Willbros Provides Update on Third Quarter and Full Year 2003
28 October 2003 - 8:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
Willbros Provides Update on Third Quarter and Full Year 2003 -
Announces Conference Call for Tuesday, October 28, at 9:00 a.m. ET
- Announces Third Quarter Earnings Release for Wednesday, November
5 HOUSTON, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Willbros Group, Inc.
announced today that, after a preliminary review of its financial
results for the third quarter of 2003, it now expects to report a
third quarter net loss in the range of $8.3 to $9.3 million or
($0.40) to ($0.45) per share, compared to its previous earnings per
share expectations of $0.17 to $0.22 announced in its second
quarter earnings release. The lower than expected financial results
are due to continued weakness in the North American markets,
additional costs associated with material delays in a U.S. project
as a result of heavy rains in the Southeast, increased costs
associated with the continued impact of social and political unrest
outside North America and weather conditions and storms offshore
West Africa. The combination of these factors resulted in
reductions of $17-20 million in contract income and $12-14 million
in net income from the Company's previous guidance for the third
quarter. "During the third quarter, revenue was lower than
anticipated because of market conditions. Furthermore, numerous
projects that we expected to be offered for bid and/or to be
awarded have been delayed," commented Michael F. Curran, President
and Chief Executive Officer. "In North America, lower revenue
levels, under-absorbed fixed costs, and additional costs on
existing contracts negatively impacted contract income in the third
quarter. In Nigeria, further strikes and work slow-downs due to
social and political unrest and weather conditions and storms
offshore West Africa resulted in margin reduction from our previous
forecast. While we remain profitable in Nigeria, we did not achieve
the level of contract income we had anticipated. We are
disappointed in Willbros' preliminary third quarter results;
however, we are encouraged by our recent significant contract
awards and increasing backlog." As a result of the expected third
quarter loss, contract margins achieved to date and continued
worldwide delays in project bidding and awards, especially a $40
million reduction in our anticipated Latin American work, Willbros
is revising its 2003 outlook. "Based on current information, we now
expect our 2003 revenue to be in the range of $390 to $410 million
and to post a loss for the year in the range of ($0.50) to ($0.55)
per share," stated Warren L. Williams, Senior Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Curran added, "We also want to update
you on the status of our ongoing negotiations with customers with
respect to resolution of contract variations. We believe that we
will finalize negotiations with one or more of these customers
before the end of this year, which will result in a significant
addition to both our operating results and our revised outlook for
2003 as presented today." Bidding activity has been improving
recently and is now being complemented by an increasing pace of
project awards. In addition to the $100 million in awards recently
announced, the Company has also been awarded $40 million in new
work in North America. This brings the total awards during the past
seven weeks to approximately $140 million in new projects in West
Africa, the Middle East and North America. Our competitive position
remains strong and management believes the Company will continue to
win its fair share of projects. As a result of the increase in
recent project awards, the Company's backlog is expected to be
approximately $215 million at the end of the third quarter, an
improvement of over 30 per cent from the end of the second quarter.
Mr. Curran stated, "We are pleased and encouraged by our recent
awards, especially because our bidding strategy continues to be
driven by pricing discipline. We believe that we are at the bottom
of a very pronounced downturn in our business and we remain
optimistic that our level of business and profitability will
improve during 2004 and 2005, driven by the pent-up demand for
pipeline engineering, construction and rehabilitation services
worldwide." In conjunction with this release, Willbros has
scheduled a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the
Internet, on Tuesday, October 28, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time
(8:00 a.m. Central). What: Willbros Preliminary Third Quarter 2003
Results Conference Call When: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 9:00 a.m.
Eastern Time How: Live via phone -- By dialing (303) 262-2175 and
asking for the Willbros call 10 minutes prior to the start time, or
live over the Internet by logging on to the web address below.
Where: http://www.willbros.com/ The web cast can be accessed from
the home page. For those who cannot listen to the live call, a
replay will be available through November 4, 2003, and may be
accessed by calling (303) 590-3000 using pass code 557626. Also, an
archive of the web cast will be available shortly after the call on
http://www.willbros.com/ for a period of 12 months. Willbros also
announced today that it will release its third quarter 2003 results
on Wednesday, November 5, 2003 after the market closes. Willbros
Group, Inc. is one of the leading independent contractors serving
the oil, gas and power industries, providing construction,
engineering and other specialty oilfield-related services to
industry and government entities worldwide. This announcement
contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, which address activities, events or
developments the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur
in the future, are forward-looking statements. A number of risks
and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially
from these statements, including such things as future E&P
capital expenditures, oil, gas, gas liquids and power prices and
demand, the amount and location of planned pipelines, the effective
tax rate of the different countries where the work is being
conducted, development trends of the oil, gas and power industries,
changes in the political and economic environment of the countries
in which the Company has operations, as well as other risk factors
described from time to time in the Company's documents and reports
filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update
publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise. CONTACT: Michael W.
Collier Investor Relations Manager Willbros USA, Inc. (713)
403-8016 Jack Lascar Partner DRG&E / (713) 529-6600 DATASOURCE:
Willbros Group, Inc. CONTACT: Michael W. Collier, Investor
Relations Manager of Willbros USA, Inc., +1-713-403-8016; or Jack
Lascar, Partner of DRG&E, +1-713-529-6600, for Willbros Group,
Inc. Web site: http://www.willbros.com/
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