SeaBird Slides to Loss

SeaBird, a seismic data provider for oil and gas companies, has recorded a net loss of $20.2 million for the third quarter of 2014 (Q4 2014).

This compares to a net income of $4.0 million in the same period in 2013 (Q3 2013).

The company generated $22.7 million in revenues, a drop of 55% versus Q3 2013, and approximately 50% compared to Q2 2014. Third quarter revenues decreased from the prior period due to a drop in seismic market demand.

However, multi-client revenues were up 250% from Q3 2013 and up 70% from Q2 2014.

Revenues were down in all of our geographic regions as a result of a global weakening in market demand.

In addition, SeaBird’s EBITDA was negative $2.1 million compared to positive $13.2 million for Q3 2013 and positive $12.6 million for Q2 2014.

Vessel utilization was 65%, down from 85% in the second quarter. The company reported a strong operational performance for the quarter with the exception of Geo Pacific’s technical issues in West Africa.

SeaBird believes that in addition to the weak market, the increased competition from 3D vessels entering the 2D and source markets also impacted the utilization.

“Global seismic market demand weakened substantially through the third quarter. In addition to a reduction in the volume of contract surveys, the large number of 3D vessels operating in the 2D and source markets also increased the pressure on the company’s core business segments.

“In light of the decline in oil prices, we expect oil companies to take a more cautious spending approach. This has impacted all of the company’s business units. Moreover, we anticipate the financial uncertainty of the company to possibly delay new contract awards. However, we are seeing interest in longer-term 2D contract opportunities from select clients. Nevertheless, we expect the current market softness to impact earnings and utilization in the remaining part of 2014,” SeaBird said in the report.

Furthermore, SeaBird has also reported a net loss of $27.6 million for the first nine months of 2014, while staying in the green the same time last year.