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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room

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To: GREENLAW4-7 who wrote (112681)10/30/2008 9:10:55 AM
From: kollmhn  Read Replies (1) of 206181
 
Grennie-

Here's GS' view of HERO:

"Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
October 29, 2008

COMPANY UPDATE Neutral
Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO) [$6.88]

Debt concerns overdone, but unlikely to prosper in the near-term

What's changed
HERO reported 3Q08 EPS of $0.37 vs. our $0.33 and consensus of $0.35 but in
line with the preannounced range of $0.36-$0.38. We lowered our EPS estimate
slightly to $0.98 for 2008 (from $1.18) and left 2009/2010 unchanged. We are
56% below consensus EPS for 2009 and 68% below for 2010.

Implications
We remain Neutral rated on Hercules, as there is no change to our $7,
six-month price target (4.5X 2009E DACF). We believe that the stock is
reflecting an appropriate value at this point in the cycle and do not expect
the shares to outperform given our negative outlook for the US GOM jackup
market. The domestic jackup market has remained strong due to the lower
supply of rigs (four due to the hurricane) and the possibility of up to eight
additional rigs leaving the region for international contracts; however,
drilling permits have declined by 35% since early 2008 and our analysis
suggests that at least $7/Mmbtu gas is needed to support drilling activity.

With that being said, we are impressed with management's discipline to stack
rigs to protect pricing, reduce costs, and cut capex. The consolidation in
the domestic jackup market over the past few years should allow the industry
to prevent the severity of losses that were experienced in the 1999 and 2002
down-cycles. We do not believe that the company is at risk of violating its
debt covenants, a concern that drove the shares to below $5. US GOM jackup
dayrates would need to average $40,000 in 2009 with utilization of 65% in
order for the company to exceed the set debt ratios.

Valuation
HERO trades at 4.5X 2009E EV/DACF and 3.8X 2009E EV-EBITDA vs. the offshore
driller average of 4.9X/4.1X.

Key risks
Risks include capacity additions or a decline in commodity prices."
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