ENSCO PLC (NYSE:ESV) reported that revenue came at $460 million in Q3 2017 versus revenue of $548 million in the same period, a year earlier. Revenues dropped 16% compared to the same period a year-ago, mainly due to fewer rig operating days and a drop in the average day rate for the fleet.
The details
Ensco reported that contract drilling expense dropped to $286 million in Q3 2017 from $298 million a year earlier as disciplined cost management comprising more efficient stacking of rigs, lower support costs and savings from fleet rationalization more than offset increased contract preparation costs. Depreciation expense came at $108 million in Q3 2017, which was consistent with the comparable period, a year earlier.
General and administrative expense jumped to $30 million in the third quarter from $25 million a year earlier due to transaction costs linked to the acquisition of Atwood. Other expense jumped to $40 million in Q3 2017 from $31 million a year earlier. The year-to-year comparison was impacted by gain of $18 million on the repurchase of senior notes at a price cut during third quarter 2016.
Ensco reported that interest expense in reported quarter came at $48 million, versus interest expense of $53 million in Q3 2016. The year-on-year drop in interest expense is mainly due to higher capitalized interest, partially offset by higher interest costs due to “Notes” issued in Q4 2016.
Tax expense jumped to $23 million in Q3 2017 from a tax benefit of $4 million a year ago. As mentioned above, Q3 2017 tax provision comprised discrete tax expense of $3 million versus other discrete tax benefit of $6 million in third quarter 2016. The allocation of projected full year tax expense across quarters impacted the year-to-year comparison.
In the last trading session, the stock price of Ensco jumped more than 4% to close the day at $5.21.
