Nabors 1Q Profit Shrinks On Bad Hedges

The Associated Press

Nabors Industries Ltd. on Tuesday said its first-quarter profit fell by nearly 41 percent as a write-down tied to commodity price hedges offset strong international results for the Bermuda-based oil and gas drilling company.

Nabors reported net income for the three months ended March 31 of nearly $125.2 million, or 44 cents per share, down from a profit of $212 million, or 74 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Among various one-time items, the company recorded a non-cash, pretax write-down of $75 million against the value of one of its oil and gas ventures, based on commodity prices on March 31.

Total revenue and other income fell nearly 14 percent to $1.14 billion from $1.32 billion in the year-ago period. The latest quarter's performance fell short of the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who forecast revenue of $1.2 billion, on average.

Nabors' international business grew by 14 percent to $103 million in the latest quarter, while other segments, including Nabors' operations in Alaska and other parts of the U.S., posted smaller increases. Revenue at Nabors' Canadian operations declined by $29 million, falling to $13.2 million.