Vantage Drilling sees profit jump, debt reduction

Vantage Drilling Company, an offshore drilling contractor, has seen its profit for the second quarter of 2015 rise.

The company Tuesday reported net income for the three months ended June 30, 2015, of $25 million compared to earnings of $10.2 million in the same period last year.

The drilling contractor reported a drop in revenue of $212.26 million for the second quarter of 2015 compared to $219.72 million in the second quarter of 2014.

According to the company, the three months ended June 30, 2015 include approximately $5.6 million of gains on the early retirement of debt as compared to a loss on the early retirement of debt of $1.4 million in the prior year.

Vantage Drilling added that the operating results for the second quarter also required it to re-evaluate its effective tax rate for the year and combined with tax impact of the early retirement of debt resulted in a $2.7 million favorable adjustment to its tax provision as compared to a $3.5 million unfavorable adjustment in the second quarter 2014.

Adjusting for these items, pro forma net income for the three months ended June 30, 2015 was approximately $16.6 million as compared to $15.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2014.

The total debt retirement in the first half of 2015, including scheduled maturities and open market purchase of debt, totaled approximately $140 million at face value.

Following the end of the quarter, the company continued to acquire debt in the open market and has retired approximately $150 million of debt year to date with an annualized interest savings of approximately $9.7 million.

Paul Bragg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “During the 2nd quarter, we continued our strong operating performance and maintained our focus on strengthening the balance sheet. 

“In just over six quarters, we have now retired approximately $350 million of outstanding debt and greatly reduced our current debt, improving our 2015 and 2016 liquidity.” 

Vantage has a fleet of three ultra-deepwater drillships, the Platinum Explorer, the Titanium Explorer and the Tungsten Explorer, as well as an additional ultra-deepwater drillship, the Cobalt Explorer, now under construction, and four Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 ultra-premium jack-up drilling rigs.

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