Helmerich & Payne reports Q3 EPS 88c, consensus 77c

Reports Q3 revenue $697.7M, consensus $672.3M. President and CEO John Lindsay commented, “Our financial results for the third fiscal quarter continue to demonstrate the resilience of our strategy in the North America Solutions segment. Once again, it was particularly notable, that despite a more sizeable decline in the overall industry rig count, our NAS active rig count remained relatively stable during the third fiscal quarter which is a reflection of H&P’s unyielding focus on providing value to our customers. On the international front, the Company’s first super-spec FlexRig(R) arrived in Saudi Arabia, which is another step in our strategy to increase our operational presence in the region. Macro headwinds, both directly and indirectly related to the oil and gas industry, persist and are still causing a more cautionary outlook for the industry. With the cyclical nature of our industry, we are hopeful that these will subside and bring about a more positive outlook for the industry in the coming quarters. Contractual churn remains prevalent in the U.S. market, but our people are doing a good job managing through this. We expect the churn to continue and as we have seen in recent summers, we also anticipate our active rig count to be flat with perhaps a modest incline heading into our fiscal year-end. Activity levels in the International Solutions segment in the fourth fiscal quarter are expected to remain consistent with the third fiscal quarter with the exception that the first of the eight Saudi Arabia rigs is expected to commence work in the fiscal fourth quarter once contractual acceptance procedures are completed. The preparation work for the remaining seven super-spec rigs is progressing as planned with export dates expected through the balance of the calendar year. We are looking forward to working with Saudi Aramco and building a long-term, valuable relationship with our new customer.”