Seadrill Q1 Earnings Drop 53%, Dividend Gets a Boost

Seadrill Ltd.’s (SDRL, SDRL.OS) first-quarter earnings slumped 53% over a year-earlier period, boosted by the sale of its Seawell subsidiary, masking better-than-expected revenue from the Norwegian oil-services company.

The company, which provides drilling and well services, focuses on deepwater drilling. It noted Monday that it expects results in the current quarter to get a boost from two ultra-deepwater rigs commencing operations, as well as a full quarter of earnings from a jack-up rig that went into operation in March.

For the first quarter, Seadrill reported a profit of $416 million, or 87 cents a share, down from a year-earlier profit of $879 million, or $1.83 a share. The results were skewed by one-time items, including a $540 million gain in the year-earlier period tied to the Seawell sale.

Revenue fell 5.4% to $1.05 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $1.03 billion.

Operating margin widened to 43.4% from 38.7%.

Operating profit for floaters, the company’s largest segment, rose 1.9% to $318 million, while the jack-up rigs business reported a 4.7% increase in operating profit. The tender rigs unit posted a flat profit.

The company also increased its quarterly cash dividend by 2.5% to 82 cents a share.

Shares were off 1.9% to $35.92 premarket. Through the close, the stock is up 10% since the start of the year.

-By Mia Lamar, Dow Jones Newswires

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