(Source: PrimeNewswire)THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Nov. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trico Marine Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:TRMA) (the "Company" or "Trico") today announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2009 of revenues of $190 million, operating income of approximately $6 million and net income of $0.36 per diluted share. The strength in the Subsea Services and Subsea Trenching and Protection divisions shown in the second quarter, continued into the third quarter.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Joseph S. Compofelice, commented, "The strength of our third quarter results reflects the strong performance by our subsea services divisions, DeepOcean and CTC Marine. These divisions have positioned us for future growth in emerging subsea markets with 45% of their revenues earned in Latin America, the Middle East/Mediterranean, China and other areas of Southeast Asia, substantially offsetting the weakness in the North Sea."

Mr. Compofelice continued, "We made excellent progress regarding our liquidity challenges with the successful closing of our $400 million high yield notes offering. With those proceeds, we eliminated substantially all of the Company's commercial bank debt worldwide, and have deferred amortization of principal for five years. This improved our balance sheet with the current portion of our long-term debt being reduced from $188 million at June 30, 2009 to $22 million at September 30, 2009. We also completed non-core OSV asset sales of almost $40 million in the second half of 2009 (for a total of approximately $70 million year-to-date) thus far and will look at further sales when and as appropriate."

Summary Results Compared to Q2 2009

Total revenues for the third quarter of 2009 were $190 million, compared to $180 million for the second quarter of 2009. Operating income in the third quarter was $5.5 million, after net charges for impairments and loss on sales of assets of $2.0 million. This compares to $15.2 million in the second quarter, after the net benefit of impairments and gain on sales of assets of 3.7 million. Operating income in the third quarter reflected a $13 million improvement within our Subsea Services segment. The overall reduction in operating income from the second quarter, excluding the items mentioned above, was solely attributable to the performance of the Company's towing and supply business, which we expect to stabilize in the future as the Company continues to divest itself of non-core OSV assets.

Division Results

In the Company's Subsea Services segment, principally DeepOcean, revenues increased by $2 million and operating income adjusted for the effect of impairment was consistent with the second quarter.

In the Company's Subsea Trenching and Protection segment, CTC Marine, revenues increased by $11 million although operating income decreased by $1 million primarily driven by service mix.

In both DeepOcean and CTC Marine, average day rate spreads were strong, as each business enlarged the scope of services provided during the third quarter.

For the Towing and Supply segment, day rates and utilization reflect the weakness in West Africa and North Sea spot markets. After the end of the quarter, the Company sold two North Sea class vessels for approximately $40 million reducing its exposure to a market with excess supply. In addition, the Company has targeted additional vessels for sale, as the Company continues to seek ways to reduce its exposure to the North Sea spot market Towing and Supply sector.

Liquidity

Since the end of the prior quarter and through the date of this release, the Company has, through a series of transactions, continued to improve its liquidity position as follows:

 * Completed a $400 million high-yield notes offering, effectively
   deferring scheduled maturities in 2010 of $220 million.   The
   terms of the high-yield note offering includes several partial
   pre-payment options as well;
 * Received proceeds from asset sales of approximately $40 million;
 * Obtained the right to cancel four newbuilds, reducing its
   capital expenditure obligation, net of refund guarantees, by
   approximately $100 million; and
 * Negotiated two working capital facilities totaling $58 million.

At September 30, 2009, the Company had $42 million in cash and $739 million in total debt.

Pro-forma for the refinancing, the Company's cash and credit availability to fund capital expenditures is approximately $80 million.

Market Outlook

The Company's backlog remains healthy at approximately $700 million of termed out or long-term contracts primarily in its subsea segments. On a consolidated basis, revenues for the third quarter had the following geographic mix: 52% in the North Sea, of which approximately two-thirds are subject to long-term contracts, 19% in China, where the Company currently has four subsea service spreads in the South China Sea, 12% in Mexico and Brazil and 17% in West Africa, the Middle East, Mediterranean and Australia.

In addition, during the quarter the Company announced contract awards representing $50 million in value, approximately $35 million of which are new subsea contract awards. Recent subsea tender activity suggests to the Company that the market outlook remains cautiously optimistic for 2010, with a stronger outlook in 2011.

Conference Call Information

The Company will conduct a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, November 5, 2009, to discuss the results with analysts, investors and other interested parties. Individuals who wish to participate in the conference call should dial (800) 768-6569, access code 4736768, in the United States or (785) 830-7992, access code 4736768, from outside the country.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available until November 19, 2009, starting approximately 1 hour after the completion of the call, and can be accessed by dialing (888) 203-1112 access code 4736768 (international calls should use (719) 457-0820, access code 4736768).

About Trico

The Trico Marine Group is an integrated provider of subsea, trenching and marine support vessels and services. Trico's Towing and Supply division provides a broad range of marine support services to the oil and gas industry through use of its diversified fleet of vessels including the transportation of drilling materials, supplies and crews to drilling rigs and other offshore facilities; towing drilling rigs and equipment, and support for the construction, installation, repair and maintenance of offshore facilities. Trico's Subsea Services and Subsea Protection divisions control a well equipped fleet of vessels and operate a fleet of modern ROVs and trenching and other subsea protection equipment. Trico Marine Services, Inc. is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas and has a global presence with operations in the North Sea, West Africa, Mexico, Brazil and Southeast Asia.

For more information about Trico Marine Services, Inc. visit us on the web at www.tricomarine.com.

The Trico Marine Services, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5229

Certain statements in this press release that are not historical fact may be "forward looking statements." Forward-looking statements are projections of events, revenues, income, future economic performance or management's plans and objectives for the Company's future operations. Actual events may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement.