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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thean who wrote (9150)	1/22/1998 8:06:00 AM
From: Teddy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

DO reports earnings and some other articles of interest: biz.yahoo.com Iran running out of oil in 5 years? biz.yahoo.com Iran opens off shore fields for bid: biz.yahoo.com And a snip from thestreetdotcom: "...As was the case last fall, the deepwater is taking center stage in the roiling sector. Halter Marine said it noticed a shift in customer interest toward deepwater units that came sooner than it expected. In a Wednesday conference call management told analysts and investors that three companies were investigating construction for deepwater semisubmersibles -- on contract rather than on spec. Halter, operating 20 shipyards in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Florida, is one of the world's largest builders of offshore support vessels, the ships that transport material and equipment and provide manpower for offshore rigs. The company also builds and repairs offshore mobile rigs as well as a variety of vessels for commercial and government use. But the energy business provided roughly half of its fiscal 1998 third-quarter revenue. A good indicator of its strength going forward is its order backlog. Total backlog grew to $733 million as of Dec. 31. Of that, $463 million is energy-related, up from $153.2 million a year ago -- a 200% increase. Halter's backlog does not include several large projects in the works whose contracts still have to be signed, including a major conversion project for Diamond Offshore (DO:NYSE), the construction of three drilling barges for Ensco International (ESV:NYSE) and another conversion project for Noble Drilling (NE:NYSE). Net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31, Halter's fiscal 1998 third quarter, was $8.8 million, or 29 cents per share, on revenue of $180.6 million. In the year-ago period, the company reported net income of $4.2 million, or 15 cents per share, on revenue of $112.5 million. Much of the revenue increase came from acquisitions throughout the year. Third quarter earnings per share came in 3 cents above First Call consensus estimates, yet the news did nothing to bolster the share price Wednesday -- HLX closed down 1 7/16, or 5.8%, at 23 6/32. The November acquisition of three companies -- AmClyde Engineered Products, Utility Steel Fabrication and Fritz Culver -- formed the basis of Halter's Engineered Products Group. That division that has contributed significantly, to the tune of $48 million, to the company's backlog. In January HLX acquired the operating assets of McElroy Machine and Manufacturing and folded it into the division, which provides equipment such as winches and mooring systems to rig operators. "The key to HLX is that Engineered Products Group," says Bill Sanchez, who follows the company at Howard Weil Labouisse Friedrichs in Houston. "It's a definite wild card. It complements their rig construction and repair business and will give them a heads-up on new orders. It's a nice area of growth for them." Howard Weil participated in underwriting for HLX in 1996."