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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
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SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
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Dawson Geophysical Company
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DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY
508 West Wall, Suite 800
Midland, Texas 79701
915-684-3000
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
To Be Held January 28, 2003
TO THE STOCKHOLDERS:
Notice is hereby given that the Annual Meeting of the Stockholders of
Dawson Geophysical Company will be held at the Petroleum Club of Midland, 501
West Wall, Midland, Texas 79701 at 10:00 a.m. on January 28, 2003 for the
following purposes:
1. Electing Directors of the Company;
2. Considering and voting upon a proposal to appoint KPMG LLP as
independent public accountants of the Company for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2003; and
3. Considering all other matters as may properly come before the meeting.
The Board of Directors has fixed the close of business on November 29,
2002, as the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to
notice of and to vote at the meeting and at any adjournment or adjournments
thereof.
DATED this 29th day of November, 2002.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Paula G. Waldrop, Secretary
IMPORTANT
Whether or not you expect to attend the meeting, you are urged to execute
the accompanying proxy card, which requires no postage, and return it promptly.
Any stockholder granting a proxy may revoke same at any time prior to its
exercise. Also, whether or not you grant a proxy, you may vote in person if you
attend the meeting.
DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY
508 WEST WALL, SUITE 800
MIDLAND, TEXAS 79701
PROXY STATEMENT
ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
TO BE HELD TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2003
SOLICITATION OF PROXY
The accompanying proxy is solicited on behalf of the Board of Directors
of Dawson Geophysical Company (the "Company") for use at the Annual Meeting of
Stockholders of the Company to be held on Tuesday, January 28, 2003, and at any
adjournment or adjournments thereof. In addition to the use of the mails,
proxies may be solicited by personal interview, telephone and telegraph by
officers, directors and other employees of the Company, who will not receive
additional compensation for such services. The Company may also request
brokerage houses, nominees, custodians and fiduciaries to forward the soliciting
material to the beneficial owners of stock held of record and will reimburse
such persons for forwarding such material. The Company will bear the cost of
this solicitation of proxies. Such costs are expected to be nominal. Proxy
solicitation will commence with the mailing of this Proxy Statement on or about
December 4, 2002.
Any stockholder giving a proxy has the power to revoke the same at any
time prior to its exercise by executing a subsequent proxy or by written notice
to the Secretary of the Company or by attending the meeting and withdrawing the
proxy.
PURPOSE OF MEETING
As stated in the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders accompanying
this Proxy Statement, the business to be conducted and the matters to be
considered and acted upon at the annual meeting are as follows:
1. Electing Directors of the Company;
2. Considering and voting upon a proposal to appoint KPMG LLP as
independent public accountants of the Company for the fiscal
year ending September 30, 2003; and
3. Considering all other matters as may properly come before the
meeting.
VOTING RIGHTS
The voting securities of the Company consist solely of common stock,
par value $0.33 1/3 per share ("Common Stock").
The record date for stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at
the meeting is the close of business on November 29, 2002, at which time the
Company had outstanding and entitled to vote at the meeting 5,467,294 shares of
Common Stock. Stockholders are entitled to one vote, in person or by proxy, for
each share of Common Stock held in their name on the record date.
Stockholders representing a majority of the Common Stock outstanding
and entitled to vote must be present or represented by proxy to constitute a
quorum.
The election of directors will require the affirmative vote of a
majority of the Common Stock present or represented by proxy at the meeting and
entitled to vote thereon. Cumulative voting for directors is not authorized.
If the enclosed Proxy is properly executed and returned prior to the
Annual Meeting, the shares represented thereby will be voted as specified
therein. IF A SHAREHOLDER DOES NOT SPECIFY OTHERWISE ON THE RETURNED PROXY, THE
SHARES REPRESENTED BY THE SHAREHOLDER'S PROXY WILL BE VOTED FOR THE ELECTION OF
THE NOMINEES LISTED BELOW UNDER "ELECTION OF DIRECTORS", FOR APPROVAL OF THE
MINUTES OF THE 2002 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS AND ON SUCH OTHER BUSINESS AS
MAY PROPERLY COME BEFORE THE ANNUAL MEETING OR ANY ADJOURNMENTS THEREOF.
