Drilling solutions provider Helmerich and Payne (H&P) has been buoyed by increased activity in the first half of 2021 despite reporting a difficult financial second quarter.
“As in the past, our strong market standing and flexible financial position is enabling us to concentrate on long-term, strategic objectives during volatile and uncertain markets, “ said H&P’s president and CEO John Lindsay. “We are making good progress in deploying digital technology solutions and introducing new commercial models to the industry but realize there is still a lot of work ahead of us.”
The company reported a net loss of $121m from operating revenues of $296m for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared to a net loss of $70m, on revenues of $246 million for the prior quarter. Net cash provided by operating activities was $78m for the second quarter of fiscal year 2021 compared to net cash used in operating activities of $20m for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021.
“Clearly, the energy industry’s capital discipline, which started prior to the global pandemic, remains resolute, and this is something we are actually pleased to see,” commented Lindsay. “The attention to controlled spending and generating returns in a variety of commodity price environments is what the industry needs to attract and retain investment.”
H&P’s North America Solutions segment exited the second quarter of fiscal year 2021 with 109 active rigs, up roughly 15% during the quarter.
Adoption of its drilling automation technologies and new commercial models continued to increase with 25% to 30% of our active FlexRig fleet utilizing AutoSlide, and roughly 30% utilizing some form of performance-based contract.
Senior Vice President and CFO Mark Smith also commented, “The quality and strength of H&P’s financial position, after emerging from one of the most challenging times in the Company’s history, bears reiteration.
H&P exited the March fiscal quarter with $562m in cash and short-term investments, a debt-to-cap of 14% and approximately $1.3bn in available liquidity. CFO Mark Smith explained that lenders with $680m of commitments under the company’s undrawn revolving credit facility recently exercised their option to extend the maturity of the credit facility by one year to 2025. “Much like the company’s strong balance sheet, the commitment to our long-standing capital allocation strategy of returning cash to shareholders remains firmly intact,” he said.
The company is looking at its strategies to further rationalize its operating cost structure by identifying other areas of cost improvement. For more information visit: www.helmerichpayne.com
