CGGVeritas Sees 16% Increase in YOY Revenue

- CGGVeritas Sees 16% Increase in YOY Revenue

Friday, July 29, 2011
CGGVeritas

CGGVeritas announced its non-audited second quarter 2011 consolidated results. All comparisons are made on a year-on-year basis unless stated otherwise. All second half 2010 results are reported before restructuring and impairment.

• Group Revenue was $750MM, up 16% year-on-year and 3% sequentially.
• Group Operating Income was $16MM:
• Sercel continued to deliver strong performance with Operating Income at $76MM, a margin of 29%.
• Services Operating Income was a loss of $29MM mainly related to North American seasonality in Land, operational interruptions and continued overcapacity in the marine market.
• Multi-client marine and Processing & Imaging contributions were particularly strong.
• Net Income was negative at $38MM, including one-off $17m refinancing costs.
• Net Free Cash Flow was negative at $7MM this quarter and positive at $58MM for the first half of the year.
• Net Debt to Equity ratio was 40%.
• Debt maturity was extended to 2021 and Term Loan B was fully repaid with the issuance of our $650 million Senior Note.
• As planned in our Performance Program, following their upgrades, the Oceanic Phoenix and Oceanic Endeavour returned to operations. Our ship management partnership with Eidesvik was established and a support vessel charter agreement with Bourbon was signed. The Commander was decommissioned at the end of May.
• BroadSeisTM, our advanced marine solution continued to see growing acceptance, and we further developed our newly established commercial joint ventures.
• Our cost reduction program is progressing well in the context of rising fuel cost and the weakening US dollar.

Backlog as of July 1st sequentially strengthened, up 7% to $1.31 billion.

Post Closing Events

Strategic agreement signed with Spectrum, a Norwegian multi-client company, for the contribution by CGGVeritas of our 2D Multi-client marine library for a consideration in cash and a 25% equity position in Spectrum.

CGGVeritas CEO, Jean-Georges Malcor commented, "During the quarter, Sercel delivered excellent performance and Services, despite the impact of Land seasonality, continued to see the signs of a progressively strengthening second half of the year.

"North American Land activity was seasonally low as we repositioned our crews from Canada and the Arctic to the lower 48 for an expected robust summer campaign. Increasing demand for our marine multi-client data in advance of the announced Gulf of Mexico and Brazil lease sales was confirmed, a promising trend for both future multi-client sales and the progressive balancing of over-capacity in marine.

"Our performance plan is progressing well in a context that remains impacted by rising fuel cost and a weakening US dollar. We continued to manage our balance sheet proactively with the significant extension of debt maturity, and in the first half of the year generated positive net free cash flow.

"Looking forward, we expect Sercel to continue to deliver strong financial performance and, while difficult conditions remain in the marine market, Services should benefit from our performance program and from the increasing demand for multi-client data in the second half of the year and particularly near year-end."

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CGGVeritas Signs Strategic Agreement with Spectrum

- CGGVeritas Signs Strategic Agreement with Spectrum

Friday, July 29, 2011
CGGVeritas

CGGVeritas has signed a strategic agreement with Spectrum, a Norwegian multi-client company, for the contribution by CGGVeritas of its 2D Multi-client marine library for a consideration in cash and a major equity position in Spectrum.

CGGVeritas has reached a strategic agreement with Spectrum whereby Spectrum will purchase over 500,000 km of CGGVeritas 2D marine Multi-client library, not including select Joint Venture data such as the Kazakhstan library, for a consideration of $40 million to be paid in cash and in shares. With a 25% equity stake in the company, and as part of the agreement CGGVeritas will gain a seat on the Spectrum Board and will provide seismic expertise, technology and services including acquisition, processing and data management to the company.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO of CGGVeritas said, "We are very pleased to establish a strategic relationship with Spectrum, who is recognized in the industry for their expertise and commercial development of successful 2D marine libraries. Together, through our combined capabilities we will be able to better meet the 2D marine seismic requirements of our clients."

Closing is expected in mid-September and is subject to all necessary approvals. The two companies will work together to smoothly and effectively address prior CGGVeritas governmental and national agreements and obligations.

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CGGVeritas to Expand Fleet with 6 BOURBON Support Vessels

- CGGVeritas to Expand Fleet with 6 BOURBON Support Vessels

Tuesday, June 28, 2011
CGGVeritas

CGGVeritas has signed a five-year marine charter agreement with BOURBON for six new support vessels to assist its seismic operations. The new vessels will be delivered starting at the end of 2012.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO of CGGVeritas, said, "This agreement to charter vessels to support our seismic acquisition operations is another step in our ambitious plan to improve the performance of our fleet and streamline the number of our maritime partners. CGGVeritas will benefit from the expertise of the BOURBON group and its commitment to the highest standards of operating quality and safety worldwide."

