well as the second half of 2013, and expect to maintain the dividend distributions.”
Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2013 of $1.1 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, on revenues of $41.4 million compares to a net loss of $14.1 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2012, on revenues of $28.2 million.
Revenues for the three months ending March 31, 2013 were $13.2 million higher than the same period in 2012, primarily due to higher utilization of the semisubmersible “Energy Driller” and jackup “Energy Enhancer”, and higher dayrates for the jackup “Energy Endeavour.”
Partially offsetting these increases was a decrease in dayrate revenues for the drillship “Energy Searcher” due to lower utilization as compared to the same period last year.
Tariff revenues from the floating production facility “Northern Producer” averaged approximately $110,000 per day in the first quarter of 2013. The company expects pricing levels to remain stable and production to decline slightly in the near term.
Drilling and production expenses for the three months ending March 31, 2013 were $5.1 million lower as compared to the same period in 2012, primarily due to a decrease in operating expenses for the jackup “Energy Exerter”, as the rig was sold in October 2012. This disposition also accounted for most of the $1.5 million decrease in depreciation expense for the current quarter as compared to the first quarter of the prior year. First quarter 2013 general and administrative expenses, interest expense, amortization of financing fees and other financial items were comparable to those of the same period in 2012.
As of May 14, 2013, the company had an outstanding credit facility balance of $22 million and a cash balance of approximately $40 million.
The company’s directors have declared a dividend of $0.05 per share, or approximately $8.2 million. shareholders of record on May 31, 2013 will be entitled to receive the dividend, which will be paid on or around June 14, 2013. The shares of the company will be trading ex-dividend from May 29, 2013.
Northern Offshore, Ltd. is a Bermuda holding company which operates offshore oil and gas drilling units and one production vessel in various markets around the world, including the North Sea, the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. The company’s fleet consists of four drilling units — a drillship, a semisubmersible and two jackup drilling rigs — and one floating production facility.