1
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
At the Annual Meeting to be held on January 28, 2003, nine persons are
to be elected to serve on the Board of Directors for a term of one year and
until their successors are duly elected and qualified. All of the current
Directors have announced that they are available for election to the Board of
Directors. The Company's nominees for the nine directorships are:
Paul H. Brown Matthew P. Murphy
Calvin J. Clements Howell W. Pardue
L. Decker Dawson Tim C. Thompson
Gary M. Hoover C. Ray Tobias
Stephen C. Jumper
For information about each nominee, see "Directors and Executive Officers."
DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The Board of Directors currently consists of four persons who are
employees of the Company and five persons who are not employees of the Company
(i.e., outside directors). Set forth below are the names, ages and positions of
the Company's Directors and executive officers as of November 29, 2002.
NAME AGE POSITION
---- --- --------
L. Decker Dawson 82 Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Chief Executive Officer
Stephen C. Jumper 41 President, Chief Operating
Officer and Director
Howell W. Pardue 66 Executive Vice President,
Director
C. Ray Tobias 45 Executive Vice President,
Director
Christina W. Hagan 47 Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer
Edward L. Huff 65 Vice President
Frank D. Brown 47 Vice President
K.S. Forsdick 51 Vice President
Paula G. Waldrop 45 Secretary
Paul H. Brown 71 Director
Calvin J. Clements 81 Director
Gary M. Hoover 62 Director
Matthew P. Murphy 72 Director
Tim C. Thompson 68 Director
The Board of Directors elects executive officers annually. Executive
officers hold office until their successors are elected and have qualified.
Set forth below are descriptions of the principal occupations during at
least the past five years of the Company's directors and executive officers.
L. DECKER DAWSON. Mr. Dawson founded the Company in 1952. He served as
President of the Company until being elected as Chairman of the Board of
Directors and Chief Executive Officer in January, 2001. Prior thereto, Mr.
Dawson was a geophysicist with Republic Exploration Company, a geophysical
company. Mr. Dawson served as President of the Society of Exploration
Geophysicists (1989-1990), received its Enterprise Award in 1997, and was
awarded honorary membership in 2002. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors
of the International Association of Geophysical Contractors (1981). He is an
honorary life member of such association. He was inducted into the Permian Basin
Petroleum Museum's Hall of Fame in 1997.
STEPHEN C. JUMPER. Mr. Jumper, a geophysicist, joined the Company in
1985, was elected Vice President in September 1997, and President, Chief
Operating Officer and Director in January, 2001. Prior to 1997, Mr. Jumper
served the Company as manager of technical services with an emphasis on 3-D
processing. Mr. Jumper has served the Permian Basin Geophysical Society as
Second Vice President (1991), First Vice President (1992), and as President
(1993).
HOWELL W. PARDUE. Mr. Pardue joined the Company in 1975 and has served
in his present positions since that time. Prior thereto, Mr. Pardue was employed
in data processing for 17 years by Geosource, Inc. and its predecessor
geophysical company.
C. RAY TOBIAS. Mr. Tobias joined the Company in 1990, and was elected
Vice President in September 1997 and Executive Vice President and Director in
January, 2001. Mr. Tobias supervises client relationships and survey cost
quotations to clients. He is presently serving on the Board of Directors of the
International Association of Geophysical Contractors and is Past President of
the Permian Basin Geophysical Society. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Tobias
was employed by Geo-Search Corporation where he was an operations supervisor.
2
CHRISTINA W. HAGAN. Ms. Hagan joined the Company in 1988, and was
elected Chief Financial Officer and Vice President in 1997. Prior thereto, Ms.
Hagan served the Company as Controller and Treasurer. Ms. Hagan is a certified
public accountant.
EDWARD L. HUFF. Mr. Huff joined the Company in 1956, and was elected
Vice President in September 1997. Prior thereto, Mr. Huff served as instrument
operator, crew manager and field supervisor. He has managed the Company's field
operations since 1987.
