Transocean beats by $0.30, beats on revs
- Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.23 per share, $0.30 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.07); revenues fell 41.5% year/year to $785 mln vs the $728.84 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
- Rig utilization was 43% compared to 51% in the year ago period.
- Total contract backlog as of April 24, 2017 was $10.7 bln as compared to $11.3 bln on Feb. 9, 2017.
- Outlook: "For the drilling market, RIG's long-term view of the offshore drilling market remains positive, particularly for high-specification assets. The demand for our drilling services will continue to be driven primarily by oil prices. Although oil pricing has improved relative to the lows seen in 2016, our major customers continue to focus on cost and debt reduction and maintaining their current level of dividend payments. As such, we expect them to continue to limit spending on offshore exploration and development opportunities in 2017. However, certain independent and national oil companies continue to invest in near-term opportunities."