(Source: Business Wire)

EXCO Resources, Inc. (NYSE: XCO) today announced its third quarter 2009
results of operations. Highlights during the quarter include:
â During the third quarter 2009, we closed divestiture transactions,
including our joint venture transactions with BG Group, resulting in
proceeds of approximately $1.4 billion. We used the proceeds to reduce
debt by $1.4 billion, including full retirement of our $300 million Term
Credit Agreement.
â Our asset divestiture program continued during the third quarter 2009
as we entered into agreements to sell certain shallow assets located in
Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania and to sell the remaining assets in
our Mid-Continent region. Both transactions are expected to close in
November 2009 with aggregate proceeds of $685 million, subject to
closing adjustments. The impact to our production from these last two
sales is expected to be approximately 60 Mmcfe per day. Upon closing of
these transactions, our divestiture program will be essentially complete.
â Oil and natural gas production was 31.9 Bcfe, or 347 Mmcfe per day for
the third quarter 2009 compared with 36.6 Bcfe, or 397 Mmcfe per day
during the third quarter 2008 and 36.5 Bcfe, or 401 Mmcfe per day during
the second quarter 2009. The reduced production volumes reflect the
impact of our joint venture transaction with BG Group and other 2009
divestitures. The impact of the third quarter 2009 divestitures reduced
production by approximately 125 Mmcfe per day for the last 48 days of
the quarter.
â Oil and natural gas revenues, as adjusted for the cash settlements of
our derivative financial instruments (derivatives), a non-GAAP measure,
were $239 million for the third quarter 2009 compared with $288 million
for the second quarter 2009 and $332 million for the third quarter 2008.
The lower revenues reflect realized price declines of 66% for natural
gas and 45% for oil from the prior year's third quarter and the impacts
of our 2009 divestitures. The impact of the lower commodity prices was
significantly reduced by the cash settlements of our derivatives.
â Adjusted net income available to common shareholders, a non-GAAP
measure adjusting for unrealized derivative gains and losses, gains on
divestitures and other non-cash items typically not included by
securities analysts in published estimates, was $0.20 per diluted share
for the third quarter 2009 compared with $0.23 per diluted share for the
third quarter 2008.
â Adjusted EBITDA, defined as earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation, depletion and amortization, gains from divestitures and
other non-cash income and expense items (a non-GAAP measure) for the
third quarter 2009 was $173 million compared with $249 million in the
third quarter 2008.
â In light of the continuing success of our Haynesville shale
development and the closing of the joint venture with BG Group, we are
planning to increase our development drilling and leasing activities in
East Texas/North Louisiana. We now plan to spud 42 operated Haynesville
wells and complete 27 of those wells as compared to our original plan to
spud 27 operated wells, with completions totaling 20 wells in 2009. We
expect our expenditures for 2009 will be approximately $535 million. If
the estimated purchase price adjustment for capital expenditures since
the effective date of the transactions with BG Group is considered, our
2009 capital expenditures would be approximately $400 million.
Douglas H. Miller, EXCO's Chairman and CEO, commented, "The third
quarter may prove to be the most significant quarter in the history of
our company. The combination of the joint venture transactions with BG
Group and successful execution of our divestiture plan strengthened our
balance sheet, allowing us to focus our investment strategy on areas
with tremendous growth opportunities for years to come. Our new
relationship with BG Group gives us access to a world-class partner with
additional technical and financial resources as well as gas marketing
expertise. The outstanding results from early development in the
Haynesville shale confirm our excellent position in the play and have
displayed the exceptional capabilities and dedication of our operating
and technical staff. Our plan is to build on this success and leverage
lessons learned as we continue to aggressively pursue our strong acreage
positions in the Haynesville play and ramp up in Appalachia to develop
our Marcellus shale position."
We continued to achieve outstanding drilling results in the Haynesville
shale. We have completed 17 operated Haynesville horizontal wells this
year; 8 of which were completed during the third quarter 2009. Our
average operated completions in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana this year have
resulted in average initial production rates exceeding 24 million cubic
feet of natural gas per day.
For the remainder of 2009, we will continue increasing our drilling and
completion activity in the Haynesville shale as we plan to spud an
additional 25 operated wells. We are also continuing to evaluate our
strong Marcellus shale position in Appalachia by drilling test wells,
building our operating staff and developing our plans for 2010 and
beyond. Increasing our activities in other areas will depend on
strengthening of commodity prices.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, adjusted net income
available to common shareholders was $0.68 per diluted share, equal to
adjusted net income of $0.68 per diluted share for the nine months ended
September 30, 2008. Adjusted EBITDA for the nine months ended September
30, 2009 was $578 million compared with $766 million for the nine months
ended September 30, 2008, a decrease of approximately 25% due primarily
to lower commodity prices in 2009.
