Vantage Drilling Company reported unaudited consolidated earnings results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015. For the quarter, the company reported net income of $21,430,000 or $0.06 per diluted share compared to $24,824,000 or $0.07 per diluted share a year ago. Total revenue was $217,649,000 against $232,465,000 a year ago. This sequential increase was primarily due to increased utilization of the deepwater fleet during the quarter. Income from operations was $81,053,000 against $91,003,000 a year ago. Income before income taxes was $50,773,000 against $37,202,000 a year ago. Net cash provided by operating activities was $64,491,000 against $49,320,000 a year ago. Additions to property and equipment were $8,798,000 against $9,371,000 a year ago. EBITDA for the quarter was $112.7 million as compared to $97.7 million in the prior quarter.

For the second quarter of 2015, the company has several significant items which will impact the result. The loss of revenue on the Aquamarine Driller. While the company continues to market the rig and look for near term opportunities, the company does not anticipate that the rig will commence operations during the quarter. The company continues to negotiate follow on work for the Emerald Driller, which is scheduled to complete its current contract in June and maybe off contract for a week to 10 days during the quarter. Additionally, the company anticipates approximately $2 million of increased maintenance expense for the Platinum Explorer as perform some preparatory work for the rig's 5 year SPS, which is due at the end of the year. The goal of performing the work is to more effectively manage the SPS that you're in. Taking this into account, the company projecting EBITDA for the second quarter of $93 million to $100 million. Depreciation for the quarter will be approximately $32 million and interest expense is expected to be approximately $49 million. The company estimating profit for the second quarter in the range of $3 million to $10 million or $0.01 to $0.03 per basic share.

For the year 2015, the company estimates income taxes will be approximately 5% to 6% of total revenue. This estimate has a significant number of assumptions involving the retracking of jackups in the markets in which they will ultimately work. Additionally, as the company discussed on prior conference calls, accounting standards require estimating taxes on an annual basis which is then applied to the pretax income in each of the interim periods.