Transocean Ltd. reported net loss attributable to controlling interest of $210 million, $0.48 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
First quarter 2018 results included favorable items, as follows:
- $6 million, $0.02 per diluted share, gain on disposal of assets; and
- $1 million in discrete tax benefits.
These favorable items were partially offset by:
- $7 million, $0.02 per diluted share, of Songa acquisition costs.
After consideration of these net items, first quarter 2018 adjusted net loss was $210 million, or $0.48 per diluted share.
Contract drilling revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2018, sequentially increased $35 million to $664 million. The increase was primarily due to the addition of four harsh environment semisubmersibles on long‑term contracts that were acquired from Songa on January 30, 2018. The quarter was also favorably impacted by the commencement of operations of the newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship, the Deepwater Poseidon. These increases were partly offset by reduced operating days on a few ultra‑deepwater rigs that rolled off contract, and lower revenue efficiency related to the Petrobras 10000. The rig returned to work on March 4. Additionally, the quarter included a non-cash revenue reduction of $19 million from contract intangible amortization associated with the Songa acquisition.
Contract drilling revenues also included customer early termination fees of $38 million on the Discoverer Clear Leader, compared with $25 million in the prior quarter. Additionally, customer reimbursement revenues were $26 million, compared with $15 million in the previous quarter.
Operating and maintenance expense was $424 million, which included $24 million of reimbursable costs. This compares with $386 million in the prior quarter. The anticipated sequential increase was primarily due to the two months of activity from the acquisition of Songa, as well as the commencement of operations of the newbuild, the Deepwater Poseidon.
General and administrative expense was $47 million, compared with $43 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. The sequential increase was primarily due to professional fees associated with the Songa acquisition.
Depreciation expense was $202 million, up from $184 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. The increase was primarily due to the acquisition of Songa.
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized, was $147 million, compared with $123 million in the prior quarter. The increase in interest expense resulted primarily from the debt assumed in the acquisition of Songa, partially offset by early debt retirements in 2017. Capitalized interest sequentially decreased $12 million to $13 million primarily due to the commencement of operations of the Deepwater Poseidon. Interest income was $12 million, compared with $9 million in the prior quarter.
The Effective Tax Rate(2) was (42.2) percent, down from 8.3 percent in the prior quarter. The decrease was primarily due to changes in the relative blend of income from operations in certain jurisdictions. The first quarter of 2018 partially includes the impact of the U.S. tax reform (“2017 Tax Act”). The company continues to assess and analyze the portion of the 2017 Tax Act related to transition tax. The Effective Tax Rate excluding discrete items(3) was (42.8) percent, compared with 25.4 percent in the previous quarter.
Cash flows from operating activities sequentially decreased $141 million to $103 million. The decrease was primarily due to the receipt in the prior quarter of the early termination payment related to the Discoverer Clear Leader.
First quarter 2018 capital expenditures of $53 million were primarily related to the company’s newbuild drillships. This compares with $111 million in the previous quarter.
“This first quarter of 2018 was significant for Transocean and our best‑in‑class fleet,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Thigpen. “We consummated the Songa Offshore acquisition, which added four new, contracted, high‑specification, harsh environment semisubmersibles to our fleet, and further bolstered our industry-leading backlog. We also welcomed another newbuild ultra‑deepwater drillship to our fleet, the Deepwater Poseidon, and mobilized her to the Gulf of Mexico where she recently commenced operations on a ten‑year contract.”
Thigpen added: “Operationally, we delivered another solid quarter. When adjusting for the time to safely return the Petrobras 10000 to work, our revenue efficiency for the quarter exceeded 96%. This strong operating performance, when combined with our unwavering commitment to safely streamline our cost structure, enabled us to generate approximately $100 million in cash flow from operations, resulting in a quarter-end cash and short‑term investments balance of approximately $2.9 billion.”
“We remain encouraged by the increase in floater contracting activity that we have experienced in recent months; and, we believe that the combination of stable oil prices, lower project breakeven economics, and historically low global reserve replacement will continue to drive increased demand for Transocean’s industry‑leading assets and services.”
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We present our operating results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (U.S. GAAP). We believe certain financial measures, such as Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Normalized EBITDA, which are non-GAAP measures, provide users of our financial statements with supplemental information that may be useful in evaluating our operating performance. We believe that such non-GAAP measures, when read in conjunction with our operating results presented under U.S. GAAP, can be used to better assess our performance from period to period and relative to performance of other companies in our industry, without regard to financing methods, historical cost basis or capital structure. Such non-GAAP measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
All non-GAAP measure reconciliations to the most comparative U.S. GAAP measures are displayed in quantitative schedules on the company’s website at: www.deepwater.com.
About Transocean
Transocean is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. The company specializes in technically demanding sectors of the global offshore drilling business with a particular focus on ultra-deepwater and harsh environment drilling services, and believes that it operates one of the most versatile offshore drilling fleets in the world.
Transocean owns or has partial ownership interests in, and operates a fleet of 47 mobile offshore drilling units consisting of 27 ultra-deepwater floaters, 12 harsh environment floaters, two deepwater floaters and six midwater floaters. In addition, the company is constructing two ultra-deepwater drillships. We also continue to operate one high-specification jackup that was under a drilling contract when we sold the rig, and we will continue to operate this jackup until completion or novation of the drilling contract.
For more information about Transocean, please visit: www.deepwater.com.
