Noble Corp. 1Q Earnings on the Rise

Noble Corporation, an international offshore drilling contractor last night reported first quarter 2013 earnings of $150 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, compared to $128 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2012

Earnings for the first quarter of 2012 totaled $120 million, or $0.47 per diluted share. Revenues for the first quarter of 2013 were $971 million compared to $966 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 and $798 million in the first quarter of 2012.

David W. Williams, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Noble Corporation stated, “During the first quarter, we saw an improvement in our operational performance across several regions, compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. Two rigs accounted for most of the downtime in the quarter, the semisubmersibles Noble Clyde Boudreaux in Australia and in Brazil, the Noble Paul Wolff which experienced a failure of its wellhead connector bolts. Additional downtime was also experienced on the drillship Noble Globetrotter I in the U.S. Gulf, however, fleet-wide unplanned operational downtime improved by approximately 2 percentage points in the quarter from 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. While our performance improved in the quarter, achieving further reductions in downtime and improving operational performance remain key objectives for the Company.”

As for the outlook Williams added:  “We are increasingly confident that key fundamental factors in our business will remain in place, supporting robust deep and shallow water drilling activity beyond 2013. We are evaluating a number of contract opportunities, both for existing rigs in our fleet, and those to be added this year and next, following the completion of construction programs. I believe Noble is in a strong position to secure many of these opportunities, given the geographic mix of our assets and the well-timed delivery of our newbuilds. Overall, Noble is on the right path to deliver improved execution and greater value to our shareholders.”