Drillers gain from their specialized tech

Article Excerpt

MAJOR DRILLING $6.90 (Toronto symbol MDI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-866-264-3986; www.majordrilling. com; Shares outstanding: 80.3 million; Market cap: $534.0 million; No dividends paid) is a large contract driller that mainly serves the mining industry. The company believes that mining companies continue to deplete the world’s more easily accessible mineral reserves. That means attractive deposits will increasingly be in remote locations. Those areas are difficult to access or the oil is deep in the ground. For this reason, Major’s strategy is to focus on providing highly specialized drilling services. Demand for that kind of assistance, especially from senior gold companies, is beginning to recover. In the three months ended October 31, 2017, the company’s revenue rose 10.1%, to $88.0 million from $79.9 million a year earlier. More specifically, its revenue in the Canada/U.S. region increased 4% to $52.2 million; and revenue in South and Central America jumped 20%, to $19.4 million. Revenue in Asia and Africa climbed 21%, to $15.9 million. The company continues…