USA: Helix Energy Solutions Announces 3Q 2012 Results

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. reported net income of $14.9 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2012 compared with net income of $46.0 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, for the same period in 2011, and net income of $44.6 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2012. The net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 was $125.2 million, or $1.18 per diluted share, compared with net income of $113.2 million, or $1.06 per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2011.

Third quarter 2012 results were impacted by the following items:

•  Subsea construction vessel, Intrepid, was sold in September for $14.5 million resulting in a pre-tax loss of $12.9 million.
• Impaired certain held-for-sale well intervention assets in Australia in September resulting in a pre-tax charge of $4.4 million.
• Incurred $6.0 million pre-tax of additional abandonment costs associated with the final decommissioning of the Camelot oil and gas property located offshore in the UK.
• Production shut-in totaling approximately 130 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (MBoe) as a result of Hurricane Isaac (approximately $7.5 million pre-tax).

The above four items resulted in an after-tax impact of $0.21 per share.

On October 15, 2012, Helix entered into an agreement to sell the pipelay vessels, Caesar and Express, and related equipment to Coastal Trade Limited for a total of $238.3 million. The sale of these assets is expected to close in two stages as each vessel completes its existing contractual backlog. The Express closing is expected to occur in February 2013 and the Caesar closing is expected to occur in July 2013. Helix received a $50 million deposit in connection with this transaction which is only refundable in limited circumstances. In the fourth quarter of 2012, we expect to take a pre-tax impairment charge of approximately $160 million, or approximately $100 million after tax, related to the Caesar and related equipment. In the first quarter of 2013, we expect to record a pre-tax gain of approximately $14 million, or approximately $9 million after tax, related to the sale of the Express. The closing of this transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

 Owen Kratz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Helix, stated, “Our well intervention and robotics businesses continue to perform at a high level and the outlook remains robust. Customer interest for well intervention services is very strong. We are focused on building on our solid foundation for these two business lines, thus the strategic decision to sell our pipelay fleet.”

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Press Release, October 23, 2012