C.A.T. oil AG reports significant increase in first quarter revenues and earnings
Revenues grow 19.4% despite partly difficult weather conditions / EBIT rises 67.5% to EUR 8.0 million / Earnings per share amount to EUR 0.13
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May 29, 2006 - C.A.T. oil AG (O2C, ISIN: AT0000A00Y78), one of the leading providers of oilfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan which has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since May 4, 2006, today released its results for the first quarter of 2006. As a result of the continued high demand for its services C.A.T. oil again achieved successful revenue growth and improved its earnings. Despite the loss of an above-average number of workdays due to the very cold winter, the company saw group sales grow 19.4% to EUR 37.6 million (previous year: 31.5 million). The companys EBITDA rose 45.2% to EUR 10.0 million (previous year: EUR 6.9 million). The EBIT increased 67.5% during the reporting period to EUR 8.0 million (previous year: EUR 4.8 million), and the EBIT margin grew from 15.1% for the previous years first quarter to 21.2%.
Significant sales increase despite days lost to cold weather
Manfred Kastner, CEO of C.A.T. oil AG, said: "We are very satisfied with our business during the first quarter of 2006. We enjoyed a significant increase in sales and earnings despite the fact that more days were lost to bad weather than during the previous years period. Among other things, we succeeded in raising average income per job. We were also able to further boost the efficiency of our fleet during the first three months. Against this backdrop, and in view of the additional fleets that we will put in operation during the course of the year, we see the first quarter as a confirmation of our positive expectations for the entire year."
Group sales for the first quarter of each year are usually below the quarterly average for the entire year as the result of seasonal weather conditions in Russia and Kazakhstan. This year the temperatures in regions where C.A.T.oil operates were sometimes under minus 50 degrees Celsius; fracturing and workover cannot be performed at temperatures of less than minus 35 degrees. As a result 20 workdays were lost on some wells in January, or 15 workdays more than during the first quarter of the previous year. The number of fracturing jobs in February and in particular a new record for performed fracturing jobs in March went a long way in compensating for these lost workdays.
The efficiency of fracturing operations also improved during the first quarter thanks to consequent cost and process management throughout the group. The employment of new hydration units and improved measurement data resulting from software adjustments made it possible to carry out more extensive fracturing jobs in less time at lower cost. This led to a reduction in the costs per job and thereby to an under-proportional rise in cost of sales in comparison with sales growth. As a result the gross profit from sales rose 57.6% from EUR 7.9 million to EUR 12.4 million. The improved sales/cost ratio also led to an increase in the gross margin to 33.1% compared with 25% for the first quarter of the previous year.
Quarterly net profit rises to EUR 5.3 million
The positive development of business is also reflected in the companys earnings after taxes. C.A.T.oil saw its quarterly net profit adjusted for minority stakes rise from EUR 3.5 million for the first quarter of 2005 to EUR 5.3 million for the reporting period. This corresponds to an increase of more than 50%. Earnings per share were EUR 0.13.
Cash flow from operations rose to EUR 1.0 million during the reporting period (previous year: EUR -7.2 million); capital expenditure for tangible assets during this period were EUR 3.4 million (previous year: EUR 2.0 million). Acquisitions included a used fracturing fleet purchased during the first quarter. This fleet is currently being overhauled and is expected to begin generating additional sales during the third quarter of 2006. As a result of this capital expenditure the cash flow from investment declined to EUR -3.3 million compared to EUR 5.8 million for the first quarter of the previous year. As of March 31, 2006, the company had liquid assets totaling EUR 6.7 million compared to EUR 10.9 million on the 2005 balance sheet date. This decline is due primarily to the aforementioned investments in tangible assets. Funds generated by the IPO of C.A.T.oil were not acquired during the reporting period and are therefore not included in the first quarter figures.
During the first quarter of 2006 the company employed an average of 2,225 workers (previous year: 2,246), most of whom are employed in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Capacities to increase during the current year
In addition to the used fracturing fleet acquired during the first quarter, C.A.T. oil AG has already ordered three additional fleets, which will be delivered during the course of the current year. This will raise the total number of fracturing fleets from 9 to 12, thereby putting the company in a good position to meet the growing demand for oilfield services. During the first quarter C.A.T. oil AG also received numerous inquires from companies, with which it has no current business ties and which are located in regions where the company has not yet operated.
Press contact: A&B Financial Dynamics
Dr. Lutz Golsch Tel.: +49 (0)69 92037-110 E-mail: ir@catoilag.com About C.A.T. oil AG:
Austria-based C.A.T.oil AG(O2C, ISIN: AT0000A00Y78) is one of the leading providers of oilfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan C.A.T.oil's core business is hydraulic fracturing, a process which helps to open up oil and gas bearing rock formations in order to increase or even enable the output of the raw materials. For this purpose, the C.A.T.oil teams are capable, with the help of state-of-the-art methods and technologies, of generating high pressure in the respective oil or gas reservoirs. This pressure causes cracks to appear in the rock, through which oil and gas can be produced in larger quantities from the production well, enabling the extraction to be stimulated, particularly in the case of deposits that are difficult to develop or wells with low output. In addition, hydraulic fracturing can be used to re¬vitalise wells that had previously been closed.
The company is headquartered in Baden near Vienna and had 2,230 employees at the end of 2005, most of them in Russia and Kazakhstan. Customers include leading oil and gas producers such as Gazprom, KazMunaiGaz, LUKOIL, Rosneft and TNK-BP.
www.catoilag.com
Rückfragehinweis:
A&B Financial Dynamics
Dr. Lutz Golsch
Tel.: +49 (0)69 92037-110
E-mail: ir@catoilag.com
Branche: Öl und Gas Exploration
ISIN: AT0000A00Y78
WKN: A0IKWU
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / Amtlicher Markt