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

To: 007 who wrote (14624)	3/12/1998 1:52:00 PM
From: Lucretius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Sorry, don't know enough about DO, other than they have much more Deepwater exposure in the form of semi's and drillships than NE. DO is a great co. BUT....... again, NE will show stronger growth due to its EVA conversions and rig reactivations. Additionally, there is a strong possibility of further deepwater aquisitions due to its strong balance sheet. -Lucretius

To: 007 who wrote (14624)	3/12/1998 1:56:00 PM
From: JZGalt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

How about a couple of words comparing NE with DO? I'd be a mite bit concerned if " Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc said Thursday that Robert Rose has resigned as president, chief executive officer and a director to pursue another opportunity." Makes me wonder, but I'm long NE so take it with a grain of salt. ---- Dave

To: 007 who wrote (14624)	3/12/1998 2:41:00 PM
From: JZGalt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

NE and DO by the numbers. Data is about 1 week old, but I doubt if there are new financials since then. This is from Baseline Reports. There is considerably more optimism for the long term prospects of NE in the earnings estimates. DO looks to have been underperforming since October. tscn.com FWIW: ---- DO at 46 1/8 Business Overview Not just any old cubic zirconia, Diamond Offshore Drilling is the contract offshore oil and gas driller with the world's largest fleet of semisubmersible rigs. It has 30 semisubmersibles, one drill ship, and about 15 jack-up rigs, or mobile drilling platforms. Diamond markets to companies such as British Petroleum and Shell (each of which accounts for about 15% of sales), Exxon, Chevron, and Texaco, and also to government-owned oil companies. Diamond operates in the Gulf of Mexico, where it has more than 1/2 the market for semisubmersible drilling rigs, and in the North Sea and offshore Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa. Loews, which spun off Diamond Offshore in 1995, owns a 52% stake in the company. Capitalization % LT Debt to Total Cap 21% Owned by Institutions 48.3% Market Capitalization 6.4 Bil Avg Dly Vol (30 days) 1,346,400 Earnings $ % Latest Qtr. (Dec 97) .55 up 80% Latest 12 Months 1.94 up 90% First Call Consensus Estimate LT Future 36% Current Qtr. (Mar 98) .60 up 52% Yr. Ended Dec. 98 3.14 up 62% Yr. Ended Dec. 99 4.12 up 31% Revenues Latest Qtr. (Dec 97) 272 Mil up 46% Latest 12 Months 956 Mil up 56% Key Ratios & Measures 5 Yr. Range Current P/E 19 - 219 23.8 Price to Book 1.9 - 7 4.4 Price to Cash Flow 10.5 - 47.4 18.6 Price to Sales 3.7 - 10.3 6.72 Return on Equity 17.4% - 20.8% 20.8% Beta .83 NE at 29 5/16 Business Overview Noble Drilling is a contract oil and gas drilling company. Noble owns and operates one of the world's largest fleets of offshore mobile rigs, consisting of 32 jack- up rigs, 3 drill ships, 5 semi- submersibles, 5 submersibles, and 4 posted inland drill barges. Noble also manages 14 offshore platforms in the North Sea and one in Canada. In addition, the company owns 46 land rigs along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast and in Alberta, British Columbia, and Newfoundland, Canada. Noble operates in 11 countries besides the United States and Canada, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Angola, Nigeria, India, and Qatar. Capitalization % LT Debt to Total Cap 11% Owned by Institutions 76.8% Market Capitalization 3.8 Bil Avg Dly Vol (30 days) 1,292,300 Earnings $ % Latest Qtr. (Dec 97) .35 up 75% Latest 12 Months 1.02 up 59% First Call Consensus Estimate LT Future 50% Current Qtr. (Mar 98) .37 up 118% Yr. Ended Dec. 98 1.95 up 91% Yr. Ended Dec. 99 3.14 up 61% Revenues Latest Qtr. (Dec 97) 188 Mil up 33% Latest 12 Months 713 Mil up 39% Key Ratios & Measures 5 Yr. Range Current P/E 16 - 234 28.7 Price to Book .7 - 3.6 2.7 Price to Cash Flow 6.7 - 28.9 20.7 Price to Sales 1.2 - 7.1 5.4 Return on Equity .3% - 13.4% 13.4% Beta .99