On Friday, Rowan Companies reported earnings from continuing operations of 95 cents a share, topping Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75 cents a share for the Houston-based contract driller.
Net adjusted income was $119.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. In the prior year fourth quarter, excluding a non-cash asset impairment charge, net income was $111.5 million, or 89 cents per share.
Rowan’s revenues were $535.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, a decrease of 4% from the prior-year quarter. This was a result of a significant increase in jackup idle time. This more than offset an increase from the company’s four newbuild ultradeepwater drillships.
In its earnings release Friday, Rowan announced that it had recently executed a contract with EOG Resources in Trinidad for the Ralph Coffman. The 240-C-class jackup rig will mobilize from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and is estimated to commence operations in the third quarter of this year for five wells. The contract’s estimated duration is one year at a rate of $135,000 a day.
“While Rowan finished 2015 with exceptional operational performance and the best safety-related performance, highest EBITDA and EBITDA margins in the company’s recent history, we are mindful of the extremely challenging market environment that lies ahead,” Tom Burke, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We have strategically positioned Rowan to weather this difficult business climate through our solid liquidity position, attractive debt maturity profile, low level of capital commitments, substantial backlog, and high-specification and modern fleet. As we continue to navigate through this down cycle we will continue to focus on revenue efficiency and reducing our cost structure to further enhance our competitive position.”
Rowan ended the year with over $480 million in cash after retiring nearly $100 million of company debt. The cash balance plus Rowan’s undrawn revolver of $1.5 billion give the company access to almost $2 billion.
In Rowan’s earnings call Friday, Burke said the company is in a strong position to weather the depressed market.
“I feel confident in our liquidity position given our robust expected free cash flow from our high-quality backlog, continued focus on cost and capital spend, and savings followed the elimination of our dividends,” Burke told analysts. “We feel quite prepared to handle an extended downturn.”
Burke predicted that the market would remain depressed in the near future. “With respect to market conditions, I wish I had more positive news. But the current environment is relatively poor. Most of our customers are focused on preserving liquidity and cutting short-term spending. We are seeing a few bright spots … there seems to be more jackup opportunities deepwater at the moment, but we do not see a recovery in either markets in the near term.”
Rowan’s fleet is made up of 27 jackup rigs and four ultradeepwater drillships.
