Superior Well Services Inc. (SWSI)

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Superior Well 4th-quarter profit jumps 71 pct
Superior Well 4th-quarter profit jumps 71 percent on acquisition
Tuesday March 3, 2009, 2:29 pm EST
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INDIANA, Pa. (AP) -- Oil field services company Superior Well Services Inc. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit leapt 71 percent due in part to a recent acquisition.

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SWSI 5.30 +0.65


For the period ended Dec. 31, net income rose to $11.9 million, or 48 cents per share, up from $7 million, or 30 cents per share, a year ago.

Quarterly revenue totaled $161.7 million, up 70 percent from $94.9 million the previous year.

Superior Well said that the latest results stemmed from the maturation of service centers opened in the second half of 2007 and its acquisition of Diamondback Holdings LLC. That purchase made Superior Well the fifth largest pressure pumper in the U.S., it said.

The company said EBITDA -- or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization -- climbed 79 percent from a year earlier to $36.4 million.

In 2008, Superior Well earned $38.8 million, or $1.64 per share, up from $37.8 million, or $1.63 per share, in 2007. Sales rose 49 percent to $520.9 million.

Superior Well CEO David Wallace said he expects drilling activity to be substantially lower in 2009 than the prior year. That could reduce demand and ultimately the prices paid by customers for services, he said.

Shares of Superior Well rose 55 cents, or 11.8 percent, to $5.20 in afternoon trading.