Trading Update

RNS Number : 9148R

Hunting PLC

02 July 2015

 



For Immediate Release

2 July 2015

Hunting PLC

("Hunting" or "the Company" or "the Group")

Trading Update

Hunting PLC (LSE:HTG), the international energy services group, today provides a Trading Update, ahead of announcing its 2015 Half Year Results, scheduled for Thursday 27 August 2015.  A meeting for analysts will be held at 10:30a.m. at the offices of Buchanan, 107 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DN, on Thursday 27 August 2015.

As anticipated, the second quarter of this year saw continued declines in the oil and gas market with an additional 34% decline in wells completed in the US and 33% worldwide compared to the first quarter of 2015. This severe decline has resulted in a 76% decrease in profit from operations in the first five months of the year compared to the same period in 2014.

With the exception of our fully booked Subsea division and US Connections facility in Louisiana, all other facilities are operating at or slightly above one shift.  Canadian operations, Drilling Tools and Trenchless have delivered trading losses during the period and have had reductions of headcount by nearly 50%.  Headcount reductions across the Group's operations represent approximately 25% of the workforce since the start of the year, resulting in annualised savings of approximately $41m.

The 56% decline in North American rig counts combined with the 12% decline in International rig counts since the start of the year have heavily impacted historical purchase volumes, caused customer destocking with modest replacement and existing equipment continues to be cannibalised.

The outlook continues to remain unclear, however, weekly rig count declines have slowed, some divisions have seen improvement in enquiries/order book and customer sentiment is improving due to their view of oil prices and their reduction in operating costs.  Our optimism for the long term is steadfast as new facility investment continues toward completion and numerous innovative products are being developed.  The geopolitical nature of the downturn remains, yet the oil supply/demand imbalance is receding.  Given the current environment and the year to date results, a year on year profit from operations decline in the range of 50% to 75% of our record 2014 levels is likely, however, this remains dependent on an improvement in activity levels.

The Company continues to report a strong balance sheet with a net debt position as at 19 June 2015 of approximately $180m.

For further information please contact:

Hunting PLC Dennis Proctor, Chief Executive Peter Rose, Finance Director	Tel: [phone]
Buchanan Richard Darby Gabriella Clinkard	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

About Hunting PLC

Hunting PLC is an international energy services provider to the world's leading upstream oil and gas companies. Established in 1874, it is a premium listed public company traded on the London Stock Exchange. The Company maintains a corporate office in Houston and is headquartered in London. As well as the United Kingdom, the Company has principal operations in Canada, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

 

END

 

 

TSTEFLFBEDFXBBD