Investors News Release Details

Superior Energy Services, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results

October 28, 2009
Core Earnings of $0.36 Per Diluted Share Before Non-Cash Charges

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: SPN) today announced net income of $24.4 million, or $0.31 per diluted share on revenue of $386.5 million for the third quarter of 2009. Net income for the third quarter of 2008 was $97.3 million, or $1.19 per diluted share on revenue of $490.3 million.

Excluding non-cash, pre-tax charges of $6.2 million related to its equity-method investments, the Company had adjusted net income of $28.4 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009, compared with adjusted net income of $85.0 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2008. The third quarter 2009 charges to the Company's equity-method investments include unrealized losses from hedging contracts and other non-cash items.

Operational factors impacting the third quarter include the following:

    --  Total revenue decreased 21% as compared with the third quarter of 2008
        ("year-over-year") and increased 7% as compared with the second quarter
        of 2009 ("sequential"). The sequential change was primarily due to
        increased demand for production-related services and rental tools in
        international markets, and increased demand for well intervention
        services and liftboats in the Gulf of Mexico.
    --  Well Intervention Segment revenue of $254.3 million decreased 20%
        year-over-year and increased 10% sequentially. Rental Tools Segment
        revenue was $100.8 million, a 26% decrease year-over-year and a 2%
        decrease sequentially. Marine Segment revenue of $31.3 million decreased
        8% year-over-year and increased 14% sequentially.

    --  Gulf of Mexico revenue was approximately $222.9 million, or 3% higher
        sequentially; domestic land revenue was approximately $71.4 million, a
        sequential decline of 4%; and international revenue was approximately
        $92.1 million, a sequential increase of 30%.

Terence Hall, Chairman and CEO of Superior, stated, "International demand for rental tools and production-related services coupled with increased demand for well intervention services and liftboats in the Gulf of Mexico more than offset activity declines in our domestic rental tools businesses. In our Well Intervention Segment, we benefitted from additional international activity in West Africa and Europe. In our Marine Segment, liftboat activity was higher due to increased utilization across most vessel classes and a full quarter of contribution from our two 265-foot class liftboats. Looking ahead, we expect the bottoming process in domestic land markets to continue. In addition, we anticipate seasonal factors will further reduce activity levels during the winter months in all major geographic markets."

Well Intervention Segment

Third quarter revenue for the Well Intervention Segment was $254.3 million, a 20% decrease year-over-year and a 10% increase sequentially. Income from operations was $31.6 million, or 12% of segment revenue as compared with $90.3 million, or 28% of segment revenue, in the third quarter of 2008, and $27.6 million (excluding $92.7 million in special charges), or 12% of segment revenue, in the second quarter of 2009.

This segment experienced sequential increases in production-related service activity in all three major geographic regions. In the domestic land market, the biggest activity increases were in hydraulic workover and snubbing services. In the Gulf of Mexico, activity increased sequentially for the Company's plug and abandonment services and all of the segment's production-related services, with the largest increases coming from cased hole wireline, coiled tubing, hydraulic workover and snubbing services, and engineering and project management. International revenue in this segment increased due to well control work and sales of well control equipment in Nigeria, increased cased hole wireline and snubbing demand in Continental Europe, and work on the Company's projects off the Angola coast.

Rental Tools Segment

Quarterly revenue for the Rental Tools Segment was $100.8 million, a 26% decrease year-over-year and a 2% decrease sequentially. Income from operations was $17.9 million, or 18% of segment revenue, as compared with $43.6 million, or 32% of segment revenue in the third quarter of 2008, and $20.1 million, or 20% of segment revenue in the second quarter of 2009. Activity declined in the domestic land market for stabilization equipment. Gulf of Mexico rentals decreased primarily due to fewer rentals of drill pipe in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico as a result of transition downtime for several ongoing projects. These declines were partially offset by a 17% increase in international revenue primarily due to increased rentals of drill pipe in Brazil and Colombia, and sales of accommodation units in the Middle East.

Marine Segment

Marine Segment revenue was $31.3 million, an 8% decrease year-over-year and a 14% increase sequentially. Income from operations was $5.1 million, or 16% of segment revenue, down from $6.5 million, or 19% of segment revenue in the third quarter of 2008, and up from $4.9 million, or 18% of segment revenue in the second quarter of 2009. Average daily revenue in the third quarter was approximately $340,000, inclusive of subsistence revenue, as compared with approximately $368,000 per day in the third quarter of 2008 and approximately $302,000 in the second quarter of 2009. Average fleet utilization was 62% as compared with 81% in the third quarter of 2008 and 53% in the second quarter of 2009. Utilization was higher across most liftboat classes. The results include a full quarter of contribution from the two 265-foot class liftboats, which were added to the fleet during the second quarter of 2009.


