Offshore drilling services provider Transocean reported a 49% drop in its fourth quarter profits due to increased costs and lower fleet utilisation.
The company closed the fourth quarter of 2013 on a net income of $233million, compared to $456million a year earlier, as overall costs and expenses climbed 5.7%.
The firm’s cash flows were impaired by $560million in payments associated with the January 2013 Macondo disaster settlement with the Department of Justice, which contributed heavily to the cut in income from operating activities – to $1.92billion from $2.7billion in 2012.
The company also recorded a $200million drop in revenues compared to the third quarter of the year, but a slight increase on the same period in 2012.
Lower fleet utilisation in the fourth quarter of last year – at 75% compared to 82% in the previous quarter – resulted in an increase in idle and stacked rigs and a 2.3% decrease in in fleet revenue efficiency, primarily due to well control equipment downtime on certain ultra-deepwater rigs, all contributed to the drop.
Separately to its financial statement the company announced the award for construction of two ultra-deepwater drillships to a Singapore shipyard at a total estimated cost of $1.24billion, due to be delivered by early 2018.
Additionally, Transocean has entered into an option agreement to order up to three additional drillships of the same design and specifications on similar terms.