Oil producers still need these partners

Article Excerpt

PASON SYSTEMS $17.91 (Toronto symbol PSI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-301-3400; www.pason.com; Shares outstanding: 84.1 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; Dividend yield: 3.8%) serves the drilling contractors of oil and gas firms in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Argentina. The company provides them with rental equipment for monitoring and managing landbased oil rigs. Its systems also let clients remotely collect data from their drilling operations. For the three months ended December 31, 2015, Pason’s revenue fell 56.7%, to $59.8 million from $138.2 million a year earlier. A rise in the U.S. dollar partially offset the slowdown in oil and gas drilling. The company lost $841,000, or $0.01 a share, compared to a profit of $47.2 million, or $0.57, a year ago. The lower revenue was the main reason for the decline. Cash flow per share was positive, though it was down sharply, to $0.21 from $0.72. Pason will cut its capital spending in 2016 to $35 million to keep cash flow…