USA: Diamond Offshore Profit Drops

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc.  today reported net income for the fourth quarter of 2010 of $241.7 million, or $1.74 per share on a diluted basis, compared with net income of $276.1 million, or $1.98 per share on a diluted basis, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010 were $840.9 million, compared with revenues of $890.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Results for the fourth quarter of 2010 were positively impacted by lower tax expense resulting from passage of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 in mid-December 2010. Provisions in the legislation contributed to an effective tax rate for the Company of 22.2% for the fourth quarter of the year, compared to an effective tax rate of 30.4% for the first nine months of 2010 which did not include any impact from the legislation.

For the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company reported net income of $955.5 million, or $6.87 per share on a diluted basis, compared with net income of $1.4 billion, or $9.89 per share on a diluted basis, for the year ended December 31, 2009. Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2010 were $3.3 billion, compared with $3.6 billion for 2009.

Diamond Offshore provides contract drilling services to the energy industry and is a leader in deepwater drilling.

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Source:Diamond Offshore, February 3, 2011