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Q1 2007 Newpark Resources, Inc. Earnings Conference Call - Final.

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Original Source: FD (FAIR DISCLOSURE) WIRE

OPERATOR: Good day, ladies and gentlemen and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Newpark Resources first quarter earnings conference call. During today's presentation, all parties will be in a listen-only mode. Following of presentation, the conference will be open for questions. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) This conference is being recorded today, May 4, 2007.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Ken Dennard, DRG & E.

KEN DENNARD, MANAGING PARTNER, DENNARE RUP GRAY AND EASTERLY, LLC: Thank you, [Mycia] and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for Newpark Resources conference call today to review first quarter results. Also like to welcome our Internet participants listening to the call live over the web. Before I turn the call over to management, I have a few of the housekeeping details to run through. We are still building that e-mail distribution list for Newpark and if you have not received an e-mail of the press release yesterday afternoon or if you'd like to be placed on that e-mail distribution list, call our offices at DRG & E, that number is 713-529-6600 and we'll take care of that. Also, there will be a replay of today's call, it will be available by web cast by going to the company's web site at www.newpark.com. And of course, there's a recorded telephonic replay which will be available for seven days until May 11. And that information is in yesterday afternoon's press release.

Please note that information reported on this call, speaks only as of today May 4, 2007 and therefore you are advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay listening. In addition, the comments made today by management of Newpark during the call, could contain -- may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 as amended. These forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management of Newpark, however, various risks, uncertainties and contingencies could cause Newpark's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in the statements made by management. Listeners are encouraged to read the companies annual report on the form 10k, for the year ended December 31, 2006, to understand certain of those risks, uncertainties and coach sis. And now with all that behind us here, I'd like to turn the call over to Newpark's President and CEO, Mr. Paul Howes. Paul?

PAUL HOWES, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NEWPARK RESOURCES, INC.: Thanks Ken. Good morning to everyone. We'd like to thank all of you for joining us for our first quarter conference call. With me today is Jim Braun, our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Jim and I will give a quick update on events since our last earnings call, which wasn't too long ago and review our operational and financial highlights for the first quarter of 2007. Before I turn the call over to Jim to review the financial results, I'd like to give an update on our strategy in moving Newpark forward.

During our fourth quarter call in March, we outlined our new strategic plan for the company. One of of the key components of that plan was to pursue strategic alternatives for our environmental services business, which we determined was no longer a fit for the company's long-term direction. As I'm sure you can understand, we are limited in what we can say at this point for competitive reasons. I can tell you that the selling process for this business has been initiated and the level of interest has been very positive. So far, everything is proceeding according to plan.

Another important issue which was discussed in our previous call, was the ongoing distraction of shareholder litigation. As announced in April, we have reached settlements with the Plaintiffs in the shareholder class action and derivative litigation. Once those settlements become court approved, they will resolve all class and derivative litigation against the company, its...

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