Precision Drilling misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line
Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of CAD$0.35 per share, CAD$0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of CAD$0.36; revenues rose 12.8% year/year to CAD$672.2 mln vs the CAD$666.34 mln consensus.
Earnings before income taxes, finance charges, foreign exchange, and depreciation and amortization this quarter were $237 million or 10% higher than the first quarter of 2013.
"Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 35% this quarter, compared to 36% in the first quarter of 2013. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA margin was mainly due to a decrease in the margins in our Completion and Production Services segment and increases in share based compensation accruals, which were $10 million this quarter."
"Our activity for the quarter, as measured by drilling rig utilization days, increased 3% in Canada, 16% in the U.S. and 38% internationally, compared to the first quarter of 2013."
Outlook: Our portfolio of term customer contracts provides a base level of activity and revenue and, as of April 25, 2014, we have term contracts in place for an average of 53 rigs in Canada, 53 in the U.S. and 11 internationally for the second quarter of 2014 and an average of 52 rig contracts in Canada, 45 in the U.S. and 12 internationally for the full year. In Canada, term contracted rigs normally generate 250 utilization days per year because of the seasonal nature of well site access. In most regions in the U.S. and internationally, term contracts normally generate 365 utilization days per year. In the U.S., our average active rig count in the quarter was 94 rigs, up 13 rigs over the first quarter in 2013 and up four rigs over the fourth quarter of 2014. We currently have 95 rigs active in the U.S.