MDR McDermott International Inc

McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) (�McDermott� or the �Company�) announced today that it has recently completed amendments to two of its subsidiaries� outstanding credit facilities, which have a combined borrowing and performance-related letter of credit capacity of $900 million. Currently, there are no borrowings under either facility, although approximately $510 million of combined performance-related letters of credit are currently outstanding. Following the previously announced upgrades from the major credit ratings agencies, McDermott requested from its lenders a number of modifications to these existing credit facilities. Among the significant new financial terms, the amended facilities have lower applicable margins for borrowings and letters of credit, which will save between 50-150 basis points annually compared to the previous cost. McDermott estimates that it will realize approximately $5 million per year of pretax savings, excluding initial arrangement fees, as a result of the amended financial terms, subject to the revised ratings-based pricing grid. �McDermott appreciates the strong support of the many financial institutions participating in our amended credit facilities,� said Michael S. Taff, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. �Both of these facilities are now completely supported by commercial banks, which demonstrates our improved credit profile, strong financial relationships and the lenders� confidence in our respective subsidiaries.� McDermott is an engineering and construction company, with specialty manufacturing and service capabilities, focused on energy infrastructure. McDermott�s customers are predominantly utilities and other power generators, major and national oil companies, and the United States Government. With its global operations, McDermott operates in over 20 countries with more than 20,000 employees, and can be found on the internet at www.mcdermott.com. In accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, statements in this press release which are forward-looking and provide other than historical information involve risks and uncertainties that may adversely impact the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the annual savings expected to be realized as a result of the amended facility. Those statements are made based on various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including without limitation, adverse changes in the financial markets and changes in our utilization rate. If this or other risks materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see McDermott's annual report for the year ended December 31, 2006 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.