Bristow Group Reports Financial Results For Its 2016 Fiscal Second Quarter And Six Months Ended September 30, 2015

HOUSTON, Nov. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS) today reported a GAAP net loss for the September 2015 quarter of $47.1 million, or $1.21 per diluted share, compared to net income of $26.1 million, or $0.73 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago.

Adjusted net income, which excludes $37.6 million of special items and $10.8 million of losses on asset dispositions, decreased 96% to $1.3 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the September 2015 quarter, compared to adjusted net income of $31.1 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, in the September 2014 quarter.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent ("adjusted EBITDAR"), which excludes $28.0 million of special items and $14.0 million of losses on asset dispositions, was $92.8 million for the September 2015 quarter, a 17% decrease from $112.1 million in the same period a year ago.

Adjusted EBITDAR, and GAAP and adjusted net income, were significantly reduced by foreign currency losses during the September 2015 quarter. These foreign currency losses reduced operating income by $18.5 million and adjusted EBITDAR by $30.0 million, GAAP and adjusted net income by $21.8 million, and GAAP and adjusted diluted earnings per share by $0.62 during the September 2015 quarter. For the September 2014 quarter, foreign currency losses reduced operating income by $10.2 million, adjusted EBITDAR by $11.6 million, GAAP and adjusted net income by $9.5 million and GAAP and adjusted diluted earnings per share by $0.27.

Excluding the effect of foreign currency losses, adjusted EBITDAR and adjusted earnings per diluted share were $122.7 million (a margin of 28.9%) and $0.66 per diluted share in the September 2015 quarter, respectively, compared to $123.7 million (a margin of 27.7%) and $1.14 per diluted share in the September 2014 quarter, respectively. Despite a decline in activity and revenue from our oil and gas clients, adjusted EBITDAR was mostly unchanged and adjusted EBITDAR margin improved net of foreign exchange losses, as a result of the start-up of the U.K. SAR contract in April 2015, the addition of Airnorth in Australia and cost reduction initiatives across the organization.

"I am proud of our team's progress during the quarter in implementing our  economic restructuring initiatives designed to enhance Bristow's leading competitive position and financial strength," said Jonathan Baliff, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bristow Group. "We have been successful in reinforcing our financial flexibility through an expected deferral of approximately $100 million of capital expenditures out of fiscal 2016 with further deferrals expected over the next five years.  We also are announcing a new two year $200 million term loan which will provide additional liquidity in light of this downturn.

"The anticipated capital expenditure deferrals and the new term loan, combined with the increased flexibility of the recently revised debt covenants, provide us with critical financial flexibility in this downturn to complete U.K. SAR, satisfy our financial commitments, and prepare for the eventual upturn, whenever it happens. In addition, we have already delivered on approximately 20% of the $150 million in operating costs reductions, including a 12% reduction in our global workforce, and most measures are already in place to ensure that we achieve the remaining savings during the second half of fiscal 2016.

"Our results for the September 2015 quarter included a number of negative items, including the impact of the strong U.S. dollar, which detracted from our underlying performance where our regional operations delivered respectable results led by Europe Caspian and Asia Pacific. Excluding the impact of the foreign exchange losses, we would have reported adjusted EBITDAR of $122.7 million, in line with the prior year quarter with an improved adjusted EBITDAR margin of 28.9%.

"We expect results for the remainder of fiscal 2016 to continue to be impacted by the industry conditions affecting our clients. However, we also expect second half operating results to be better than first half as the benefits of our cost reduction initiatives and diversification strategy into SAR and fixed wing logistics take full effect," added Mr. Baliff.

