Mario Gabelli Comments on Weatherford International Ltd

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Jul 25, 2014

Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT) (1.2%) (WFT - $23.00 - NYSE), based in Houston, Texas, finally resolved its tax accounting problems and various government investigations, which had been on-going for several years. It is now focused on growing its core businesses, enhancing profitability, reducing leverage and improving capital efficiency. The company is targeting total segment operating profit margin to reach 20% by 2016 from 11.3% in 2013 and reducing debt to capitalization from 52% to 25%. It aims to realize $500 million in annualized cost savings and sell four non-core businesses. Also, Weatherford plans to spin off a portion of its international drilling rig business by the end of 2014 or early 2015. All available free cash flow generated and proceeds from asset sales will be used to reduce debt.

From Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio)’s The Gabelli Equity Income Fund Second Quarter 2014 Shareholder Commentary.