TDW: Conference Call of 26 April

Tidewater management conducted a conference call with members of the financial community after reporting earnings for the quarter and fiscal year that ended on 31 March. The discussion didn't change our analysis, but the future guidance was informative. (Some apparent voice-to-text glitches add comic relief.)

The company made the following points:

• The utilization rates for deep-water vessels was in the high 90% range
• Dayrates for the fleet were higher by almost 22%
• The fleet has been updated: 109 new vessels
• If gains on asset sales are excluded, the year-on-year earnings gain was 87.4%
• There were two fewer revenue days in the March 2007 quarter than the December 2006 quarter
• The estimated tax rate for the current year is 19 percent, lower than the period just concluded by 2 percent
• 83% of revenues in the last quarter came from international activities
• The Gulf of Mexico is no longer the company's operational focus
  
• 22 of 35 vessels under construction will be delivered in fiscal 2008
• $237 million will be paid in fiscal 2008 for new vessels; current cash balances cover this easily.
• Management is aware that analysts (including us) are wondering how the large amount of cash on hand, and flowing in from operations, will be deployed: acquisitions? dividend increases? share repurchases?