EANS-News: C.A.T. oil AG
C.A.T. oil AG continues to increase efficiency and
profitability
Wien (euro adhoc) -
- Q3 2009 service job count up 14.4% yoy to 827 jobs - EBITDA margin expanded to 29.8% from 23.2% one year ago - Cashflow from operating activities increased by 27.7% for Q1-Q3 2009 - Strong balance sheet with equity ratio of 81.5%
Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer/originator is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
quarterly report/Results of the third quarter 2009
Subtitle: - Q3 2009 service job count up 14.4% yoy to 827 jobs - EBITDA margin expanded to 29.8% from 23.2% one year ago - Cashflow from operating activities increased by 27.7% for Q1-Q3 2009 - Strong balance sheet with equity ratio of 81.5%
30 November 2009 - C.A.T. oil AG (O2C, ISIN: AT0000A00Y78), one of the leading providers of oil and gasfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan, today announced the results for the third quarter and the first nine months of Fiscal Year 2009. Between July and September, the Company has benefitted from the improved market conditions and the increased customers´ demand for well stimulation and rehabilitation services. Evidence are additional sidetrack drilling orders worth EUR 14 million which were awarded to C.A.T. oil by core customers in September. As a result, the Company´s 2009 order book increased to EUR 228 million. Furthermore, the Company attained an impressive 14.4% yoy upturn in its service job count to 827 jobs in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: 723 jobs) and reached an all time high in job count of 2,352 jobs in Q1-3 2009, up 6.4% from 2,211 jobs in Q1-3 2008. With consistent focus on operating efficiency and profitability, C.A.T. oil expanded its EBITDA and EBIT margins and attained healthy year-over-year earning growth in Q3 2009.
Revenues remained stable in local currencies, but decreased in Euro terms
High operating activities have not been adequately reflected in C.A.T. oil´s revenues which were negatively impacted by the Rouble devaluation against the Euro as well as softer sidetrack drilling prices in 2009 compared to 2008. In Q3 2009, revenues in Euro terms decreased by 18.3% yoy to EUR 59.3 million (Q3 2008: EUR 72.6 million), but remained unchanged year-over-year in local currencies. For Q1-3 2009, revenues declined by 16.6% yoy to EUR 176.9 million (Q1-3 2008: EUR 212.0 million), however slightly increased by 1.1% yoy in local currencies.
The Company´s average per job revenues amounted to TEUR 71.8 in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: TEUR 100.4) and TEUR 75.2 in Q1-3 2009 (Q1-3 2008: TEUR 96.3).
Additional positive effects from cost cutting program
In Q3 2009, C.A.T. oil stayed focused on its objectives of improving profitabil-ity and lowering its operating cost base. These positive developments were, however, clouded by the reclassification of EUR 5.2 million of the expected seismic-related losses, which the Company recognized in H1 2009, from other operating losses into cost of sales. As a result, cost of sales was down only 11.0% yoy to EUR 49.3 million in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: EUR 55.4 million); net of effects of the reclassification, cost of sales was, however, down 20.4% yoy to EUR 44.1 million in Q3 2009. During the first nine months of 2009 cost of sales was reduced by 14.8% yoy to EUR 143.6 million (Q1-3 2008: EUR 168.6 million).
Similar to the cost of sales, material savings in general and administrative ex-penses were partly fogged by the reclassification of EUR 1.6 million of seis-mic-related bad debt provisions from other operating losses into general and administrative expenses in Q3 2009. Therefore, the Company posted only a 13.3% yoy decline in its general and administrative expenses to EUR 5.6 million (Q3 2008: EUR 6.5 million). Nonetheless, the Q3 2009 general and administrative expenses, net of the reclassification effects, were down 30.0% yoy to EUR 4.5 million. In Q1-3 2009, the Company attained a 28.3% yoy reduction in general and administrative expenses to EUR 13.8 million (Q1-3 2008: EUR 19.2 million).
C.A.T. oil has continued to implement its personnel program which consists of the adjustment of workforce and the renegotiation of wages and salary struc-ture. In Q1-3 2009, C.A.T. oil reduced its total weighted-average headcount to 3,024 employees compared to 3,636 employees in the prior-year-period primarily at expense of auxiliary and support functions. As a consequence, wages and salaries declined by 32.8% yoy to EUR 8.0 million in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: EUR 11.9 million) and were down 28.8% yoy to EUR 23.9 million in Q1-3 2009 (Q1-3 2008: EUR 33.6 million).
Gross profit amounted to EUR 10.0 million in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: EUR 17.2 million) and EUR 33.3 million in Q1-3 2009 (Q1-3 2008: EUR 43.5 million), primarily reflecting the effects of the Q3 2009 reclassification of other expected operating losses from the seismic business into cost of sales, as well as the Rouble devaluation.
Increase in EBITDA and EBIT margins
Consequent to C.A.T. oil´s focus on efficiency and tight cost control, the Com-pany´s earnings before interest, corporate tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) improved by 5.1% yoy to EUR 17.7 million in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: EUR 16.8 million), resulting in an EBITDA margin of 29.8% (Q3 2008: 23.2%). Earnings before interest and corporate tax (EBIT) increased by 6.9% yoy to EUR 11.5 million (Q3 2008: EUR 10.7 million), with an EBIT margin expanding to 19.3% (Q3 2008: 14.7%).
For Q1-3 2009, the Company´s EBITDA and EBIT strongly reflected the first six months effects of a more difficult market environment and write-offs arising from seismic operations. As a result, EBITDA decreased by 3.1% yoy to EUR 40.1 million (Q1-3 2008: EUR 41.4 million). Nonetheless, the EBITDA margin expanded to 22.7% (Q1-3 2008: 19.5%), reflecting C.A.T. oil´s success in cost optimization. The Company´s EBIT diminished by 16.9% yoy to EUR 20.3 million (Q1-3 2008: EUR 24.5 million) on lower EBITDA and higher depreciation. The EBIT margin, however, remained intact at 11.5% (Q1-3 2008: 11.5%).
The net financial result was impacted by unrealized and realized foreign cur-rency translation losses on euro-denominated inter-company loans and a rise in net interest expenses and other non-operating expenses and amounted to EUR -0.5 million in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: EUR -0.1 million). For Q1-3 2009, the net financial result was EUR -3.9 million (Q1-3 2008: EUR -0.9 million).
In Q3 2009, pre-tax profit was up 3.3% yoy to EUR 11.0 million (Q3 2008: EUR 10.6 million). For Q1-3 2009, the Company´s pre-tax profit declined by 30.2% yoy to EUR 16.5 million (Q1-3 2008: EUR 23.6 million), primarily re-flecting lower operating income in the first six months as well as negative currency translation effects.
C.A.T. oil boosted its net income by 59.9% to EUR 9.2 million in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: EUR 5.7 million) due to a steep contraction in the Company´s effective corporate tax rate to 16.6% (Q3 2008: 46.6%). For Q1-3 2009, the Company reported a net income of EUR 11.9 million (Q1-3 2008: EUR 12.5 million). Earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.187 in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: EUR 0.117) and EUR 0.244 for Q1-3 2009 (Q1-3 2008: EUR 0.256).
Strong liquidity and high equity ratio
In Q3 2009, C.A.T. oil´s cash flow from operating activities was up 9.8% yoy to EUR 16.1 million (Q3 2008: EUR 14.7 million) and rose by 27.7% yoy to EUR 38.4 million in Q1-3 2009 (Q1-3 2008: EUR 30.1 million). Following three years of intense investments in new fracturing and sidetrack drilling capacities, the Company has reduced its 2009 capital expenditures to a maintenance level in the wake of challenging market environment. With minor disposals of fixed assets, C.A.T. oil´s cash flow from investing activities was a net inflow of EUR 0.4 million in Q3 2009 compared to a net outflow of EUR 14.5 million in Q3 2008. On a nine-month-basis, the Company´s cash flow from investing activities was a net outflow of EUR 5.8 million compared to a net outflow of EUR 33.9 million in the first nine months of 2008. As a result, C.A.T. oil generated a positive free cash flow of EUR 16.6 million in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: EUR 0.2 mil-lion) and EUR 32.6 million in Q1-3 2009 (Q1-3 2008: free cash outflow of EUR 3.9 million). The Company´s cash flow from financing activities was a net outflow of EUR 12.4 million in Q3 2009 (Q3 2008: net inflow of EUR 1.0 million) and a net outflow of EUR 28.2 million in Q1-3 2009 (Q1-3 2008: a net outflow of EUR 1.6 million), primarily reflecting a deliberate early repayment of long term debt. Cash and cash equivalents were EUR 17.4 million at 30 September 2009, up 21.1% from EUR 14.4 million at 31 December 2008.
During the reporting period, C.A.T. oil remained committed to its conservative financial policy. The Company reduced its long-term interest bearing liabilities by 83.0% to EUR 5.1 million at 30 September 2009 from EUR 30.0 million at 31 December 2008. The equity ratio therefore further increased to 81.5% at 30 September 2009 (31 December 2008: 73.4%). As of 30 September 2009, the Company had net cash of EUR 9.9 million compared to net debt of EUR 21.3 million at 31 December 2008.
Focus on conservative financial policy and high quality service
In the fourth quarter of 2009, C.A.T. oil will remain committed to its strategy to further streamline operations and to improve profitability while at the same time delivering consistent high quality services to its customers. In addition, the Company will continue its strict cost management and make best possible use of its existing capacities.