"We are delighted to have been chosen by CGGVeritas, which comes as further confirmation of BOURBON's capacity to adapt to meet the needs of its clients," announced Christian Lefèvre, CEO of BOURBON. "At the same time, this agreement emphasizes BOURBON's recognized expertise in the design and management of marine service vessels. The construction of a new segment of vessels for our fleet fits perfectly with the investments we are making under the BOURBON 2015 strategic plan."

The chartered vessels will support CGGVeritas seismic vessels during their survey operations around the world, by providing them with the requisite ancillary services including refueling, crew change, food and equipment delivery, storage, assistance, and support during in-sea maintenance operations. In addition, their unique hybrid propulsion will offer exceptional operational flexibility and low energy consumption.

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CGGVeritas Offers $600MM in Private Placement

- CGGVeritas Offers $600MM in Private Placement

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
CGGVeritas

CGGVeritas intends to pursue an offering of senior notes due 2021 in an aggregate principal amount of approximately $600 million in a private placement in the international capital markets. The notes will rank pari passu with the existing senior notes of CGGVeritas due 2016 and 2017.

The net proceeds of this offering will be used to repay in full CGGVeritas’ term loan B facility and to redeem the remaining $70 million principal amount of its 7½% Senior Notes due 2015.

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CGGVeritas Granted Seismic Permit in GOM

- CGGVeritas Granted Seismic Permit in GOM

Monday, May 23, 2011
CGGVeritas

CGGVeritas has been granted a seismic permit in the Gulf of Mexico.

Based on the award of this permit, CGGVeritas is currently in discussions with various E&P companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico to finalize the design of a new multi-client program. The program will utilize BroadSeis, our breakthrough broadband marine solution, in a wide-azimuth configuration.

Subject to our standard prefunding considerations, the Gulf of Mexico program is targeted to commence in the fourth quarter of 2011.

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CGGVeritas Inks Agreement with Elnusa

- CGGVeritas Inks Agreement with Elnusa

CGGVeritas has signed an agreement with Elnusa to create a marine joint venture company. The newly established company, PT Elnusa-CGGVeritas Seismic, is 51% owned by Elnusa and 49% owned by CGGVeritas and will deliver 2D and 3D marine seismic acquisition services to oil and gas company clients mainly operating in Indonesia and the Region.

PT Elnusa-CGGVeritas Seismic will operate the first Indonesian-owned and flagged seismic vessel, the Elnusa Finder. The Elnusa Finder was purpose-built in Singapore and is equipped with four Sercel solid streamers. She is scheduled to conduct her first commercial survey in Indonesia starting in May, 2011, near Madura Island in East Java, on behalf of Husky Oil.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO of CGGVeritas, said, "The Indonesian and regional oil and gas E&P industry has significant potential for growth. Our new joint venture will enable our long-term partner, Elnusa, to expand its capability in marine seismic services by building on local expertise and offering the benefits of the latest CGGVeritas seismic technology to regionally established clients."

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CGGVeritas, PetroVietnam Enter Seismic JV

- CGGVeritas, PetroVietnam Enter Seismic JV

Friday, May 20, 2011
CGGVeritas

CGGVeritas has signed an agreement with PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) to create a marine joint venture company. The newly established company, PTSC CGGVeritas Geophysical Survey Company Limited, is 51% owned by PTSC and 49% owned by CGGVeritas and will deliver 2D and 3D marine seismic acquisition services to oil and gas company clients mainly operating in Vietnamese waters and the region.

CGGVeritas will contribute the Amadeus, a high-capacity 3D seismic vessel, to the joint venture and PTSC will contribute the Binh Minh II, a 2D seismic vessel.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO of CGGVeritas, said, "This joint venture builds on our long-term partnership with PTSC by supporting growing demand for 3D marine seismic for deepwater exploration and production in Vietnamese waters and by providing infrastructure for PTSC's international E&P activity and expansion globally."

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CGGVeritas Marks Ops Step-Change with Eldesvik JV

CGGVeritas Marks Ops Step-Change with Eldesvik JV

Monday, May 02, 2011
CGGVeritas

CGGVeritas announced Monday a new joint venture with the Norwegian ship-owner Eidesvik Offshore to manage ten high-capacity 3D vessels in the CGGVeritas fleet, including the two new X-BOW vessels, Oceanic Vega and Oceanic Sirius. The joint venture, CGGVeritas Eidesvik Ship Management AS, will be based in Bergen and is 51 % owned by Eidesvik and 49 % owned by CGGVeritas.

