National Oilwell Varco has reported that for its first quarter ended March 31, 2010 it earned net income of $422 million, or $1.01 per fully diluted share, up seven percent compared to fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009 net income of $394 million, or $0.94 per fully diluted share.
Earnings per share decreased 11 percent compared to the first quarter of 2009, when the company earned $470 million or $1.13 per fully diluted share. The first quarter 2010 results included Venezuela asset write-off and currency devaluation charges of $38 million, or $0.09 per share.
Net income for the first quarter of 2010 excluding the Venezuela charges was $460 million, or $1.10 per fully diluted share.
Reported revenues for the first quarter were $3.03 billion, a decrease of three percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 and a decrease of 13 percent from the first quarter of 2009. Operating profit for the quarter, excluding the Venezuela charges, was $648 million or 21.4 percent of sales.
Operating profit excluding the Venezuela charges improved $26 million, despite the $102 million decline in revenue.
During the first quarter of 2010 the Company’s Rig Technology segment backlog of capital equipment booked $618 million in new orders, partially offset by order cancellations, adjustments and change orders of $71 million, resulting in net order additions of $547 million.
Backlog for capital equipment orders for the company’s rig technology segment was $5.4 billion at March 31, 2010 compared to $6.4 billion at December 31, 2009.
Pete Miller, chairman, president and CEO of National Oilwell Varco, remarked, “Our company got off to a great start in the first quarter, with all three segments posting higher sequential margins. Our rig-count driven Distribution and Petroleum Services & Supplies units benefitted from cost cutting in prior periods and higher drilling and pressure pumping activity across North America, and Rig Technology continued its skillful execution of orders in its backlog. Aggressive pursuit of manufacturing efficiency across our wide offering of oilfield products, our leading technologies, great service, and, most importantly, the best workforce in the industry, led to solid earnings this quarter.”