      Liftboat Average Dayrates and Utilization by Class Size
              Three Months Ended September 30, 2009
                           ($ actual)

      Class      Liftboats    Average Dayrate    Utilization
      -----      ---------    ---------------    -----------
    145'-155'        10            $6,385           35.5%
    160'-175'         8             8,555           61.7%
    200'              5            11,329           84.1%
    230'-245'         3            27,330           92.4%
    250'              2            30,691           83.7%
    265'              2            41,247           78.3%

Equity-Method Investments

The Company's third quarter 2009 loss in its equity-method investments includes the aforementioned unrealized losses from hedging contracts of $1.5 million and other non-cash charges of $4.7 million. Excluding these items, earnings from equity-method investments were $2.0 million.

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call at 10:30 a.m. Central Time on Thursday, October 29, 2009. The call can be accessed from Superior's website at www.superiorenergy.com, or by telephone at 480-629-9645. For those who cannot listen to the live call, a telephonic replay will be available through Thursday, November 5, 2009 and may be accessed by calling 303-590-3030 and using the pass code 4169098#. An archive of the webcast will be available after the call for a period of 60 days on http://www.superiorenergy.com.

Superior Energy Services, Inc. serves the drilling and production-related needs of oil and gas companies worldwide through its brand name rental tools and its integrated well intervention services and tools, supported by an engineering staff who plan and design solutions for customers. Offshore projects are delivered by the Company's fleet of modern marine assets.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Accuracy of the forward-looking statements depends on assumptions about events that change over time and is thus susceptible to periodic change based on actual experience and new developments. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are volatility of the oil and gas industry, including the level of exploration, production and development activity; risks associated with the uncertainty of macroeconomic and business conditions worldwide, as well as the global credit markets; risks associated with the Company's rapid growth; changes in competitive factors and other material risk factors that are described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as updated by our subsequent filings with the SEC. Actual events, circumstances, effects and results may be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Consequently, the forward-looking statements contained herein should not be regarded as representations by Superior or any other person that the projected outcomes can or will be achieved. The Company cautions readers that it assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this press release and does not intend to update the forward-looking statements more frequently than quarterly.


                  SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
                       Consolidated Statements of Operations
              Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2009 and 2008
                 (in thousands, except earnings per share amounts)
                                    (unaudited)

                                Three Months Ended      Nine Months Ended
                                   September 30,           September 30,
                                   -------------           -------------
                                 2009         2008       2009         2008
                                 ----         ----       ----         ----
                                          As Adjusted              As Adjusted
                                            (Note 1)                 (Note 1)

    Oilfield service and
     rental revenues           $386,455     $490,282  $1,184,725   $1,334,256
    Oil and gas revenues              -            -           -       55,072
                                    ---          ---         ---       ------
      Total revenues            386,455      490,282   1,184,725    1,389,328
                                -------      -------   ---------    ---------

    Cost of oilfield
     services and rentals       215,674      236,610     635,407      649,839
    Cost of oil and
     gas sales                        -            -           -       12,986
                                    ---          ---         ---       ------
      Total cost of services,
       rentals and sales
       (exclusive of items
       shown separately below)  215,674      236,610     635,407      662,825
                                -------      -------     -------      -------

    Depreciation, depletion,
     amortization and
     accretion                   52,720       44,842     153,566      128,675
    General and administrative
     expenses                    63,425       68,379     188,694      204,411
    Reduction in value of
     intangible assets                -            -      92,683            -
    Gain on sale of businesses        -            -           -       40,946
                                    ---          ---         ---       ------

    Income from operations       54,636      140,451     114,375      434,363

    Other income (expense):
      Interest expense, net     (12,320)     (11,659)    (37,328)     (34,865)
      Earnings (losses)
       from equity-method
       investments, net          (4,161)      23,167     (21,331)      19,359
      Reduction in value
       of equity-method
       investment                     -            -     (36,486)           -
                                    ---          ---     -------          ---

    Income before income taxes   38,155      151,959      19,230      418,857

    Income taxes                 13,736       54,665       6,923      150,667
                                 ------       ------       -----      -------

    Net income                  $24,419      $97,294     $12,307     $268,190
                                =======      =======     =======     ========


    Basic earnings per share      $0.31        $1.21       $0.16        $3.32
                                  =====        =====       =====        =====

