edit: copied post from Tosca on i-village
Seadrill increases quarterly dividend a penny to .61/ share on earnings of .77/share.
seadrill.com
seadrill.com
Excerpts:
We have so far this year added contracts worth more that US$3.4 billion to our contract
backlog that currently totals US$12.2 billion. This provides us with one of the best
earnings visibility in our industry. All our deepwater floaters have secured employment
throughout 2011 something that insulates us against any near term volatility in this market
segment. For our tender rigs and jack-up rigs, the visibility is more mixed between short
and long-term contracts. At present, the average contract length is 23 months for our
tender rigs and 16 months for our jack-up rigs. We expect to continue to add more
contract visibility for the tender rigs and jack-up rigs in the months to come.
It is our objective to generate competitive returns to our shareholders through paying out a
significant part of the operating cash flow as regular quarterly cash dividends. In May this
year, the Board decided to increase the quarterly dividend target from US$0.55 to
US$0.60 based on the significant influx of new contracts. The Board has considered the
Company’s financial position, the earnings visibility and status of the current operations
and have, based on the solid position, decided to increase the quarterly dividend for the
second quarter to US$0.61 . The ex. dividend date has been set at September 8, 2010,
record date is September 10, 2010 and payment date is on or about September 24, 2010.
The Board believes that Seadrill is uniquely positioned due to our asset base consisting of
mainly brand new assets, our global presence, our strong order backlog and solid
operations. Furthermore, Seadrill benefits from long and strong relationships with its banks
and support from its shareholders. The Board is convinced that this together with an
operationally focused organization creates a strong platform for further growth and
superior return to shareholders compared to what is created by more traditional industry
peers as well as by speculative asset owners.
The results for the third quarter 2010 are likely to show good growth, solid profitability and
a strong basis for continued high dividend capacity. |