SECOND QUARTER FY 2016 RESULTS

• Operating revenue decreased to $419.0 million for the September 2015 quarter compared to $440.5 million in the same period a year ago.
  • Changes in foreign currency exchange rates versus the prior year period reduced revenue by $34.2 million year-over-year along with lower revenue and activity from our oil and gas clients, with a partial offset from the addition of U.K. SAR and Airnorth.
• Operating income decreased to an operating loss of $29.8 million for the September 2015 quarter compared to operating income of $44.1 million in the September 2014 quarter.
• GAAP net loss was $47.1 million, or $1.21 per diluted share, in the September 2015 quarter, compared to net income of $26.1 million, or $0.73 per diluted share, in the September 2014 quarter. 
• GAAP results for the September 2015 quarter were affected by the following items that are excluded from our adjusted non-GAAP results for the quarter:
  • Severance expense of $5.7 million related to separation programs across our global organization designed to increase efficiency and cut cost,
  • A loss on disposal of assets of $14.0 million (primarily consisting of impairment charges on aircraft of $12.2 million),
  • Accelerated depreciation expense of $10.5 million related to changes in the planned timing of exit and market value of certain aircraft model types from our fleet, and
  • An impairment of goodwill of $22.3 million (included in loss on impairment) related to our Bristow Norway reporting unit within our Europe Caspian region ($12.1 million) and Bristow Academy reporting unit within Corporate and other ($10.2 million).

SIX MONTH FY 2016 RESULTS

• Operating revenue for the six months ended September 30, 2015 decreased to $859.1 million compared to $877.8 million in the same period a year ago.
  • Changes in foreign currency exchange rates versus the prior year period reduced revenue by $69.9 million year-over-year along with lower revenue and activity from our oil and gas clients, with a partial offset from the addition of U.K. SAR and Airnorth.
• Operating income decreased to an operating loss of $25.0 million for the six months ended September 30, 2015 compared to operating income of $109.3 million in the same period a year ago.
• GAAP net loss was $50.4 million, or $1.49 per diluted share, for the six months ended September 30, 2015 compared to net income of $70.2 million, or $1.96 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago.
• GAAP results for the six months ended September 30, 2015 were affected by the following items that are excluded from our adjusted non-GAAP financial measures for the quarter:
  • Severance expense of $13.7 million related to separation programs across our global organization designed to increase efficiency and cut cost,
  • A loss on disposal of assets of $21.7 million  (primarily consisting of impairment charges on aircraft of $22.0 million),
  • Accelerated depreciation expense of $19.3 million related to changes in the planned timing of exit and market value of certain aircraft model types from our fleet and $5.4 million of impairment charges on inventory, and
  • An impairment of goodwill of $22.3 million (included in loss on impairment) related to our Bristow Norway reporting unit within our Europe Caspian region ($12.1 million) and Bristow Academy reporting unit within Corporate and other  ($10.2 million).

SECOND QUARTER FY 2016 REGION RESULTS

Europe Caspian Region

A substantial portion of our revenue in the Europe Caspian region is contracted in British pounds and Norwegian kroner, both of which weakened significantly against the U.S. dollar since the September 2014 quarter. Foreign currency exchange rate changes resulted in a $21.4 million reduction in revenue for our Europe Caspian region year-over-year.  Additionally, operating revenue for the September 2015 quarter reflects an impact from the downturn in the oil and gas industry, which has resulted in decreased activity levels with our oil and gas clients. Partially offsetting the year-over-year decrease in operating revenue was the startup of two U.K. SAR bases in April 2015, one base in July 2015 and one base in August 2015, which contributed $26.0 million in additional operating revenue, and the addition of a new oil and gas contract that commenced in late fiscal year 2015 and contributed $13.5 million in operating revenue in the September 2015 quarter.

Operating income and operating margin were significantly impacted by an impairment of goodwill for operations in Norway totaling $12.1 million. Additionally, we added five leased aircraft in our Europe Caspian region over the prior year quarter, primarily in support of the U.K. SAR contract, which resulted in a $14.2 million increase in rent expense. The increase in rent expense and goodwill impairment were the primary drivers of the $25.6 million year-over-year decrease in operating income and operating margin decrease from 19.3% in the September 2014 quarter to 7.3% in the September 2015 quarter. 

Adjusted EBITDAR was mostly flat when compared to the prior year quarter, with a negative impact from changes in foreign currency exchange rates of $2.7 million compared to the prior year quarter.  Given the impact on revenue in addition to adjusted EBITDAR, the changes in foreign currency exchange rates had minimal impact on adjusted EBITDAR margin.  Adjusted EBITDAR margin was mostly flat year-over-year with the impact from the downturn in the offshore energy market being offset by the start-up of U.K. SAR bases and cost management activities.

