Covid-19 hits drilling contractor's bottom line

EQUIPMENT

Covid-19 hits drilling contractor's bottom line

For the year, sales fell 10 percent year-on-year to US$172 million, which the firm said was favorable relative to the June quarter's 30 percent downturn. For the nine months to September 30, income was down 17 percent, or 15 percent after adjusted for foreign exchange impacts.

Both the global drilling services and the divisions of global goods were affected. Quarterly adjusted EBITDA plummeted 25% to $21 million, although the firm reported a net loss of $13 million for the month. For the time the total after-tax loss was $74 million.

The 25 percent growth in total cash from activities to $39 million was a good one. Boart CEO Jeff Olsen said that in his firm, the organization was seeing a return to usual operating levels.

"Many parts of the world classified mining activities as essential services which has allowed the business to continue to support our customer base; however, there are some parts of our business still dealing with the direct impacts of the pandemic and this has seen lower company revenue to date," he added. We are pleased to see recent reinvestments in our industry, with major mining houses flagging expanded exploration spending and junior miners now accessing capital through equity raises that enable them to get out and discover the opportunities of tomorrow.

"We anticipate activity levels will continue longer into the year and will start earlier in 2021 as mining houses look to recover lost ground in 2020." Liquidity was $53 million at September 30, consisting of $30 million in cash and $23 million in lending facilities open. Total debt rose 8 percent to 823 million dollars.

Boart shares were flat at A38.5c today, valuing the business at just under $34 million. Since the start of the year the stock has fallen more than 75 percent.