HOUSTON (AP) -- Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. said Thursday that its second-quarter net income tumbled 24 percent, as its contract drilling revenue slid.
Despite the drop, the Houston-based oil services company beat Wall Street predictions, and its shares rose 3.5 percent in afternoon trading.
The company also said Thursday that it will pay a special quarterly dividend of 75 cents per share and a regular quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per share. Both will be paid on Sept. 4 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 1.
Diamond posted net income of $201.5 million, or $1.45 per share, down from $266.6 million, or $1.92 per share, in the same quarter last year. This year's results included an after-tax gain of $50.5 million, or 36 cents per share, related to the sale of five rigs.
Without that the company posted an adjusted profit of $1.09 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted profit of 90 cents per share.
Total revenue fell 17 percent to $738.2 million from $889.5 million, as contract drilling revenue dropped 16 percent to $726.3 million. That beat analysts' predictions of $735.3 million.
The company noted that since the first quarter of this year, it has put in place 14 new agreements that are expected to generate about $1.1 billion in revenue and 10 years of contract-drilling backlog.
In afternoon trading, Diamond shares rose $2.18, or 3.4 percent, to $66.05. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $51.16 and $72.80.
