Transocean 3Q profit rises 13.7 percent

HOUSTON - Transocean Inc., the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, said its third-quarter profit rose 13.7 percent as out-of-service time for shipyards decreased.

The company said it earned almost $1.11 billion, or $3.44 per share, up from $973 million, or $4.63 per share during the same period last year. The per-share figure fell in the current quarter because of a share count difference resulting from Transocean's purchase of competitor GlobalSantaFe late last year.

Revenue rose 2.9 percent to $3.19 billion, from $1.5 billion a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting a profit of $3.49 per share on revenue of $3.14 billion.

Last week Transocean announced a five-year contract worth as much as $1.19 billion.

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