16 Dec 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice, same website-only reporting pattern.
Announcements, explained
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
18 Nov 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice; no rig-level detail filed with the SEC.
23 Oct 2014production update● Neutral
Announced its monthly fleet status report. The 8-K attaches no exhibit - the report itself was posted only to the company website - so the filed record carries no rig, dayrate or utilisation figures.
17 Sept 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice with no rig-level data in the SEC filing.
20 Aug 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice, same website-only pattern.
23 July 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice; no rig-level detail filed with the SEC, as oil prices had begun sliding through mid-2014.
19 June 2014material agreement termination▼ BadMajor
Hercules disclosed that Angola's Sonangol had rejected three straight proposed local compliance representatives, forcing termination of the Hercules 267's drilling contract there -- the rig had already sat at zero dayrate since April 2014, and losing the contract cuts an estimated $91.8 million from the company's backlog. (Corrected from contract_award: the filing describes a contract termination, not an award.)
20 May 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice continuing the same reporting pattern.
22 Apr 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice with no rig-level data filed with the SEC.
31 Mar 2014debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Hercules completed the refinancing, stripping covenants and lien protections from the old 7.125% notes and closing the new $300 million 6.750% notes sale -- the last of its debt-cost improvements before the downturn began.
24 Mar 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice, same website-only reporting pattern.
18 Mar 2014debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Hercules sold $300 million of 6.750% notes due 2022 to fund a tender offer for its 7.125% secured notes from the 2012 Ocean Columbia financing -- its cost of debt kept falling into early 2014, just before the oil-price crash hit the industry.
20 Feb 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice; rig dayrate and contract detail again posted only to the company website.
22 Jan 2014production update● Neutral
Routine monthly fleet-status notice continuing the same website-only reporting pattern.
18 Dec 2013production update● Neutral
Another routine monthly fleet-status notice; no rig-level data included in the SEC filing itself.
21 Nov 2013production update● Neutral
Same routine monthly fleet-status notice, with the underlying rig data posted only to the company website rather than filed with the SEC.
22 Oct 2013production update● Neutral
Hercules posted its regular monthly Fleet Status Report on its website as usual; no rig-level dayrate or contract detail was filed with the SEC this time, only the cover notice.
7 Oct 2013debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Hercules completed the refinancing, stripping most covenants from the old 10.50% notes via noteholder consent and closing the new $300 million 7.50% notes sale -- retiring its most expensive crisis-era debt.
23 Sept 2013debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Hercules sold $300 million of 7.50% notes due 2021 to fund a tender offer for its $300 million of 10.50% notes issued during the 2009 crisis -- a real improvement in its cost of debt.
16 Sept 2013production update● Neutral
Another rig was dispatched to assist with salvaging the damaged Hercules 265, even as Hercules kept signing new contracts at record rates (one letter of award reaching $127-129K).
21 Aug 2013production update▼ BadMajor
The rig Hercules 265 sustained extensive damage and was pulled from the market -- a real casualty amid an otherwise still-strong rate cycle.
18 July 2013production update▲ Good
Rates held near their peaks even as one Angola-area rig was delayed waiting on work visas.
10 July 2013debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Hercules completed the $400 million notes sale funding its Discovery Offshore acquisition and newbuild rig payments, and separately extended its revolving credit facility to 2018 at reduced pricing -- a rare improvement in credit terms.
2 July 2013debt financing● NeutralMajor
Hercules agreed to sell $400 million of 8.750% senior notes due 2021, with proceeds (plus ~$104 million from the liftboat/inland-barge sales) earmarked to fund the Discovery Offshore acquisition and a $333.9 million final payment for the newbuild rigs Discovery Triumph and Discovery Resilience.
24 June 2013capital raising announcement▲ GoodMajor
Hercules moved to exit the liftboat business it was built on -- selling its entire U.S. Gulf of Mexico liftboat fleet (29 marketed, 10 cold-stacked) to All Coast, LLC for about $54 million -- while launching a tender offer for the rest of Discovery Offshore S.A., a $400 million note offering, and a buyback that retired all but $7 million of its original 2038 convertible notes: a wholesale repositioning into modern high-spec jackups.
20 June 2013production update▲ Good
Domestic dayrates hit new peaks (up to $106-108K on some rigs) as the boom continued.
23 May 2013production update▲ Good
The Angola rig's three-year contract at $108-110K became active, running all the way to mid-2016 -- locking in years of high-margin international revenue right at the top of the cycle.
24 Apr 2013production update▲ Good
The new three-year, $108-110K Angola contract was confirmed while domestic rates held at cycle highs.
21 Mar 2013production update▲ Good
Hercules signed a letter of award for a new Angola rig with Chevron's CABGOC at $108-110K for three years -- among the highest rates in the company's history -- as domestic rates held near their $60-103K peaks.
21 Feb 2013production update▲ Good
Rates held near their highs (some contracts above $100K) as the fleet stayed fully booked through mid-2013.