Equivalent production for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was
104.8 Bcfe, a decrease of 3% from the prior year's nine month period
equivalent production of 107.5 Bcfe. The decrease in production reflects
our divestitures, suspension of our vertical drilling activities and
normal declines in our other operating areas, offset by favorable
impacts from our Haynesville drilling program, during the nine months
ended September 30, 2009.
The average price per barrel of oil, excluding derivatives, was $50.89
per Bbl for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 compared with
$111.66 for the prior year's nine month period. The average natural gas
price, excluding derivatives for the nine months ended September 30,
2009 and 2008 was $3.88 and $9.96 per Mcf, respectively, a decrease of
approximately 61%.
Net Income
Our reported net income (loss) and net income (loss) available to common
shareholders shown below, both GAAP measures, include certain items not
typically included by securities analysts in their published estimates
of financial results. Management is disclosing the non-GAAP measures of
adjusted net income and adjusted net income available to common
shareholders because it quantifies the financial impact of non-cash
gains or losses resulting from derivatives, non-cash ceiling test
write-downs, gains or losses on divestitures and other items management
believes affect the comparability of our results of operations which are
included in GAAP net income measures. The following table provides a
reconciliation of our net income (loss) and net income (loss) available
to common shareholders to non-GAAP measures of adjusted net income and
adjusted net income available to common shareholders:
Three months ended Nine months ended
September 30, 2009 September 30, 2008 September 30, 2009 September 30, 2008
(in thousands, except per share amounts) Amount Per share Amount Per share Amount Per share Amount Per share
Net income (loss), GAAP $ 433,330 $ (146,329 ) $ (738,273 ) $ (572,082 )
Adjustments:
Non-cash mark-to-market (gains) losses on derivative financial instruments, before taxes
98,800 (968,117 ) 144,996 (59,004 )
Non-cash write down of oil and natural gas properties - 1,193,105 1,293,579 1,193,105
Gain on divestitures (460,626 ) - (460,626 ) -
Income taxes on above adjustments (1) 144,730 (89,995 ) (391,180 ) (453,640 )
Adjustment to deferred tax asset valuation allowance (2) (174,230 ) 63,302 295,677 63,302
Total adjustments, net of taxes (391,326 ) 198,295 882,446 743,763
Adjusted net income $ 42,004 $ 51,966 $ 144,173 $ 171,681
Net income (loss) available to common shareholders, GAAP (3) 433,330 $ 2.05 (153,326 ) $ (0.80 ) (738,273 ) $ (3.50 ) (649,079 ) $ (4.84 )
Adjustments shown above (3) (391,326 ) (1.85 ) 198,295 1.04 882,446 4.18 743,763 5.55
Adjusted net income available to common shareholders 42,004 44,969 144,173 94,684
Dilution attributable to stock options (4) - - - (0.01 ) - - - (0.03 )
Adjusted net income available to common shareholders for diluted earnings per share $ 42,004 $ 0.20 $ 44,969 $ 0.23 $ 144,173 $ 0.68 $ 94,684 $ 0.68
Common stock and equivalents used for adjusted earnings per share (EPS):
Weighted average common shares outstanding 211,266 191,452 211,118 134,006
Dilutive stock options 1,969 5,321 638 4,834
Shares used to compute diluted EPS for adjusted net income available to common shareholders
213,235 196,773 211,756 138,840
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(1) The assumed income tax rate is 40% for all periods.
(2) Deferred tax valuation allowance has been adjusted to reflect
impacts of adjustments.
(3) Per share amounts are based on weighted average number of common
shares outstanding.
(4) Represents dilution per share attributable to common stock
equivalents from in-the-money stock options for periods with adjusted
net income available to common shareholders.
Operations activity and outlook
We spent $61 million on development and exploitation activities,
drilling and completing 16 gross (6.4 net) wells in the third quarter
2009, compared with 22 gross (13.7 net) wells during the second quarter
2009. We had an overall drilling success rate of 100% for the third
quarter 2009. Our total capital expenditures, including leasing,
midstream and corporate activities, were $129 million in the third
quarter 2009. We currently have 13 drilling rigs operating across our
portfolio, which is an increase from 6 drilling rigs operating at the
end of the second quarter 2009. The increase is due to our increased
focus and activity in our Haynesville, Bossier and Marcellus shale
plays. Although we expect our fourth quarter 2009 leasing, drilling and
completion activities in East Texas and North Louisiana area to
increase, our actual total expenditures for 2009 will be approximately
$400 million, net of the capital recovery from purchase price
adjustments with BG Group. We will continue to focus our capital
expenditures in areas that will provide strong returns in the current
commodity price environment.
East Texas/North Louisiana
On August 14, 2009, we closed our joint venture development transaction
with BG Group which included a sale of 50% of our interest in most of
our wells and developed assets in the East Texas/North Louisiana area.
The transaction excluded our Vernon Field, which is currently our
largest net producing area.