    Diluted earnings per share    $0.31        $1.19       $0.16        $3.27
                                  =====        =====       =====        =====

    Weighted average common
     shares used in computing
     earnings per share:
        Basic                    78,188       80,538      78,126       80,691
                                 ======       ======      ======       ======
        Diluted                  78,812       81,845      78,684       82,041
                                 ======       ======      ======       ======


    Note 1
    On January 1, 2009, we adopted the provisions of a new accounting standard
    which changed the accounting for the Company's 1.5% senior exchangeable
    notes.  The comparative Statements of Operations for the three and nine
    months ended September 30, 2008 have been adjusted to comply with this
    standard on a retrospective basis.



              SUPERIOR ENERGY SERVICES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
                        CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
                 SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 AND DECEMBER 31, 2008
                              (in thousands)


                                                9/30/2009   12/31/2008
                                                ---------   ----------
                                               (Unaudited) As Adjusted
                                                             (Note 1)
    ASSETS

    Current assets:
      Cash and cash equivalents                    $34,282     $44,853
      Accounts receivable, net                     354,902     360,357
      Income taxes receivable                        8,506           -
      Prepaid expenses                              27,511      18,041
      Other current assets                         379,106     223,598
                                                   -------     -------

            Total current assets                   804,307     646,849
                                                   -------     -------

    Property, plant and equipment, net           1,208,819   1,114,941
    Goodwill                                       481,021     477,860
    Equity-method investments                       55,678     122,308
    Intangible and other long-term assets, net      37,139     128,187
                                                    ------     -------
            Total assets                        $2,586,964  $2,490,145
                                                ==========  ==========

    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

    Current liabilities:
      Accounts payable                             $69,847     $87,207
      Accrued expenses                             143,756     152,536
      Income taxes payable                               -      20,861
      Deferred income taxes                         66,478      36,830
      Current maturities of long-term debt             810         810
                                                       ---         ---

            Total current liabilities              280,891     298,244
                                                   -------     -------

    Deferred income taxes                          241,899     246,824
    Long-term debt, net                            724,560     654,199
    Other long-term liabilities                     48,967      36,605

    Total stockholders' equity                   1,290,647   1,254,273
                                                 ---------   ---------

            Total liabilities and stockholders'
             equity                             $2,586,964  $2,490,145
                                                ==========  ==========


    Note 1
    On January 1, 2009, we adopted the provisions of a new accounting
    standard which changed the accounting for the Company's 1.5%
    senior exchangeable notes.  The comparative Balance Sheet as of
    December 31, 2008 has been adjusted to comply with this standard
    on a retrospective basis.



                Superior Energy Services, Inc. and Subsidiaries
                             Segment Highlights
              Three months ended September 30, 2009, June 30, 2009
                           and September 30, 2008
                                (Unaudited)
                              (in thousands)

                                          Three months ended,
                                          -------------------
    Revenue             September 30, 2009 June 30, 2009  September 30, 2008
                        ------------------ -------------  ------------------

    Well Intervention       $254,335         $231,121          $319,798
    Rental Tools             100,832          102,533           136,600
    Marine                    31,288           27,507            33,884
                              ------           ------            ------

    Total Revenues          $386,455         $361,161          $490,282
                            ========         ========          ========

                        ----------------------------------------------------
    Gross Profit (1)    September 30, 2009 June 30, 2009  September 30, 2008
                        ------------------ -------------  ------------------

    Well Intervention        $94,098          $83,607          $150,895
    Rental Tools              64,621           69,231            90,178
    Marine                    12,062           11,055            12,599
                              ------           ------            ------

    Total Gross Profit      $170,781         $163,893          $253,672
                            ========         ========          ========

                        ----------------------------------------------------
    Income from
     Operations         September 30, 2009 June 30, 2009  September 30, 2008
                        ------------------ -------------  ------------------

    Well Intervention (2)    $31,563         $(65,094)          $90,349
    Rental Tools              17,940           20,123            43,628
    Marine                     5,133            4,920             6,474
                               -----            -----             -----
    Total Income (Loss)
     from Operations         $54,636         $(40,051)         $140,451
                             =======         ========          ========


    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    Terence Hall, CEO; Robert Taylor, CFO;
    Greg Rosenstein, VP of Investor Relations, (504) 587-7374

SOURCE Superior Energy Services, Inc.

Terence Hall, CEO, or Robert Taylor, CFO, or Greg Rosenstein, VP of Investor Relations, all of Superior Energy Services, Inc., +1-504-587-7374