The joint venture marks a step-change in the way CGGVeritas operates its high-end seismic vessels. It creates an integrated team of highly skilled professionals dedicated to ship management to fully support and develop the performance of the fleet. CGGVeritas and Eidesvik are both contributing resources and support to the joint venture.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO of CGGVeritas, said: "This new joint venture is a key step in our performance action plan. It builds a strong partnership that is focused on shared objectives around the operational excellence of our marine fleet and supports our plans to streamline the number of our maritime partners. I look forward to working closer with our long-term partner Eidesvik to further strengthen our business in the future."

CGGVeritas is a leading international pure-play geophysical company delivering a wide range of technologies, services and equipment through Sercel, to its broad base of customers mainly throughout the global oil and gas industry.

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CGGVeritas Buys Petrodata Consulting

CGGVeritas Buys Petrodata Consulting

Friday, April 22, 2011
CGG Veritas

CGGVeritas has purchased Petrodata Consulting.

The acquisition of Petrodata further strengthens the reservoir services of CGGVeritas, via Hampson-Russell Software & Services, offering seamless, fully integrated reservoir studies and field development planning.

Since the Petrodata team came together in 1997 its highly qualified staff has established a reputation of excellence in the Russian industry. Many on the team are qualified to act as official experts for GKZ and TsKR, the Russian reserves and production regulatory authorities. By capitalizing on their extensive experience and expertise, Petrodata developed a significant share of the domestic reservoir services market and have captured a growing share of projects for international oil and gas companies around the world.

Rob Mayer, Sr. VP, Hampson-Russell Software & Services, CGGVeritas, said, "We are very pleased by this acquisition which perfectly complements our existing high-end stochastic, petrophysical and 4D inversion technologies to better define the reservoir. We look forward to strengthening our Hampson-Russell Software & Services presence in the important Russian oil and gas market and leveraging the excellent reservoir engineering skill set of the Petrodata team across our worldwide network of CGGVeritas service centers to better meet the specific local needs of our clients."

CGGVeritas Briefs on Vessel Fleet

CGGVeritas Briefs on Vessel Fleet

Friday, April 08, 2011

CGG Veritas

CGGVeritas provided its vessel utilization and its fleet allocation updates for the first quarter of 2011.
Vessel utilization for the first quarter 2011:

• The vessel availability rate1 was 81% including 13% for the on-going upgrades of the Master and the Endeavour as part of our performance plan. This compares to a 84% availability rate in the fourth quarter of 2010 and a 90% rate in the first quarter of 2010.
• The vessel production rate2 was 80% following operational interruptions that resulted from maritime incidents and piracy risks which led to stand-by, additional transit and non-planned shipyards. This compares to a 92% production rate in the fourth quarter of 2010 and a 92% rate in the first quarter of 2010.

Fleet allocation update for the first quarter 2011:

• During the first quarter of 2011, our 3D vessels were allocated 94% to contract and 6% to multi-client programs.

Multi-client sales for the first quarter 2011:

• Following very strong seasonal sales in the fourth quarter of 2010, multi-client sales were low this quarter.

Bahamas Petroleum Contracts CGGVeritas for Seismic Services

Bahamas Petroleum Contracts CGGVeritas for Seismic Services

Friday, April 01, 2011
Bahamas Petroleum Co. plc

Bahamas Petroleum has signed a Letter of Award with CGGVeritas to carry out a minimum of 1500 km2 3D seismic survey across its Southern license area. The details of the contract are to be finalized in April 2011 with commencement of operations in May 2011. Bahamas Petroleum Company will engage the ship 'Veritas Viking' to acquire the seismic 3D survey. The Veritas Viking will use ten seismic streamers incorporating CGGVeritas' new BroadSeis technology for the first time in the Americas.

Paul Crevello, Chief Executive of Bahamas Petroleum Company, said, "I am very pleased to announce the award of this 3D seismic contract to CGGVeritas. CGGVeritas is one of the world's most proficient seismic survey providers and its BroadSeis technology is regarded as being one of the most advanced systems. We are looking forward to commencing operations in May 2011. Fast track interpretation of the data will follow with results to be announced thereafter. The Government of the Bahamas are fully supportive of this program and we are working closely with them to put regulations and protocols in place for further exploration."