Seadrill Ltd, the Bermudian-based offshore drilling company, has reported an operating profit of $329 million in 2023.

The company reported a fourth-quarter operating profit of $52 million.

Full-year total operating revenues were approximately $1.5 billion, a 48 per cent increase from $1.0 billion the prior year.

Total operating revenue for the fourth quarter was $408 million.

As of February 27, the company said, it had completed $342 million of share repurchases, representing 11 per cent of its share capital, as part of its share-repurchase programme initiated last September and expanded in December.

"We continued to simplify and strengthen our business through 2023, achieving scale through the Aquadrill acquisition and delivering operational and financial results that allowed us to make meaningful returns to shareholders through our repurchase programme," said president and chief executive Simon Johnson.

He added: "We have long anticipated 2024 will be a year of transition. We have planned and prepared for a busy inventory of shipyard stays and accompanying capital expenditure.

“We continue to act proactively to manage and mitigate our exposure to contracting gaps and cost inflation when these appear.

“Though 2024 will certainly have some challenges, our optimism about the medium- and longer-term outlook for the offshore deepwater drilling industry and our competitive positioning within it remains positive and unchanged."

For the fourth quarter, the company generated $315 million in contract revenues, compared with $324 million the prior quarter, operating an average of 12 rigs at an economic utilisation of 92.4 per cent.

These figures exclude the three drill ships — West Gemini, Sonangol Quenguela and Sonangol Libongos — the company manages through Sonadrill, its 50:50 joint venture with Sonangol EP, which generated an additional $73 million in management contract revenues.

Seadrill earned an additional $20 million in reimbursable and other revenues, which includes bare-boat charter income from Gulfdrill, a 50:50 joint venture between Seadrill and Gulf Drilling International.

The results reflect three quarters of earnings from rigs acquired through the company’s Aquadrill transaction, which closed last April.

As of February 28, Seadrill's order backlog stood at approximately $2.9 billion, the company said.