East Texas/North Louisiana is our largest division in terms of
production and reserves, and our primary targets across this region
include the Haynesville shale, the upper and lower Cotton Valley, Travis
Peak, Pettet and Hosston formations. Currently, our emphasis is
exploitation of our Haynesville shale play position. In East Texas/North
Louisiana, during the third quarter 2009, we drilled and completed 8
gross (2.3 net) operated wells and 4 gross non-operated wells in which
we hold a small working interest.
Haynesville Shale
During the third quarter 2009, our horizontal Haynesville Shale
development program yielded exceptional results with some of the highest
production rates in the play. In addition to the 8 operated horizontal
Haynesville wells drilled and completed during the third quarter 2009,
we have 5 gross (1.7 net) currently in the completion phase and 10 gross
(3.4 net) drilling. Our average initial production rates in DeSoto
Parish were 24.8 Mmcf per day for wells completed during the third
quarter, with a range of 20.5 to 30.1 Mmcf per day. We started the
quarter with 4 operated drilling rigs and ended the quarter with 7
operated drilling rigs. We recently added 3 additional drilling rigs
bringing our total current operated horizontal rig count to 10. We plan
to exit 2009 with 11 operated rigs.
We also hold small working interests in Haynesville wells operated by
others. During the third quarter 2009, we participated in 2 gross
non-operated wells in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana with initial gross
production rates averaging 19.4 Mmcf per day and 1 gross well in Caddo
Parish, Louisiana with an initial gross production rate of 7.8 Mmcf per
day. At the end of the third quarter, we had interests in 5 gross
non-operated horizontal Haynesville shale wells being drilled in DeSoto
Parish, Louisiana.
We currently have 18 gross (6.0 net) operated horizontal wells and 9
gross (0.7 net) non-operated horizontal wells flowing to sales.
Production from our Haynesville wells recently reached a combined gross
rate of 185 Mmcf per day (42 Mmcf per day net).
Our DeSoto Parish area has yielded the highest production rates in the
entire play, with two of our most recent completions yielding initial
gross production rates of 29.6 and 30.1 Mmcf per day. The EXCO operated
average initial gross production rate in DeSoto Parish is 24.1 Mmcf per
day, with all of our DeSoto Parish wells having initial production rates
in excess of 20.5 Mmcf per day. This high level of performance over a
broad area underscores the consistency and high quality of the shale
reservoir on our acreage and also demonstrates the effectiveness of our
target selection and completion design.
Our drilling and completion times are continuing to improve as we focus
on operational efficiencies. Our initial wells took 70 to 75 days from
spud to rig release and our most recent well took 39 days from spud to
rig release. Drilling and completion time is important, but we believe
it is far more important to achieve a well placed lateral in the target
zone over the entire lateral length. Also, proper hole conditioning
prior to running casing is a key factor we have focused on and to date,
we have achieved a 100% success rate on running casing to drilled total
depth in all of our operated horizontal wells. All of our operated wells
have flowed to sales immediately following completion operations due to
close coordination with our midstream business.
The Bossier Shale that overlies the Haynesville Shale is another
significant target interval that EXCO is beginning to exploit. In DeSoto
Parish, the Bossier is over 1,500 feet in gross thickness, compared to
300-400 feet of gross thickness in the Haynesville. We have acquired
over 900 feet of whole core in the Bossier Shale to date in two wells
and currently have a rock property testing program underway. We are
currently testing the Bossier Shale in 6 counties and parishes in East
Texas and North Louisiana and have seen encouraging results. We plan to
spud our first horizontal Bossier well late in the fourth quarter 2009.
Cotton Valley
In the third quarter 2009, we drilled and completed 1 gross non-operated
Cotton Valley horizontal well. With current natural gas prices at the
lowest levels in several years, we have elected to suspend most of the
operated Cotton Valley drilling.
Appalachia
On September 29, 2009, we announced an agreement to sell approximately
3,200 wells located in northwestern Pennsylvania and Ohio for $145
million, subject to customary closing adjustments. We expect the sale to
close in November 2009.
Upon closing of the aforementioned sale, we will hold in excess of
639,000 net leasehold acres. Our major operating areas will include
Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where we historically drilled for the
Clinton/Medina sandstone, stacked Devonian sandstone, Devonian shale,
Berea shale and other productive horizons. Included as a subset of our
acreage position, we now control approximately 348,000 acres in the
Marcellus shale fairway, with more than 223,000 acres located in the
core area of the over pressured Marcellus. A significant percentage of
this fairway acreage is held by production (HBP) by our shallow
producing assets. Also as a subset of our acreage position, we control
130,000 acres (70% HBP) within the Huron Shale play of West Virginia. We
believe our present leasehold position in the Marcellus and Huron Shale
fairways contains between 7 to 12 TCF of potential reserves. Throughout
2009, our technical Marcellus activity is focused on integrating
technical data from our 2008 and 2009 Marcellus well results and seismic
data, delineating our acreage blocks using our updated geological model
and drilling and completing test wells to high grade for a 2010
development program. We drilled and completed 4 gross (4.0 net) vertical
wells in Appalachia during the third quarter 2009.