Helmerich & Payne Q2 Profit Rises - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Contract driller of oil and gas wells Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (HP) Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $174.57 million or $1.59 per share, up from $151.08 million or $1.39 per share in the previous year.

On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.48 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company said its recent quarter result included about $0.02 per share of after-tax gains related to sale of used drilling equipment and nearly $0.12 per share of after-tax gains on sale of investment securities.

Operating revenues for the quarter grew to $893.43 million from $838.31 million in the prior year. Analysts estimated revenues of $888.35 million for the quarter.

President and CEO John Lindsay said, "The demand for new FlexRigs remains strong, and our U.S. land segment continues to benefit from increasing activity and recovering spot pricing levels. We have entered into agreements with five exploration and production companies to build and operate nine additional FlexRigs to drill unconventional resource plays in the U.S."

The company also increased its fiscal 2014 capital expenditures estimate to $1.1 billion from $950 million.