What: Shares of Bristow Group (BRS) slumped on Thursday, falling more than 15% by 11 a.m. EDT. The company's fiscal 2016 fourth-quarter results and its 2017 outlook are to blame for the turbulent stock price.
So what: Bristow reported operating revenue of $375.3 million, which is down 10.4% over the prior period. The weakness in the oil and gas market is to blame, as evidenced by the fact that Bristow's oil and gas services revenue slumped 29.2% to $255 million. That weakness was only partially offset by a 27.4% boost in fixed wing services revenue and a 462.8% surge in revenue from U.K. SAR services thanks to the completion of start-up activities for that contract.
Earnings followed revenue lower, with adjusted net income plunging 85.2% to $4.7 million. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings per share plunged 85.7% to $0.13 per share, which missed the consensus estimate by a whopping $0.38 per share.
Unfortunately, fiscal 2017 isn't shaping up to be any better, with the company's guidance calling for the muted results to continue.
Now what: While oil prices have started to improve, it could be a while before offshore oil and gas activities follow suit, because the price of oil is still much too low to entice drillers to increase offshore budgets. That suggest it could be quite some time before Bristow Group sees a rebound in its key oil and gas services segment. In other words, there's still not much for investors to be excited about right now.
