Seadrill Rises on Solid Earnings Beat

Operating profit for the quarter was $384 million, down from $703 million sequentially. The decrease was primarily due to the gain on deconsolidation of SeaMex during the first quarter, and a loss on the sale of the West Polaris to Seadrill Partners during the second quarter. Taken together, these account for about $261 million (82%) of the sequential decline in operating profit.

The company listed a few of its highlights from this quarter as:

• The West Tellus and West Carina drillships commenced operations with Petrobras in Brazil on three year contracts.
• Deliveries of two drillships currently under construction, the West Draco and West Dorado, were deferred until the end of the first quarter of 2017.
• The deliveries of eight jack-ups currently under construction were deferred into 2016 and 2017.
• A revised leverage ratio with the Seadrill’s banking group was agreed to.
• Seadrill Group’s order backlog was roughly $14 billion.

Per Wullf, CEO and president of Seadrill Management Ltd., commented on earnings:

We continued to deliver safe and efficient operations during the second quarter. We are realizing the benefits of the cost management program we initiated in 2014 and we are now targeting an increased level of cost savings for 2015.

Seadrill has continued to be proactive in order to manage through the current downcycle. Contract renegotiations with our customers are progressing and we have reached agreements with two shipyards to manage our delivery schedule. We believe market conditions will remain challenging through 2016, and we will continue to focus on safety, efficient operations and cost management.

At the end of June 2015, cash and cash equivalents totaled $918 million, an increase of $15 million compared to the previous quarter.

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Shares of Seadrill closed Wednesday up 2.5%, at $6.50 in its 52-week trading range of $6.15 to $37.46. Following the earnings release, shares were down 3.2% at $6.71 in early indications Thursday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $12.98.