For rig builder National Oilwell Varco
Well, I at least hope that you are interested in these latest results, dear Fool, because they were excellent.
For the quarter, revenues rose 28%, while operating profit lifted 51%. As for operating margins, they did what they always do:
Fiscal Period |
Operating Margin (%) |
---|---|
Q4, 2007 |
21.6 |
Q3, 2007 |
21.1 |
Q2, 2007 |
20.8 |
Q1, 2007 |
19.7 |
Q4, 2006 |
18.3 |
Q3, 2006 |
16.1 |
NOV wrings out efficiencies like nobody's business. This is what makes it such a successful serial acquirer. Just one example is last year's opening of a new aftermarket service center in Houston. This new space tackles rig refurbishment, freeing up other facilities to focus on new equipment. Management pointed directly to this and other manufacturing initiatives as the source of margin improvement in the core Rig Technology segment.
In the course of another educational conference call, I gained a completely new understanding of the firm's aftermarket sales business. As became clear, aftermarket does not mean afterthought.
It all began with CEO Pete Miller noting that NOV is building most of the world's deepwater rigs -- not to mention two harsh environment semisubmersibles for the giant Shtokman field that Total SA
Now how is NOV so confident that drillers like Transocean
- Total and Atwood have a tale to tell.
- It took some dredging to reveal StatoilHydro's hedging.