Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
26 Nov 2008debt financing● NeutralMajor
Weeks after Lehman Brothers' collapse, Atwood expanded its credit capacity again -- amending its existing Nordea facility (now $200 million drawn) and adding a separate new credit agreement -- proactively shoring up liquidity as the financial crisis hit.
The HUNTER lined up a four-year megacontract with Noble Energy and Kosmos Energy in the Eastern Mediterranean at dayrates in the $500,000s -- among Atwood's richest contracts yet -- while the EAGLE lost about $2.4 million in the quarter to unplanned downtime.
The FALCON locked in a two-year South China Sea contract at a record $425,000/day, the SOUTHERN CROSS headed to West Africa at $352,000/day, and the RICHMOND rode out Hurricane Ike undamaged with no lost drilling time.
Atwood amended its $300 million credit facility to allow up to $300 million more in permitted debt, with $170 million already drawn -- more room to fund the newbuild program.
The still-under-construction ATWOOD AURORA landed a two-year, $165,000/day contract with RWE offshore Egypt ahead of its delivery, while the SOUTHERN CROSS lined up a conditional West Africa well at $262,500/day.
Atwood ordered a third newbuild, a $750-775 million ultra-deepwater drillship from Jurong for mid-2012 delivery -- its biggest capital bet yet, and unlike the first Jurong rig, ordered without a customer contract already in hand.
A second 2-for-1 stock split in two years took effect, with the shareholder rights plan's share-purchase ratio adjusted to match -- a sign of how far the stock had run during the drilling boom.
The HUNTER's Petronas contract extended into early September and the rig is being marketed at a premium to its current rate; the SOUTHERN CROSS is set to move to the $406,000/day ENI job in Italy once its Turkish work wraps up.
Dayrates kept climbing: the SOUTHERN CROSS moved from a $320,000/day Turkish contract to a $406,000/day two-well job for ENI in Italy, while the HUNTER resumed work for Petronas (as Woodside's farm-out) at $240,000/day and the SEAHAWK's Hess contract in Equatorial Guinea extended to March 2009.