BOURBON : 1st Quarter Revenues Up 21.4%

PARIS, May. 09 /PRNewswire/ --

PARIS, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BOURBON Quarterly Financial Results 1st quarter revenues up 21.4% (+34.5% at constant exchange rates) over the 1st quarter of 2007

BOURBON revenues for the first quarter of 2008 were up 21.4% over the same period in 2007 to 211.7 million euros (+34.5% at constant exchange rates). The Offshore and Bulk Divisions each progressed significantly, primarily due to charters in the Offshore Division. However, performances were impacted by the unfavorable euro/dollar exchange rate.

"BOURBON's activity continued to be supported by the delivery of the new vessels in the Offshore Division and by the increase in external charters requested by our customers," explains Jacques de Chateauvieux, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BOURBON, <<in a market with very strong activity by oil companies which should continue over time. In addition, cargo rates in the Bulk Division will remain high in 2008."

- QUARTERLY DATA Breakdown of BOURBON's first quarter revenues by Division 1st Quarter 2008 (in millions of euros) Q1 2008 Q1 2007 Change at Change current at exchange constant rates exchange rates Offshore 136.8 110.8 23.4% 34.7% Bulk 65.6 50.4 30.3% 48.9% Other 9.3 13.2 -29.9% -21.6% BOURBON TOTAL 211.7 174.4 21.4% 34.5% - OFFSHORE DIVISION

Revenues for the Offshore Division in the first quarter of 2008 rose 23.4% from the first quarter of 2007 to 136.8 million euros. This growth is the result of the commissioning of new vessels, the renewal of expiring contracts, and the increase in vessels chartered from third parties to meet the needs of our customers.

In the first quarter, the Offshore Division commissioned 9 new vessels (2 supply and 7 crewboats), a rate that will accelerate in the second quarter. Two old vessels were also sold in Brazil and Norway during the quarter.

Revenues from chartered vessels totaled 19.1 million euros over the first three months of 2008, compared with 4.5 million euros in the first quarter of 2007, and 13.4 million euros in the last quarter of 2007.

(in millions of Q1 2008 Q4 2007 Change Q1 2007 Change euros) Revenues 136.8 128.6 6.4% 110.8 23.4% Chartered Vessels 19.1 13.4 42.5% 4.5 3.2% Bourbon vessels 117.6 115.2 4.6% 105.8 14.1% Euro/Dollar value 1.50 1.45 - 1.31

The strong performance recorded by the division takes into account the impact of the unfavorable euro/dollar exchange rate.

Breakdown of the Offshore Division's revenues by geographical region 1st quarter 2008 (in millions of euros) Q1 2008 Q1 2007 Change at Change current at exchange constant rates exchange rates Offshore Division 136.8 110.8 23.4% 34.7% Africa 92.0 71.1 29.4% Europe & Med./Middle East 26.3 26.2 0.2% American continent 10.8 9.3 15.8% Asia 7.7 4.1 86.5%

The Africa region, which represented 67.3% of the revenues, recorded strong growth in its operations in a climate marked by the increase in deepwater offshore investments as well as the investments intended to relaunch production from old fields in the continental offshore. Growth was particularly strong in Nigeria and Angola, but also in Congo and Gabon, where the Anguille field, which came on stream in 1966, will benefit from an investment of over USD 2 billion.

BOURBON's activity expanded strongly in Mexico and Asia because of the delivery of new vessels.

- BULK DIVISION

In the first quarter of 2008, the Bulk Division generated revenue growth of +30.3% (+48.9% at constant exchange rates) and totaled 65.6 million euros, up from 50.4 million euros over the same period in 2007.

The average BSI index was USD 50,265/day over the quarter, compared with an average rate in 2007 of USD 47,263/day.

In this favorable context, BOURBON's Bulk Division is continuing its strategy based on long-term relationships with its clients, who benefit from the coverage offered by owned vessels. In the first quarter of 2008, tonnages shipped remained stable at approximately 4 million tons.

- OPERATIONS AND MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

In the context of BOURBON's withdrawal from its non-strategic businesses, the process for BOURBON's progressive sale of Sucreries de Bourbon Tay Ninh continued with the initial public offering on the Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) stock exchange of 31.6% of the capital, corresponding to the 44,824,172 shares of stock sold by BOURBON in 2007. The company was listed for trading on February, 25, 2008.

- OUTLOOK

The market for offshore oil and gas marine services remains highly favorable, both in exploration-development of deepwater fields and in production and maintenance. High oil prices make it profitable to relaunch production on old continental offshore fields, generating heavy activity in this sector.

Deliveries and commissioning of vessels will continue in accordance with the Horizon 2012 plan and, in this context, BOURBON is committing the vessels to be delivered in the coming quarters to long-term contracts.

In the Bulk Division, BOURBON intends to benefit from favorable market conditions to secure the use of a portion of its future fleet to medium-term contracts.

Finally, activity will continue to be influenced by fluctuations in the euro/dollar exchange rate.

- FINANCIAL CALENDAR - Combined Annual and Special Stockholders' Meeting: May 30, 2008 - 2nd quarter and 1st half 2008 financial results: August 7, 2008 - Presentation of first half 2008 results: August 27, 2008 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- About BOURBON

With 4,300 professionals and a fleet of 235 owned vessels, BOURBON is currently present in more than 25 countries.

BOURBON offers a broad range of offshore oil and gas marine services. Under the Horizon 2012 plan and with the launch of its "Subsea Services", BOURBON intends to become the leader in modern offshore oil and gas marine services by offering the most demanding clients worldwide, a full line of innovative, high performance and new-generation vessels and an expanded offer of subsea services.

BOURBON also specializes in bulk transport and protects the French coastline for the Merchant Marine.

Classifed by NYSE Euronext in the "Oil Services" sector, BOURBON is listed for trading on Euronext Paris, Compartment A, and is included in the Deferred Settlement Service SRD and in the SBF 120 and Dow Jones Stoxx 600 indices.

http://www.bourbon-online.com APPENDICES - BOURBON quaterly data 2008 2007 (in million of euros) Q1 2008 Q4 2007 Q3 2007 Q2 2007 Q1 2007 Offshore 136.8 128.6 124.5 120.6 110.8 Bulk 65.6 61.3 66.1 67.0 50.4 Other 9.3 8.3 9.8 9.0 13.2 BOURBON TOTAL 211.7 198.2 200.4 196.6 174.4 2006 (in million of euros) Q4 2006 Q3 2006 Q2 2006 Q1 2006 Offshore 116.9 100.1 96.0 84.4 Bulk 46.0 41.1 41.0 41.1 Other 11.2 7.2 7.1 16.5 BOURBON TOTAL 174.1 148.5 144.1 142.0 - Key indicators Q1 2008 Q1 2007 Average USD exchange rate for the 1.4983 1.3106 quarter USD exchange rate at closing on 1.5812 1.3318 March 31 Average Brent price for the 98.32 $/bl 58.22 $/bl quarter * Average BSI for the quarter 50, 265 $/j 31, 488 $/j

* Source = Energy Information Administration, Daily Spot Prices of Brent Crude Oil