FRANK D. BROWN. Mr. Brown, a geophysicist, joined the Company in 1988
and was elected Vice President in January, 2001. Mr. Brown is responsible for
client relationships and submitting survey cost quotations as well as providing
survey design services to clients. He is a past President of the Permian Basin
Geophysical Society and a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Continuing Education Committee. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Brown was
employed by Permian Exploration Corporation as a geophysicist responsible for
acquisition and interpretation projects.
K.S. FORSDICK. Mr. Forsdick joined the Company in 1993 and was elected
Vice President in January, 2001. Mr. Forsdick is responsible for soliciting,
designing and bidding seismic surveys for prospective clients. Prior to joining
the Company, Mr. Forsdick was employed by Grant Geophysical Company and Western
Geophysical Company and was responsible for marketing and managing land and
marine seismic surveys for domestic and international operations. He presently
serves on the Governmental Affairs Committee of the International Association of
Geophysical Contractors.
PAULA G. WALDROP. Ms. Waldrop joined the Company in 1981 and has served
in her present position since 1989. Ms. Waldrop supervises administrative
operations of the Company.
PAUL H. BROWN. Mr. Brown has served the Company as a director since
September 1999. Mr. Brown, a management consultant since May 1998, was President
and Chief Executive Officer at WEDGE Energy Group, Inc. from January 1985 to May
1998.
CALVIN J. CLEMENTS. Mr. Clements has served the Company as a director
since 1972. Prior thereto and until his retirement in 1987, Mr. Clements was
employed by the Company as vice president of the data acquisition operations.
GARY M. HOOVER. Mr. Hoover was appointed to serve the Company as a
director in December, 2002. Mr. Hoover, prior to retirement in October, 2002,
was Senior Principal Geophysicist with Phillips Petroleum Company. His
responsibilities for the previous ten years with Phillips included geophysical
research manager, geoscience technology coordination, exploration and production
technology consultation and active research into new seismic data acquisition
techniques. Mr. Hoover served as Vice President of the Society of Exploration
Geophysicists (1990-1991) and received its Life Membership Award in 2000. Mr.
Hoover holds a doctorate in physics from Kansas State University.
MATTHEW P. MURPHY. Mr. Murphy has served the Company as a director
since 1993. Until his retirement in 1991, Mr. Murphy served as an executive of
NCNB Texas, now known as Bank of America (and predecessor banks), and from 1986
to 1991, Mr. Murphy served the bank as District Director-West Texas.
TIM C. THOMPSON. Mr. Thompson has served the Company as director since
1995. Mr. Thompson, a management consultant since May 1993, was President and
Chief Executive Officer of Production Technologies International, Inc. from
November 1989 to May 1993.
MEETINGS AND COMMITTEES OF DIRECTORS
During fiscal year ended September 30, 2002, six meetings of the Board
of Directors were held which all of the respective members attended.
The Audit Committee is a standing committee of the Board of Directors
and currently consists of Messrs. Clements, Hoover, Murphy and Thompson, all of
whom are independent, non-employee directors. The functions of the Committee are
to determine whether management has established internal controls which are
sound, adequate and working effectively; to ascertain whether Company assets are
verified and safeguarded; to review and approve external audits; to review audit
fees and the appointment of independent public accountants; and to review
non-audit services provided by the independent public accountants. The Committee
held six meetings during fiscal year ended September 30, 2002. All members
attended these meetings except that one Director was absent from one meeting.
For additional information, see "Report of the Audit Committee".
The Compensation Committee currently consists of Messrs. Brown,
Clements, Murphy and Thompson, all of whom are non-employee directors. The
function of the Committee is to determine compensation for the officers of the
Company that is competitive to enable the Company to motivate and retain the
talent needed to lead and grow the Company's business. The Committee held two
meetings during fiscal year ended September 30, 2002. All members attended these
meetings.
MANAGEMENT COMPENSATION
The compensation levels of the Company are believed to be competitive
and in line with those of comparable companies and to align the interests of the
Company's employees with those of its stockholders through potential stock
ownership.