Africa Region

Operating revenue for the Africa region decreased due to an overall reduction in activity compared to the September 2014 quarter.  Activity declined with certain customers and certain contracts ended, reducing revenue by $22.5 million, which was only partially offset by a $1.4 million increase in activity in other contracts.

Operating income decreased by $12.1 million compared to the prior year quarter, with a decrease in operating margin from 23.2% to 11.9% year-over-year. This decrease resulted from the revenue decline discussed above and an increase in depreciation and amortization expense of $5.9 million resulting from management's decision to exit certain aircraft model types from our fleet sooner than originally anticipated. 

Adjusted EBITDAR declined primarily due to the decrease in activity discussed above. Despite the decrease in operating revenue and adjusted EBITDAR, adjusted EBITDAR margin increased year-over-year primarily due to a decrease in direct costs in this market of $11.3 million, including salaries and benefits expense, maintenance expense and travel and meals.

Americas Region

Operating revenue for the Americas region decreased primarily due to a decline in the number of small and medium aircraft on contract and reduction in flight hours for large aircraft in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which reduced operating revenue by $12.1 million, a decrease of $2.6 million in Trinidad primarily due to the end of a contract, a decrease of $2.3 million in Brazil due to fewer aircraft leased to Líder and a decrease in fuel revenue of $2.1 million. These decreases were partially offset by new contracts in Suriname and Guyana which increased operating revenue by $4.9 million.

Operating income, operating margin, adjusted EBITDAR and adjusted EBITDAR margin were negatively impacted by a decrease of $11.9 million in earnings from our investment in Líder in Brazil.  Earnings from our investment in Líder were reduced by $19.9 million and $8.7 million in the September 2015 and 2014 quarters, respectively, as a result of unfavorable foreign currency exchange rate changes.  Excluding this impact, our adjusted EBITDAR for the Americas region would have been $27.2 million (37.1% margin) and $36.5 million (41.4% margin), respectively, in the September 2015 and 2014 quarters. This year-over-year decrease primarily resulted from the reduction in operating revenue discussed above.

Asia Pacific Region

In January 2015, Bristow Australia acquired an 85% interest in Airnorth, which contributed $21.6 million in operating revenue and $4.9 million in adjusted EBITDAR for the September 2015 quarter. Operating revenue also increased by $21.0 million from new contracts in Australia, including the INPEX contract which started in the June 2014 quarter, offset by $16.0 million due to the ending of short-term contracts in Australia and a $3.3 million decline in Russia.  A substantial portion of our operations in the Asia Pacific region are contracted in the Australian dollar, which weakened significantly against the U.S. dollar compared to the same period a year ago.  Foreign currency exchange rate changes resulted in a reduction in revenue for our Asia Pacific region of $9.4 million year-over-year.

Operating income, operating margin and adjusted EBITDAR increased primarily as a result of the acquisition of Airnorth. Adjusted EBITDAR and adjusted EBITDAR margin were negatively impacted by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, which reduced adjusted EBITDAR by $2.5 million compared to the September 2014 quarter. Excluding the impact of the foreign currency rate changes, adjusted EBITDAR margin would have been 23.1% in the September 2015 quarter, an improvement from the prior year quarter.

GUIDANCE

We are lowering our adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance for the full fiscal year 2016 to $1.80 to $2.40, primarily resulting from foreign currency exchange effects and our cautious view of the market for the remainder of fiscal year 2016. Our previous guidance for the full fiscal year 2016 was $3.10 to $3.75.

"Despite the current oil and gas industry downturn, we are starting to benefit from the proactive measures that we have been taking since the beginning of the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year to right size our operations for expected difficult market conditions. For our second quarter, we delivered operating revenue results that were only 5% below last year's second quarter results," said L. Don Miller, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Bristow Group. "While the impact of the strong U.S. dollar unfortunately prevented us from reporting increased adjusted EBITDAR and adjusted EBITDAR margin for the second quarter, the relative strength of our regional operations and benefits of our diversification are holding up well through the downturn.

