Tidewater reports a red ink quarter
For the same quarter last year, net earnings were $60.9 million, or $1.22 per common share, on revenues of $397.5 million.
The immediately preceding quarter ended June 30, 2015, had a net loss of $15.1 million, or $0.32 per common share, on revenues of $304.8 million.
Included in the net loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 were:
- $31.7 million ($31.6 million after-tax, or $0.67 per share) in non-cash asset impairment charges that resulted from impairment reviews undertaken during the September 2015 quarter.
- A $7.6 million ($6.3 million after-tax, or $0.13 per share) restructuring charge related to severance and other termination costs resulting from right-sizing efforts during the September 2015 quarter.
- $5.2 million ($5.2 million after-tax, or $0.11 per share) of foreign exchange losses which is included in Equity in net earnings/(losses) of unconsolidated companies and related to its Angola joint venture, Sonatide.
Income tax expense in the September and June quarters of fiscal 2016 largely reflect tax liabilities in certain jurisdictions that levy taxes on bases other than pre-tax profitability (so called “deemed profit” regimes.)
Included in the net loss for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 were the following:
- $15.0 million ($14.0 million after-tax, or $0.30 per share) in non-cash asset impairment charges that resulted from impairment reviews undertaken during the June 2015 quarter, including write-offs of unreimbursed and/or potentially unrecoverable costs related to cancelled vessel construction contracts and a vessel construction project that is the subject of an on-going arbitration proceeding.
- $10.2 million ($9.5 million after-tax, or $0.20 per share) of total foreign exchange losses, $6.1 million of which is included in Equity in net earnings/(losses) of unconsolidated companies and related to Angola joint venture, Sonatide.
Tidewater will hold a conference call to discuss September quarterly earnings on Wednesday, November 4, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. Central time. Investors and interested parties may listen to the teleconference via telephone by calling 1-888-771-4371 if calling from the U.S. or Canada (1-847-585-4405 if calling from outside the U.S.) and ask for the “Tidewater” call just prior to the scheduled start. A replay of the conference call will be available beginning at 12:00 p.m. Central time on November 4, 2015, and will continue until 11:59 p.m. Central time on November 6, 2015. To hear the replay, call 1-888-843-7419 (1-630-652-3042 if calling from outside the U.S.). The conference call ID number is 40898911.
A simultaneous webcast of the conference call will be available online at the Tidewater Inc. website, (http://www.tdw.com). The online replay will be available until December 4, 2015.
COWAN’S VIEW
Cowan and Company analyst J.B. Lowe says that the quarterly report has “Modestly Negative Implications.”
Tidewater reported an operating loss per share of $0.28, versus Cowan’s estimate and a consensus loss of $0.02/sh.
“However, much of the loss compared to our estimate was tax driven; operating income of $15.5 million compared to our $15 million estimate, and adjusted EBITDA of $62 million was above our $60 million estimate,” says the Cowan analyst.
Tidewater’s loss from continuing operations of $0.28 compared with Cowan’s and a consensus loss of $0.02/sh. Results exclude a $0.67/sh non-cash impairment charge, a $0.13/sh restructuring charge, $0.11/sh in FX losses and a $0.13/sh loss on asset dispositions. Higher-than-expected taxes negatively affected the quarter by $0.28/sh compared to estimate, meaning the company would have broken even at our Cowan’s tax rate expectation.
The company exceeded Cowan’s estimates on an operating basis, with operating income of $15.5 million coming in ahead of the $15 million estimate. Better-than-expected results were driven by lower operating costs and G&A expense than forecast, more than offsetting the top-line miss.
Total revenues of $272 million were short of Cowan’s $287mm estimate, while vessel revenues of $264 million were behind Cowan’s $278 milion forecast and below the average $275 million in revenues expected on the F1Q16 conference call. The relative underperformance was driven by weakness in the Americas region, partially offset by higher-than expected results in the Asia/Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa/Europe regions.
Vessel operating costs of $159 million were below Cowan’s $170 million forecast. Repair and maintenance costs fell sequentially as expected from $37.3 million in F1Q16 to $28.5 million (versus Cowan’s expectation of $34.7million).
Crew costs of $84 million were below Cowan’s $86 million forecast, although this was partially offset by higher fuel costs of $17 million. Vessel cash operating margin of 40% exceeded Cowan’s 39% estimate and fell within the guidance range of 36-40%. G&A expense of $37 million was well below our $43 millionexpectation, offset by higher-than-forecast DD&A expense of $46 million (vs our $45 mm estimate).
The company-wide average dayrate of $16,039/d was 5% below Cowan’s $16,946/d forecast. Deepwater dayrates of $24,535/d were short of Cowan’s $26,067/d estimate while TS/S rates of $13,689/d were in-line Cowan’s $13,662/d forecast. Worldwide utilization of 65.7% matched Cowan’s 65.8% estimate, driven largely by the ‘Other’ vessel segment as deepwater (63%) and TS/S (67%) utilization were below or in-line with Cowan’s forecasts of 68.3% and 66.5%.
Americas revenue of $89.2 million “fell well short of our $106.7 million forecast, driven largely by lower dayrates ($20,725/d vs our $22,511/d estimate) and by lower utilization (59.7% vs our 66.1% estimate).”