3
SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
The following table sets forth certain information concerning the
annual and long-term compensation paid to or for (i) the Company's Chief
Executive Officer during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2002, and (ii)
those of the Company's four other most highly compensated executive officers
whose total annual salary and bonus exceeded $100,000 in 2002 (collectively, the
"Named Officers"), for services rendered to the Company during fiscal years
2000, 2001 and 2002.
LONG TERM
COMPENSATION
ANNUAL COMPENSATION AWARDS
SECURITIES
------------------------------------------------ UNDERLYING
FISCAL OTHER ANNUAL OPTIONS
NAME AND PRINCIPAL POSITION YEAR SALARY BONUS (1) COMPENSATION (NO. OF SHARES)
- --------------------------- ------ ---------- --------- ------------ ---------------
L. Decker Dawson 2002 $ 85,500 $23,044 $--- ---
Chief Executive Officer 2001 102,737 16,648 --- ---
2000 146,035 18,246 --- ---
Stephen C. Jumper 2002 $140,250 $23,044 $--- 10,000
President, Chief Operating 2001 123,582 11,098 --- 10,000
Officer 2000 88,967 12,164 --- ---
Howell W. Pardue 2002 $102,750 $19,203 $--- 10,000
Executive Vice President 2001 107,028 13,873 --- 10,000
2000 107,016 15,205 --- ---
C. Ray Tobias 2002 $102,750 $19,203 $--- 10,000
Executive Vice President 2001 98,329 11,098 --- 10,000
2000 89,675 12,164 --- ---
Edward L. Huff 2002 $102,000 $15,363 $--- 10,000
Vice President 2001 97,060 11,098 --- 10,000
2000 89,560 12,164 --- ---
(1) Any bonus that might be paid for fiscal 2002 is not yet calculable and, in
accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, will be
reported in the proxy statement for the annual meeting of stockholders for
fiscal 2003.
The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the
exercise of options to purchase Common Stock during the fiscal year ended
September 30, 2002, and unexercised options held at September 30, 2002 by each
of the named executive officers.
AGGREGATED OPTION EXERCISES IN FISCAL YEAR 2002
AND FISCAL YEAR-END OPTION VALUES
NUMBER OF VALUE OF
UNEXERCISED UNEXERCISED
OPTIONS AT IN-THE-MONEY
9/30/02 OPTIONS AT
EXERCISABLE/ 9/30/02(1)
SHARES ACQUIRED VALUE UNEXERCISABLE EXERCISABLE/
NAME ON EXERCISE REALIZED (NO. OF SHARES) UNEXERCISABLE
---- ----------- -------- --------------- -------------
Stephen C. Jumper --- --- 21,250/23,750 $0/$0
Howell W. Pardue --- --- 6,250/18,750 $0/$0
C. Ray Tobias --- --- 21,250/23,750 $0/$0
Edward L. Huff --- --- 21,250/23,750 $0/$0
(1) The closing price per share on September 30, 2002, was $5.24 as reported by
the Nasdaq National Market.
DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS. Long-term incentive
compensation for senior executive officers is not a policy of the Company.
Accordingly, no awards or payouts have been made. The Company has no retirement
or pension plan except for its 401(k) Plan and its Incentive Stock Option Plans.
The Company terminated its Employee Stock Purchase Plan as of January 1, 2002.
All of these plans are described below.
Directors who are not also employees of the Company receive $1,000 per
month and 500 shares of Common Stock per year for serving as directors.
4
COMPENSATION PLANS
STOCK OPTION PLANS. The Dawson Geophysical Company 2000 Incentive Stock
Plan provides 500,000 shares reserved for issuance. The 2000 Plan contains up to
50,000 of such shares which may be awarded and issued as additional compensation
to key employees, officers and non-employee members of the Board of Directors of
the Company with or without payment therefor. The 2000 Plan covers a ten-year
period through January 12, 2009. Options under the 2000 Plan are granted at an
exercise price equal to the market price of the stock on the date of grant. Each
option that is granted is exercisable after the period or periods specified in
the option agreement, but prior to the expiration of five years after the date
of grant. Commencing one year after date of grant, optionees may purchase up to
one-fourth of the shares covered by a particular grant, and each option becomes
exercisable with respect to an additional one-fourth of the shares covered in
each of the next three years.