Manfred Kastner, CEO of C.A.T. oil, said: "During the third quarter, market conditions have lightened up and at C.A.T. oil we have made good use of them. We received additional orders by our customers and gained additional market share. By the end of September we had more than 75% of our 2009 order book executed. We have remained committed to strict cost discipline and followed our conservative financial policy, aiming at a high equity base. Our solid business strategy has carried us well through this economically exceptional Fiscal Year 2009 so far. We are confident that our consistently tight approach to operational and financial matters enables C.A.T. oil not only to enter 2010 safely, but also to pave the way for further growth once the markets have fundamentally recovered."
www.catoilag.com
Press contact: FD
Carolin Amann Lucie Kimmich Tel.: +49 (0)69 92037-132 Tel.: +49 (0)69 92037-183 Email: carolin.amann@fd.com Email: lucie.kimmich@fd.com
About C.A.T. oil AG:
C.A.T. oil AG is one of the leading providers of oil and gas field services in Russia and Kazakhstan and is listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (SDAX). C.A.T. oil offers a wide spectrum of services to increase the lifecycle of an oil field or to make abandoned oil fields accessible. The Company´s growth is driven by three significant factors: Existing oil fields need to be stimulated due to shrinking oil and gas resources in order to optimize capacities. Simultaneously, idle wells are reactivated or made accessible through new methods in order to deploy wells to their maximum. Additionally C.A.T. oil offers seismic services which help to identify new oil and gas sources. Since its foundation in 1991 in Celle, Germany, C.A.T. oil has built up a leading hydraulic fracturing services business with a current market share of almost 30% in Russia and Kazakhstan. Following its IPO in 2006 the company has invested more than EUR 200 million in additional services and capacities: sidetrack drilling has become the Company´s second core business with a market share of approx. 18% in Russia. Apart from the services mentioned above, C.A.T.oil´s diversified service portfolio in-cludes coiled tubing, formation evaluation services, well work-over, cementing and seismic services. Due to the recent expansion investments C.A.T. oil´s fleets and rigs are state-of-the-art and therefore allow for time-efficient and effective deployment. C.A.T. oil´s customer base includes the leading Russian and Kazakh oil and gas pro-ducers amongst them Gazprom, KazMunaiGaz, LUKOIL, Rosneft and TNK-BP. With all of them C.A.T. oil has a long-standing relationship and has been a reliable service provider since its market entrance in the early nineties.
The Company has its headquarters in Vienna and employed an average of 3,024 peo-ple in the first nine months of 2009, most of whom are based in Russia and Kazakhstan. The Company´s order book for 2009 amounted to EUR 228 million in September 2009.
Key financial figures for Q3 2009
[in million EUR] Q3 2009 Q3 2008 Change in % Revenues 59.3 72.6 -18.3 Cost of sales 49.3 55.4 -11.0 Gross profit 10.0 17.2 -41.7 EBITDA 17.7 16.8 5.1 EBITDA margin (in%) 29.8 23.2 EBIT 11.5 10.7 6.9 EBIT margin (in%) 19.3 14.7 Net income 9.2 5.7 59.9 Earnings per share (in EUR) 0.187 0.117 59.8
Cash flow from operating activities 16.1 14.7 9.8 Cash flow from investing activities 0.4 -14.5 n/a Cash flow from financing activities -12.4 1.0 n/a
Total job count 827 723 14.4 Per-job revenue (in thou. EUR) 71.8 100.4 -28.5
Key financial figures for the first nine months of 2009 [in million EUR] Q1-3 2009 Q1-3 2008 Change in % Revenues 176.9 212.0 -16.6 Cost of sales 143.6 168.6 -14.8 Gross profit 33.3 43.5 -23.4 EBITDA 40.1 41.4 -3.1 EBITDA margin (in%) 22.7 19.5 EBIT 20.3 24.5 -16.9 EBIT margin (in%) 11.5 11.5 Net income 11.9 12.5 -4.8 Earnings per share (in EUR) 0.244 0.256 4.8 Equity Ratio (in %)* 81.5 73.4
Cash flow from operating activities 38.4 30.1 27.7 Cash flow from investing activities -5.8 -33.9 n/a Cash flow from financing activities -28.2 -1.6 n/a Cash and cash equivalents * 17.4 14.4 21.1
Total job count 2,352 2,211 6.4 Per-job revenue (in thou. EUR) 75.2 96.3 -21.9 Employees 3,024 3,636 -16.8
* As of 30 September 2009 and 31 December 2008 respectively
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Lucie Kimmich
Tel.: +49 (69) 920 37-183
E-Mail: lucie.kimmich@fd.com
Branche: Oil & Gas - Upstream activities
ISIN: AT0000A00Y78
WKN: A0IKWU
Index: SDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard