Cal Dive Reports Net Loss in Third Quarter (USA)

Cal Dive International, Inc. reported a third quarter 2011 net loss of $5.6 million, or $.06 per diluted share, excluding $28.8 million ($.31 per diluted share) of after-tax non-cash impairment charges related to certain fixed assets recorded as part of the Company’s annual impairment review.

Including the impairment charges, the Company reported a third quarter net loss of $34.4 million, or $.37 per diluted share. This compares to a net loss of $283.4 million, or $3.11 per diluted share for the same period of 2010, which included $302.5 million ($3.32 per diluted share) in after-tax impairment charges relating to goodwill and certain fixed assets. The improvement in net loss is primarily due to the goodwill impairment charge recorded in the third quarter of 2010 that did not re-occur in 2011. This was partially offset by lower activity in the Gulf of Mexico in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the third quarter of 2010 which included high activity related to cleanup efforts for the oil spill that resulted from the Macondo well blowout in 2010.

The pre-tax impairment charges relating to fixed assets were $36.6 million recorded in the third quarter of 2011 compared to $23.2 million in the third quarter of 2010. The charges recorded in the third quarter of 2011 are primarily related to a dive support vessel that experienced low utilization levels for an extended period of time in the Southeast Asia region and an idle construction barge. The Company does not expect any additional impairment charges for the remainder of 2011.

Quinn Hébert, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cal Dive, stated, “As expected, the third quarter was our most active quarter of the year primarily due to the favorable seasonal weather in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. During the quarter we also successfully completed the bulk of our cost saving initiatives that will benefit the Company moving forward, and we amended our credit facility to provide additional financial flexibility. However, our current results continue to reflect the challenging market conditions in the Gulf of Mexico and the highly competitive market in Southeast Asia. While the recovery in the Gulf of Mexico has been slower than expected, the permitting process is continuing to improve. We are optimistic this will benefit our Company in 2012 as our construction services lag behind drilling activity. The markets in Southeast Asia continue to be highly competitive and as a result we have reduced our operational and cost structure in the region to reflect the current state of the market. Elsewhere internationally, our current construction project in Mexico will be completed during the fourth quarter and we were pleased to recently announce our first contract win in Mexico for 2012. We expect 2012 to be a very active year in Mexico. In Australia we continue to perform diving related work on the Gorgon project which has now been extended into the first part of 2012.”

Financial Highlights

— Backlog: Contracted backlog was $221 million as of September 30, 2011 compared to backlog of $191.5 million at December 31, 2010 and $233.4 million at September 30, 2010.

— Revenues: Third quarter 2011 revenues were $132.9 million compared to $193.8 million generated during the third quarter 2010. Increased revenues from diving related work in Australia were offset by reduced revenues from the Gulf of Mexico primarily as a result of the lower activity levels compared to the same period in 2010 related to oil spill cleanup efforts following the Macondo well blowout. Effective utilization for the Company’s saturation diving vessels decreased from 88% to 67%, surface diving vessels decreased from 75% to 55% and construction barges decreased from 46% to 28%, from the third quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2011, respectively.

— Gross Profit: Third quarter 2011 gross profit decreased by $34.7 million to a gross profit of $12.1 million as compared to a gross profit of $46.7 million in the third quarter 2010. The decrease in gross profit is primarily due to reduced activity in the Gulf of Mexico partially offset by gross profit generated by diving related work in Australia.

— SG&A: Third quarter 2011 selling and administrative expenses decreased by $1.7 million to $13.4 million as compared to the third quarter 2010. The decrease is primarily due to cost savings initiatives and decreases in certain accruals relating to employee benefit plans. These decreases were partially offset by one-time severance costs incurred in the quarter. As a percentage of revenue, selling and administrative expenses were 10% for the third quarter 2011 and 8% for the third quarter 2010.

— Net Interest Expense: Third quarter 2011 net interest expense decreased by $0.5 million to $2.1 million as compared to the third quarter 2010.

— Income Tax Benefit: The effective tax rate for the third quarter 2011 was 13.5% compared to the effective tax rate of 1.2% for the third quarter of 2010. The increase in tax benefit was primarily due to the non-recurring goodwill impairment charge recorded in the third quarter 2010 that had a minimal tax benefit.

— Balance Sheet: Debt consisted of $150.0 million under our term loan and $34.5 million outstanding under the revolving credit facility. Cash and cash equivalents were $6.7 million, for a net debt position of $177.8 million as of September 30, 2011, compared to net debt positions of $140.8 million at December 31, 2010 and $172.2 million at September 30, 2010.

The Company previously announced an amendment to its credit facility, which matures in April 2016. In connection with the amendment, the primary financial covenants included in the credit facility were amended, and the size of the revolving credit facility was reduced from $300 million to $150 million. The amendment made no changes to the $150 million term loan or its scheduled quarterly principal payments.

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Source: Cal Dive, November 02, 2011