Rowan Companies, a Houston-based offshore drilling contractor, has reported a net loss of $239.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2015, as opposed to a profit of $119.6 million made in the corresponding period last year.
According to the drilling contractor, the current quarter includes a non-cash asset impairment charge of $273.8 million (after tax), a $75.3 million income tax charge, related to a valuation allowance on the company’s net U.S. deferred tax assets, and a $1.7 million legal settlement charge (after tax).
The drilling contractor’s adjusted net income for the third quarter of 2015 was $111.4 million. Net income for the prior-year quarter was $119.6 million and included a net income tax benefit which increased net income by approximately $41 million. Excluding the impact of this income tax benefit, net income was $78.6 million in the third quarter of 2014.
Rowan’s third quarter of 2015 revenues were $545.4 million, an increase of 17% over the prior-year quarter due primarily to the contributions from the company’s four newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships.
Tom Burke , President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “I am very pleased with our third quarter results, despite challenging market conditions. This strong performance was primarily due to earnings from our four, fully-utilized drillships, continued cost control success and outstanding uptime performance. In addition, we added nearly ten years of jack-up contract backlog during the quarter.
“Given the uncertainty of the duration of the current industry cycle, we remain focused on maintaining the strength of our solid balance sheet and believe our conservative financial approach will serve us well as we navigate through this business cycle.”