Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.375 per Class A ordinary share payable on 23 March 2012 to holders of Ensco's American depositary shares (ADS) as of the 12 March 2012 record date. The prior quarterly dividend was $0.35 per share.
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Rabun stated, "The quarterly dividend increase is supported by our strong financial position and positive outlook for future earnings growth. Higher utilization and average day rate projections for both our deepwater and jackup segments, new long-term contracts recently signed for our newbuild rigs and increasing customer demand have given us even greater visibility into future cash flows."
Mr. Rabun added, "Management and the Board believe the new dividend payout is prudent and sustainable. We expect that we will continue to have adequate liquidity to meet capital commitments for our rigs under construction, as well as sufficient flexibility to make new investments. We will continue to assess economic and market conditions to evaluate whether additional dividend increases may be appropriate in the future as part of our overall capital management plan."
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Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) brings energy to the world as a global provider of offshore drilling services to the petroleum industry. We are ranked #1 for overall customer satisfaction in the leading independent survey conducted by EnergyPoint Research with #1 ratings in 14 of 16 separate categories. Ensco has served customers for 25 years and operates the world's second largest offshore drilling fleet comprised of dynamically-positioned drillships and semisubmersibles, moored semisubmersibles and premium jackups. To learn more about Ensco, please visit our website at www.enscoplc.com. Ensco plc is an English limited company (England No. 7023598) with its registered office and corporate headquarters located at 6 Chesterfield Gardens, London W1J 5BQ.
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and similar words and specifically include statements regarding expected financial performance, day rates and backlog; and general market, business and industry conditions, trends and outlook.Such statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to vary materially from those indicated, including downtime and other risks associated with offshore rig operations; and possible cancellation or suspension of drilling contracts as a result of mechanical difficulties, performance or other reasons.In addition to the factors described above, you should also carefully read and consider "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Part I and "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, which is available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.enscoplc.com.Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statements, except as required by law.
Contacts:
Ensco plc
Investor Contacts
Sean O'Neill, 713-430-4607
Vice
President - Investor Relations and Communications
or
Nicolas
D. Robert, 713-430-4490
Manager - Investor Relations
or
Media
Contact
Alice Brink, 713-430-4658
Manager - Communications