To: bw who wrote (14609 ) 3/12/1998 1:28:00 PM From: Lucretius Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Hey now, I never flame (ggg) Especially not when one reports correct facts such as yourself. Yes, FLC does have a larger fleet, more drillships, etc. However, you left out that they are heavily weighted in the ultra shallow barge drilling area which (right now) is getting shall we say "less than a premium?" additionally, I don;\'t like RB, and never have. they've never hit numbers since I've been following them. they've also had repeated extraordinary losses form their oil and gas ops. MGT in RB just seems less than bright. FLC does have very sharp mgt (I owned them when it was $10 back in early '95 and still on the NASDAQ as FLCN(that was two splits ago) and they are HEAVILY commited to rapid growth. In times of trouble and doubt though, heavily leveraged co's are discounted. NE's mgt is somewhat conservative. They will not build speculative rigs, but are actively looking for aquisitions and as you know upgrading rigs to new designs that produce better margins and more cash flow. NE dmped theirland rig and shallow jackups onto NBR and PDE, respectively, last yr when drilling bullishness was at its peak, and began moving more towards deepwater when they purchased Nedrill Drilling in late '96 I believe(North sea drilling co.) That's where they got their harsh environment deepwater jackups, all of their drillships, and some of their semi's. Not a bad change out, eh? in hindsight. I'll never 2nd guess them after those brilliant moves. NE has gone thru major changes in the last 2 yrs and mgt contiues to greatly increase shareholder value which is what I'm after. James Day is one of the smartest men I have ever met. Don't mess w/ him. (ggg)
