OSLO, Norway, May 8, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Petroleum Geo-Services ASA ("PGS" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited first quarter 2008 results under IFRS.
-- Highest quarterly revenues ever: Revenues of $456.6 million, up
$104.1 million (30%). Operating profit of $166.1 million,
excluding the gain from sale of Ramform Victory, up
$46.6 million (39%) compared to Q1 2007
-- Marine: Strong operating profit of $174.2 million in Q1 2008,
excluding the gain from sale of Ramform Victory, up $60.5 million
(53%) from Q1 2007 driven by improved contract margins and high
vessel utilization
-- Onshore: Performed as expected in Q1 2008 with operating profit
of $3.9 million, down $8.8 million (69%) from Q1 2007, which was
an exceptionally strong quarter for Onshore due to high
multi-client sales and good performance by arctic crews
-- Continued high order backlog: Order backlog for Marine and Onshore
at March 31, 2008 was $783 million and $122 million, respectively
-- Strong prefunding and late sales in Europe: Marine multi-client
sales in Europe was $45.4 million in Q1 2008, up $24.1 million
(113%) from Q1 2007
-- Delivery of Ramform Sovereign: The vessel was delivered March 6,
2008 on schedule, and started working soon after the christening
ceremony in Alesund March 12, 2008. The vessel performs well. Steel
work on Ramform Sterling is currently ahead of original schedule at
Aker Yards hull building facility in Romania
-- Gain from sale of Ramform Victory to the Japanese Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry ("METI"), of $71.6 million
Petroleum Geo-Services is a focused geophysical company providing a broad range of seismic and reservoir services, including acquisition, processing, interpretation, and field evaluation. The company also possesses the world's most extensive multi-client data library. PGS operates on a worldwide basis with headquarters at Lysaker, Norway.
For more information on Petroleum Geo-Services visit www.pgs.com.
The information included herein contains certain forward-looking statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future. These statements are based on various assumptions made by the Company, which are beyond its control and are subject to certain additional risks and uncertainties. The Company is subject to a large number of risk factors including but not limited to the demand for seismic services, the demand for data from our multi-client data library, the attractiveness of our technology, unpredictable changes in governmental regulations affecting our markets and extreme weather conditions. For a further description of other relevant risk factors we refer to our Annual Report for 2007. As a result of these and other risk factors, actual events and our actual results may differ materially from those indicated in or implied by such forward-looking statements.