So I am reducing the position by 1/3rd from 150 shares to 100 shares; this will raise about $5900 and lower Diamond Offshore to a 1.0% position.
Some color on yesterday's earnings that I did not have time to get to:
- Oil drilling contractor Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. said Thursday third-quarter profit jumped 25 percent, meeting Wall Street forecasts, as deepwater drilling revenue increased.
- Net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 rose to $205.5 million, or $1.48 per share, compared with $164.5 million, or $1.19 per share, during the same period a year earlier.
- Revenue for the quarter increased to $644 million, up from $514.5 million a year ago.
- Analysts expected profit of $1.48 per share on revenue of $645.3 million, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.
- All of Diamond Offshore's revenue growth came from its high-specification floating ships and intermediate submersibles. Both types of vessels typically operate in deeper water than conventional drilling platforms.
- Industrywide, demand has been soft for shallow-water drilling rigs, but is rising for deepwater vessels that are able to tap energy reserves in harder-to-reach places.
- The average daily rates Diamond Offshore charged for its intermediate submersibles and jack-up rigs increased both year-on-year and over the previous quarter, to $186,000 and $112,000, respectively. High specification floater rates averaged $302,000 a day, more than last year but $5,000 less than in the second quarter.
- However, utilization of all three drilling vessels declined sequentially and year-on-year.
