Rowan Companies (RDC) Reports Loss In Q4, Revenues Fall Y/Y

Rowan Companies plc (NYSE:RDC) reported fourth-quarter 2017 loss from continuing operations of 31 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 26 cents. However, the company reported profit of earned 8 cents in the year-ago quarter. The decline was mainly due to lower overall dayrates which were partially offset by a considerable fall in total expenses.

Total revenues were $297 million in the fourth quarter, down from $351.8 million in the prior-year quarter. The figure, however, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $274 million.

Full-year 2017 loss of 64 cents compared unfavorably with the year-ago adjusted profit level of $2.11 per share.

Total revenues in 2017 declined 15.7% to $296.7 million from $351.8 million.

Dayrates and Utilization

The company's deepwater rigs had a dayrate of $767,100 compared with $464,500 in the year-ago quarter. Jackup rigs saw a dayrate of $123,300, down from $156,600 in the prior-year quarter.

The overall dayrate of all rigs was $174,500 compared with $207,600 in fourth-quarter 2016. Average utilization of the company's rigs was 70%, up from65% in the comparable quarter last year.

Total Expenses

During the quarter, the company reported $156.2 million in costs compared with $310.6 million in the year-ago comparable period.

Financials

As of Dec 31, 2017, the company's cash balance was $1,332.1 million and long-term debt (including current maturities) was $2,510.3 million. The long term debt-to-capitalization ratio was 31.8%.

Q4 Price Performance

During the October-December quarter of 2017, Range Resources’ shares gained 21.9% compared with the industry’s 7.2% rally.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Rowan Companies carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

A few better-ranked players in the same sector are Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY) , Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) . All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Houston, TX-based Occidental Petroleum is an integrated oil and gas company. The company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 24.57% in the preceding four quarters.

Headquartered at Irving, TX, Pioneer Natural Resources is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. The company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 66.92% in the preceding four quarters.

ConocoPhillips, based in Houston, TX, is a major global exploration and production (E&P) company. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 144.45% in the preceding four quarters.

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