Loss widens for Archer as low oil prices bite

Oilfield services company Archer has nearly doubled its net loss in the first quarter of 2016, and reported a 42.1% drop in revenues as low oil prices caused its clients to further cut costs. 

During the quarter, the company axed around 600 jobs, with more to come in the following period.

Archer’s revenue for the first quarter 2016 was $229.2 million compared to $395.8 million for the same period last year, down $166.6 million or 42.1%.

Net loss for the quarter was $27.8 million, compared to $14.9 million in the corresponding quarter in 2015.

As market conditions continued to deteriorate during the quarter, Archer recorded additional restructuring costs of $8.7 million, representing severance and early retirement costs for approximately 550 employees in order to align its employee base with the lower activity levels.

The company’s headcount as of March 31, 2016 was approximately 5,300 compared to 5,900 at the end of the fourth quarter 2015.

Archer’s net interest-bearing debt was $809 million at March 31, 2016.

Further cuts to be made

According to Archer, as global commodity prices remained under severe pressure and the price for oil hit a 12 year low in February 2016, many of the company’s customers decided to further reduce their spending levels for the year 2016.

In its 1Q report, the company said that these reductions in activity and the continued pressure on pricing would impact its business at least over the remainder of 2016 and into 2017.

The company also added: “In line with the expected further reduction in activity levels, mainly in the Argentina, Norway and the UK, we plan to further reduce the headcount by approximately 8%-10% in the second quarter. We continue to review our capital expenditures carefully and we expect spending levels for 2016 to be between $20 – $30 million, representing mainly expenditures to replace or extend the life of our existing assets as well as some investments required to comply with requirements related to new contracts awards.

“Depending whether the market will rebalance towards the end of 2016, we might see a slight recovery in activities which do not require significant investments and are enabling customers to take advantage of the low cost environment.”

The oilfield services company also on Friday announced the appointment of its new chief executive officer to replace David King, who has been Archer’s CEO since July 2013.

Offshore Energy Today Staff