Tidewater 2Q profit rises on one-time tax gain

Tidewater says 2nd-qtr profit rises 3 percent despite sales drop as it takes big tax benefit

• On 1:01 pm EDT, Thursday October 29, 2009

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Offshore energy supply company Tidewater Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter profit rose, even as sales fell, because of a huge one-time tax benefit.

The company, based in New Orleans, earned $98.2 million, or $1.90 per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. That is up from the $95.4 million, or $1.85 per share, it earned a year earlier.

Tidewater said the quarter's results included a $34.3 million benefit from a tax settlement that boosted results by 66 cents per share.

Excluding the benefit, the company earned $1.24 per share. That undershot expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude items, for profit of $1.37 per share.

Revenue fell almost 15 percent to $295.5 million from $344.8 million. Analysts had expected $308.9 million.

Shares rose 72 cents to $43.73 in early afternoon trading.