Item 2. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
Forward-Looking Information
The statements included in this quarterly report regarding future financial performance and results of operations and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States (“U.S.”) Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements in this quarterly report include, but are not limited to, statements about the following subjects:
◾our results of operations, our revenue efficiency and other performance indicators and our cash flow from operations;
◾the offshore drilling market, including the effects of declines in commodity prices, supply and demand, utilization rates, dayrates, customer drilling programs, stacking and reactivation of rigs, effects of new rigs on the market, the impact of changes to regulations in jurisdictions in which we operate and changes in the global economy or market outlook for our various geographical operating sectors and classes of rigs;
◾customer drilling contracts, including contract backlog, force majeure provisions, contract awards, commencements, extensions, terminations, renegotiations, contract option exercises, contract revenues, early termination payments, indemnity provisions and rig mobilizations;
◾liquidity, including availability under our bank credit agreement, and adequacy of cash flows for our obligations;
◾regulatory or other limitations imposed as a result of the acquisition of Songa Offshore SE (“Songa”), a European public company limited by shares, or societas Europaea, existing under the laws of Cyprus or the acquisition of Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (“Ocean Rig”), a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability;
◾the success of our business following completion of the acquisition of Songa or Ocean Rig;
◾the ability to successfully integrate our business with the Songa and Ocean Rig businesses;
◾the risk that we may be unable to achieve expected synergies from the acquisitions of Songa or Ocean Rig or that it may take longer or be more costly than expected to achieve those synergies;
◾debt levels, including impacts of a financial and economic downturn, and interest rates;
◾newbuild, upgrade, shipyard and other capital projects, including completion, delivery and commencement of operation dates, expected downtime and lost revenue, the level of expected capital expenditures and the timing and cost of completion of capital projects;
◾the cost and timing of acquisitions and the proceeds and timing of dispositions;
◾the optimization of rig-based spending;
◾tax matters, including our effective tax rate, changes in tax laws, treaties and regulations, tax assessments and liabilities for tax issues, including those associated with our activities in Brazil, Nigeria, Norway, the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) and the U.S.;
◾legal and regulatory matters, including results and effects of legal proceedings and governmental audits and assessments, outcomes and effects of internal and governmental investigations, customs and environmental matters;
◾insurance matters, including adequacy of insurance, renewal of insurance, insurance proceeds and cash investments of our wholly owned captive insurance company;
◾effects of accounting changes and adoption of accounting policies; and
◾investment in recruitment, retention and personnel development initiatives, defined benefit pension plan contributions, the timing of severance payments and benefit payments.
Forward-looking statements in this quarterly report are identifiable by use of the following words and other similar expressions:
| anticipates | | budgets | | estimates | | forecasts | | may | | plans | | projects | | should |
| believes | | could | | expects | | intends | | might | | predicts | | scheduled | | |
Such statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to:
◾those described under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” included in Part I of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018;
◾the adequacy of and access to sources of liquidity;
◾our inability to obtain drilling contracts for our rigs that do not have contracts;
◾our inability to renew drilling contracts at comparable dayrates;
◾operational performance;
◾the cancellation of drilling contracts currently included in our reported contract backlog;
◾losses on impairment of long-lived assets;
◾shipyard, construction and other delays;
◾the results of meetings of our shareholders;
◾changes in political, social and economic conditions;
◾the effect and results of litigation, regulatory matters, settlements, audits, assessments and contingencies; and
◾other factors discussed in this quarterly report and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which are available free of charge on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
The foregoing risks and uncertainties are beyond our ability to control, and in many cases, we cannot predict the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or to persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to these risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement. We expressly disclaim any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in our expectations or beliefs with regard to the statement or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any forward-looking statement is based, except as required by law.