Long-term contracts protect Precision

Article Excerpt

PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $7.37 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 292.9 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend suspended in March 2016; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling.com) provides contractdrilling services to land-based oil and gas producers, mainly in North America. It operates 251 rigs. Low oil and natural gas prices continue to hurt drilling activity. As a result, Precision lost $19.9 million, or $0.07 a share, in the first quarter of 2016. A year earlier, it earned $24.0 million, or $0.08. Cash flow per share dropped 47.9%, to $0.38 from $0.73. Overall revenue fell 41.1%, to $301.7 million from $512.1 million. Average drilling revenue per day increased 7.8% in the U.S., but declined 2.8% in Canada and 3.2% for the international operations. Precision now plans to spend $202 million on new rigs and upgrades in 2016. That’s down 56.0% from $459 million in 2015. The company rents out its rigs under long-term contracts. That…