"We continue to take actions to further strengthen our balance sheet. We remain focused on achieving additional cost reductions and capital expenditure deferrals, and our new term loan provides us with additional liquidity and enhanced financial flexibility."

As a reminder, our adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance excludes the effect of special items and asset dispositions because their timing and amounts are more variable and less predictable.  Further, this guidance is based on foreign currency exchange rates as of September 30, 2015.  In providing this guidance, we have not included the impact of any changes in accounting standards or significant acquisitions and divestitures.  Events or other circumstances that we do not currently anticipate or cannot predict, including changes in exchange rates, the market and industry, could result in earnings per share for fiscal year 2016 that are significantly above or below this guidance.  Factors that could cause such changes are described below under the Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure and the Risk Factors in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 and annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.

DIVIDEND AND SHARE REPURCHASE

On November 5, 2015, our Board of Directors approved our nineteenth consecutive quarterly dividend. This dividend of $0.34 per share will be paid on December 15, 2015 to shareholders of record on December 1, 2015. Based on shares outstanding as of September 30, 2015, the total quarterly dividend payment will be approximately $11.9 million. Additionally, our Board of Directors extended the date to repurchase up to $150 million of shares of our Common Stock to November 4, 2016.

CONFERENCE CALL

Management will conduct a conference call starting at 10:00 a.m. ET (9:00 a.m. CT) on Friday, November  6, 2015 to review financial results for the fiscal year 2016 second quarter ended September 30, 2015.  This release and the most recent investor slide presentation are available in the investor relations area of our web page at www.bristowgroup.com.  The conference call can be accessed as follows:

Via Webcast:

• Visit Bristow Group's investor relations Web page at www.bristowgroup.com
• Live: Click on the link for "Bristow Group Fiscal 2016 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call"
• Replay: A replay via webcast will be available approximately one hour after the call's completion and will be accessible for approximately 90 days

Via Telephone within the U.S.:

• Live: Dial toll free 1-877-404-9648
• Replay: A telephone replay will be available through November 13, 2015 and may be accessed by calling toll free 1-877-660-6853, passcode: 13621436#

Via Telephone outside the U.S.:

• Live: Dial 1-412-902-0030
• Replay: A telephone replay will be available through November 13, 2015 and may be accessed by calling 1-201-612-7415, passcode: 13621436#

ABOUT BRISTOW GROUP INC.

Bristow Group Inc. is the leading provider of helicopter services to the worldwide offshore energy industry based on the number of aircraft operated and one of two helicopter service providers to the offshore energy industry with global operations.  The Company has major transportation operations in the North Sea, Nigeria and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Trinidad.  For more information, visit the Company's website at www.bristowgroup.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS DISCLOSURE

Statements contained in this news release that state the Company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements include statements regarding earnings guidance, expected contract revenue, capital deployment strategy, operational and capital performance, expected cost management activities, expected capital expenditure deferrals, shareholder return, liquidity, market and industry conditions.  It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements.  Risks and uncertainties include without limitation:  fluctuations in the demand for our services; fluctuations in worldwide prices of and supply and demand for oil and natural gas; fluctuations in levels of oil and natural gas production, exploration and development activities; the impact of competition; actions by clients and suppliers; the risk of reductions in spending on helicopter services by governmental agencies; changes in tax and other laws and regulations; changes in foreign exchange rates and controls; risks associated with international operations; operating risks inherent in our business, including the possibility of declining safety performance; general economic conditions including the capital and credit markets; our ability to obtain financing; the risk of grounding of segments of our fleet for extended periods of time or indefinitely; our ability to re-deploy our aircraft to regions with greater demand; our ability to acquire additional aircraft and dispose of older aircraft through sales into the aftermarket; the possibility that we do not achieve the anticipated benefit of our fleet investment program; availability of employees; and political instability, war or acts of terrorism in any of the countries where we operate.  Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 and annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.  Bristow Group Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements, including financial estimates, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Linda McNeill
Investor Relations
(713) 267-7622

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SOURCE Bristow Group Inc.