During fiscal 2002, no shares of the Common Stock were issued pursuant
to the exercise of options granted under the 2000 Plan. During fiscal 2002,
options to purchase 98,000 shares of common stock were granted to employees of
the Company under the 2000 Plan. As of November 29, 2002, the total number of
shares covered by outstanding options was 319,000.
401(K) PLAN. Effective January 1, 2002, the Company initiated a 401(k)
plan as part of its employee benefits package in order to retain quality
personnel. During 2002, the Company elected to match 100% of employee
contributions up to a maximum of 5% of the participant's gross salary. The
Company's matching contributions for fiscal 2002 were approximately $259,000.
STOCK PURCHASE PLAN. The Stock Purchase Plan described was dissolved
effective January 1, 2002. The Board of Directors of the Company adopted an
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the "Purchase Plan") effective January 1, 1983, in
which eligible employees elected to purchase, through payroll deductions, shares
of the Company's Common Stock and thereby increase their proprietary interest in
the Company. Pursuant to the Purchase Plan, the Company contributed one dollar
(before Social Security and withholding taxes) for each dollar contributed by an
eligible employee to purchase Common Stock for the employee's account up to 5%
of the employee's annual salary. As of September 30, 2002, no named executive
officers participated in the Purchase Plan. On a bi-weekly basis, the Company
matched the participants' percentage of contributions and directed the purchase
of shares of the Company's Common Stock. There were no vesting requirements for
the participants. The Company contributed $240,328, $223,360, and $56,119 to the
Purchase Plan during the fiscal years 2000, 2001 and 2002, respectively.
BOARD REPORT ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Compensation for executive officers is based on the principle that
compensation must be competitive to enable the Company to motivate and retain
the talent needed to lead and grow the Company's business, and to provide
rewards which are closely linked to the Company and individual performance.
Executive compensation is based on performance against a combination of
financial and non-financial measures. In addition to business results, employees
are expected to uphold a commitment to integrity, maximizing the development of
each individual, and continually improving the environmental quality of its
services and operations. In upholding these financial and non-financial
objectives, executives not only contribute to their own success, but also help
ensure that the business, employees, stockholders and communities in which we
live and work will prosper.
COMPENSATION COMMITTEE INTERLOCKS AND INSIDER PARTICIPATION
The Company's Compensation Committee makes recommendations regarding
compensation subject to approval of the entire Board of Directors.
REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
To the Stockholders of Dawson Geophysical Company:
It is the responsibility of the members of the Audit Committee to contribute to
the reliability of the Company's Financial Statements. In keeping with this
goal, the Board of Directors adopted a written charter in May 2000 (attached to
this proxy statement as Exhibit A) to govern the Audit Committee. Upon
evaluation of the charter's adequacy in 2002, the Audit Committee is satisfied.
In addition to written consent, the Audit Committee met six times during fiscal
2002. The members of the Audit Committee are independent directors.
The Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed the Company's audited financial
statements with management. It has also discussed with the independent auditors
the matters required to be discussed by Statement on Accounting Standards No.
61, Communication with Audit Committees, as amended, by the Auditing Standards
Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Additionally,
the Audit Committee has received the written disclosures and the letter from the
independent accountants at KPMG LLP, as required by Independent Standards Board
Standard No. 1, Independence Discussions with Audit Committees, and has
discussed with the independent accountants that firm's independence from the
Company and its management. The Audit Committee has concluded that non-audit
services provided by KPMG LLP do not result in conflict in maintaining that
firm's independence.
5
Audit fees billed to the Company by KPMG LLP during the Company's
2002 fiscal year for the audit of the Company's annual financial statements and
the review of those financial statements included in the Company's quarterly
reports of Form 10-Q totaled approximately $42,000. The Company was billed
approximately $5,350 by KPMG LLP for tax related services. The Company has
obtained no other services from KPMG LLP.
Based on reviews and discussions referred to above, the Audit
Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the financial statements
for fiscal 2002 be included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.
December 4, 2002 Audit Committee
Matthew P. Murphy
Calvin C. Clements
Gary M. Hoover
Tim C. Thompson
PERFORMANCE GRAPH
The following graph compares the five-year cumulative total return of
the Company's Common Stock as compared with the S&P 500 Stock Index and a peer
group made up of companies in the Value-Line Oilfield Services Industry Index.
The Oilfield Services Index consists of far larger companies that perform a
variety of services as compared to land-based acquisition and processing of
seismic data performed by the Company.
[GRAPH APPEARS HERE]
DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL CO.
Cumulative Total Return
------------------------------------------------------
9/97 9/98 9/99 9/00 9/01 9/02
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY 100.00 48.19 40.93 44.04 29.47 21.72
S & P 500 100.00 109.05 139.37 157.88 115.85 94.88
PEER GROUP 100.00 88.39 95.55 92.55 91.86 102.09
6
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN
BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The following table sets forth certain information regarding beneficial
ownership of the Company's Common Stock, as of November 29, 2002, by each of the
Company's Directors, by each of the Named Officers, by all executive officers
and Directors of the Company as a group, and by each person known to the Company
to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of the Company's
outstanding Common Stock.
AMOUNT AND NATURE OF PERCENT
TITLE OF CLASS NAME OF BENEFICIAL OWNER BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP(1) OF CLASS
- -------------- ------------------------ ----------------------- --------
Common Stock Pebbleton Corporation N.V. 1,036,000 (2) 18.95%
Common Stock Wellington Management Company, LLP 539,000 (3) 9.86%
Common Stock Quaker Capital Management 534,323 9.83%
Common Stock L. Decker Dawson 411,192 7.52%
Common Stock Dimensional Fund Advisors Inc. 338,400 (4) 6.19%
Common Stock Calvin J. Clements 53,626 *
Common Stock Howell W. Pardue 49,500 *
Common Stock Stephen C. Jumper 39,308 *
Common Stock Christina W. Hagan 32,649 *
Common Stock Edward L. Huff 31,006 *
Common Stock C. Ray Tobias 14,525 *
Common Stock Tim C. Thompson 4,000 *
Common Stock K.S. Forsdick 3,456 *
Common Stock Matthew P. Murphy 3,000 *
Common Stock Frank D. Brown 2,254 *
Common Stock Paul H. Brown 2,000 *
Common Stock Share ownership of directors and
Executive officers as a group (13 persons) 646,516 11.83%
- -------------
* Indicates less than 1% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock.
(1) Except as otherwise indicated, each shareholder shown in the table has sole
voting and investment power with respect to all shares listed as
beneficially owned by such shareholder.
(2) Pebbleton Corporation N.V. and Issam Fares have filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission a Schedule 13D reporting beneficial ownership of
such shares.
(3) Wellington Management Company, LLP ("WMC") is an investment adviser
registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. As of June 30, 2002, WMC in its capacity
as investment adviser, may be deemed to have beneficial ownership of
539,000 shares of common stock of Dawson Geophysical Company that are owned
by numerous investment advisory clients, none of which is known to have
such interest with respect to more than five percent of the class.
(4) Dimensional Fund Advisors Inc. ("Dimensional"), an investment advisor
registered under Section 203 of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940,
furnishes investment advice to four investment companies registered under
the Investment Company Act of 1940, and serves as investment manager to
certain other investment vehicles, including commingled group trusts.
(These investment companies and investment vehicles are the "Portfolios".)
In its role as investment advisor and investment manager, Dimensional
possesses both voting and investment power over shares of Dawson
Geophysical Company stock as of June 30, 2002. The Portfolios own all
securities reported in this statement, and Dimensional disclaims beneficial
ownership of such securities.
REPORTING OF SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
Ownership of and transactions in the Company's stock by executive
officers and directors of the Company are required to be reported to the
Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities
and Exchange Act of 1934. All reporting requirements have been filed in a timely
manner.
RATIFICATION OF SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
The Board of Directors has selected KPMG LLP for appointment as
independent public accountants for the Company for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2003, subject to ratification by the stockholders. KPMG LLP served
as independent public accountants for the Company for the fiscal year ended
September 30, 2002, and representatives of that firm are expected to be present
at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders. KPMG LLP will have an opportunity to make
a statement if they desire to do so and respond to appropriate questions.
7
NEXT ANNUAL MEETING
The next Annual Meeting of the Company's stockholders is scheduled to be
held on January 27, 2004. Appropriate proposals of stockholders intended to be
presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting must be received by Ms. Paula G. Waldrop,
Secretary, no later than August 6, 2003, in order to be included in the
Company's Proxy Statement and form of Proxy relating to such meeting.
OTHER MATTERS
Management knows of no other business which will be presented at the
Annual Meeting other than as explained herein.
STOCKHOLDERS MAY OBTAIN, WITHOUT CHARGE, A COPY OF THE COMPANY'S ANNUAL
REPORT ON FORM 10-K, INCLUDING THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SCHEDULES THERETO
FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED
SEPTEMBER 30, 2002, BY WRITING TO THE SECRETARY, DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY, 508
WEST WALL, SUITE 800, MIDLAND, TEXAS 79701. A COPY OF THE REPORT ALSO MAY BE
OBTAINED FROM THE INTERNET AT www.sec.gov.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Paula G. Waldrop, Secretary
8
[LOGO]
DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY
PROXY
The undersigned stockholder of Dawson
PLEASE SIGN Geophysical Company hereby appoints L. Decker
Dawson, Tim C. Thompson, and Matthew P.
AND RETURN Murphy or any one or more of them, attorneys,
agents and proxies of the undersigned, with
PROMPTLY. full power of substitution to each of them,
to vote all the shares of Common Stock which
ANNUAL MEETING the undersigned would be entitled to vote at
JANUARY 28, 2003 the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held
10:00 A.M. January 28, 2003, and at any adjournment or
PETROLEUM CLUB OF MIDLAND adjournments thereof, with all the powers the
501 WEST WALL, MIDLAND, TX 79701 undersigned would possess if personally
present and voting thereat, (A) as instructed
THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED BY below with respect to the following matters
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS and (B) in their discretion upon other
OF THE COMPANY matters which properly come before the
meeting. UNLESS A CONTRARY INSTRUCTION IS
Please return this proxy card SPECIFIED BELOW, THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED FOR
which requires no postage if ALL ITEMS.
mailed in the U.S.A.
1. Election of Directors:
[ ] FOR all nominees listed below (except
as marked to the contrary below)
[ ] WITHHOLD AUTHORITY to vote for all
nominees listed below
Paul H. Brown, Calvin J. Clements, L.
Decker Dawson, Gary M. Hoover,
Stephen C. Jumper, Matthew P. Murphy,
Howell W. Pardue, Tim C. Thompson and
C. Ray Tobias. (INSTRUCTION: To
withhold authority to vote for any
individual nominee, write that
nominee's name in the space
provided):
2. Proposal to ratify the selection of KPMG
LLP as independent public accountants of
the Company for the fiscal year ended
September 30, 2003.
[ ] For [ ] Against
The undersigned acknowledges receipt of the
Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and
Proxy Statement of the Company dated November
29, 2002.
Please date and sign exactly as name appears
on this proxy. Joint owners should each sign.
If the signer is a corporation, please sign
full corporate name by duly authorized
officer. Executors, administrators, trustees,
etc., should give full title as such.
Dated
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(Signature of Stockholder)
FROM ---------------
| NO POSTAGE |
- ----------------- | NECESSARY |
- ----------------- | IF MAILED |
- ----------------- | IN THE |
|UNITED STATES|
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| BUSINESS REPLY MAIL |
| |
| FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 80 MIDLAND, TEXAS |
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POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE
DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL CO.
508 WEST WALL, SUITE 800
MIDLAND TX 79701-9976