Offshore drilling company Transocean (NYSE: RIG) reported a wider-than-expected loss of 30 cents per share in the first quarter of 2019. Analysts had projected a loss of 29 cents per share.
At $754 million, total contract drilling revenues were 13.5% higher compared to last year. This was also better than the street expectation of $751.3 million. The increase was primarily due to a full quarter of revenues from three working rigs acquired in the Ocean Rig acquisition in December, as well as higher revenue efficiency in the ultra-deepwater floaters.
Average daily revenues increased 6.5% to $306,500.
Following the earnings announcement, the stock gained 1% in the extended trading hours on Monday. RIG shares have gained 24% since the beginning of this year and 28% in the trailing 52 weeks.
Transocean CEO Jeremy Thigpen said, “Over the past four quarters, we have secured over $2 billion in new contract awards; and, based on our recent customer engagements, it appears that the stabilization of oil prices, and the continued improvement in offshore project economics, have combined to provide our customers with the requisite confidence to move forward with more offshore projects.”
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Earlier this month, the Switzerland-based company had reported its quarterly fleet status, where it stated that it added about $373 million in contract backlog, bringing total backlog to $12.1 billion.