CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – April 26, 2017) – Pulse Seismic Inc. (TSX:PSD)(OTCQX:PLSDF) (“Pulse” or “the Company”) is pleased to report its financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements, accompanying notes and MD&A are being filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and will be available on Pulse’s website at www.pulseseismic.com.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2017
- Total revenue, comprised exclusively of data library sales, for the three months ended March 31, 2017 increased by 54 percent to $2.7 million from $1.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016;
- The net loss of $2.5 million ($0.04 loss per share basic and diluted) was 29 percent less than the net loss of $3.5 million ($0.06 loss per share basic and diluted) for the same period in 2016;
- Cash EBITDA(a) increased to $1.3 million ($0.02 per share basic and diluted) from $266,000 ($0.00 per share basic and diluted) for the comparable period of 2016;
- Shareholder free cash flow(a) was also $1.3 million ($0.02 per share basic and diluted), up from $225,000 ($0.00 per share basic and diluted) for the comparable period in 2016;
- In the three-month period ended March 31, 2017 Pulse purchased and cancelled, through its normal course issuer bid, a total of 583,500 common shares at a total cost of approximately $1.4 million (average cost of $2.41 per common share including commissions); and
- At March 31, 2017 Pulse was debt-free and had cash of $7.6 million. The $30.0 million revolving credit facility is undrawn and fully available to the Company.
| SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING INFORMATION | ||||
| Three months ended March 31, | Year ended | |||
| (thousands of dollars except per share data, | 2017 | 2016 | December 31, | |
| number of shares and kilometres of seismic data) | (unaudited) | 2016 | ||
| Revenue | ||||
| Data library sales | 2,719 | 1,771 | 14,339 | |
| Amortization of seismic data library | 4,635 | 4,909 | 18,973 | |
| Net loss | (2,502) | (3,494) | (7,490) | |
| Per share basic and diluted | (0.04) | (0.06) | (0.13) | |
| Cash provided by operating activities | 3,298 | 3,506 | 9,471 | |
| Per share basic and diluted | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.17 | |
| Cash EBITDA (a) | 1,330 | 266 | 9,119 | |
| Per share basic and diluted (a) | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.16 | |
| Shareholder free cash flow (a) | 1,254 | 225 | 9,029 | |
| Per share basic and diluted (a) | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.16 | |
| Capital expenditures | ||||
| Seismic data purchases, digitization and related costs | 65 | 2,150 | 2,444 | |
| Property and equipment | 27 | 6 | 6 | |
| Total capital expenditures | 92 | 2,156 | 2,450 | |
| Weighted average shares outstanding | ||||
| basic and diluted | 55,743,767 | 56,043,039 | 56,105,593 | |
| Shares outstanding at period-end | 55,337,560 | 56,208,332 | 55,921,060 | |
| Seismic library | ||||
| 2D in kilometres | 447,000 | 447,000 | 447,000 | |
| 3D in square kilometres | 28,647 | 28,613 | 28,647 | |
| FINANCIAL POSITION AND RATIO | ||||
| March 31, | March 31, | December 31, | ||
| (thousands of dollars except ratio) | 2017 | 2016 | 2016 | |
| Working capital | 10,427 | 2,944 | 10,674 | |
| Working capital ratio | 11.1:1 | 3.6:1 | 8.9:1 | |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 7,647 | 1,005 | 5,847 | |
| Total assets | 39,873 | 50,945 | 44,957 | |
| Long-term debt | – | – | – | |
| Trailing twelve-month (TTM) cash EBITDA (b) | 10,183 | 15,627 | 9,119 | |
| Shareholders’ equity | 34,843 | 43,341 | 38,646 | |
(a) The Company’s continuous disclosure documents provide discussion and analysis of “cash EBITDA”, “cash EBITDA per share”, “shareholder free cash flow” and “shareholder free cash flow per share”. These financial measures do not have standard definitions prescribed by IFRS and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies. The Company has included these non-GAAP financial measures because management, investors, analysts and others use them as measures of the Company’s financial performance. The Company’s definition of cash EBITDA is cash available for interest payments, cash taxes if applicable, repayment of debt, purchase of its shares, discretionary capital expenditures and the payment of dividends (if applicable), and is calculated as earnings (loss) from operations before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization less participation survey revenue, plus any non-cash and non-recurring expenses. Cash EBITDA excludes participation survey revenue as these funds are directly used to fund specific participation surveys and this revenue is not available for discretionary capital expenditures. The Company believes cash EBITDA assists investors in comparing Pulse’s results on a consistent basis without regard to participation survey revenue and non-cash items, such as depreciation and amortization, which can vary significantly depending on accounting methods or non-operating factors such as historical cost. Cash EBITDA per share is defined as cash EBITDA divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period. Shareholder free cash flow further refines the calculation of capital available to invest in growing the Company’s 2D and 3D seismic data library, to repay debt, to purchase its common shares and to pay dividends (if applicable) by deducting non-discretionary expenditures from cash EBITDA. Non-discretionary expenditures are defined as debt financing costs (net of deferred financing expenses amortized in the current period) and current tax provisions. Shareholder free cash flow per share is defined as shareholder free cash flow divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period.
(b) TTM cash EBITDA is defined as the sum of the trailing 12 months’ cash EBITDA and is used to provide a comparable annualized measure.
OUTLOOK
Pulse remains cautiously optimistic for an improvement in 2017 while still not predicting an imminent rebound in its business. Signs for medium to longer-term optimism are observed in various industry benchmarks and activities.
At US$52.41 per bbl WTI as of April 19, crude oil prices have maintained levels that are economic for many producers. At Cdn$2.69 per mcf at AECO as of April 19, natural gas prices remain relatively weak, but gas demand continues to grow and North America’s long supply glut is tightening.
Spending on mineral rights has increased year-over-year, with $93.9 million in bonus bids in Alberta as of March 23, compared to $34.4 million at this time last year, and $63.06 million in British Columbia as of April 21 compared to only $2.1 million by the same point last year. In January, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada increased its drilling forecast by nearly 1,000 wells to 5,200 wells for 2017. Additional outside capital appears to be flowing into the oil and gas industry, including through a number of recent initial public offerings, signaling optimism among operators and investors.
Pulse’s revenue visibility is poor as always. The Company believes that a recovery in its traditional data library sales depends on materially increased capital investment and higher field activity by the oil and gas industry on a sustained basis. Accordingly, Pulse anticipates the possibility of continued weakness in traditional sales for the short term, followed by a gradual and/or extended recovery.
Pulse is positioned to grow. Pulse is debt-free, with cash reserves, unutilized credit facilities, an experienced management team and Board of Directors, annual cash costs below $6 million, and a valuable, competitive and technically high-quality asset – its seismic data library. Pulse continues to be a pure-play seismic data provider with the goal to become the largest licensable seismic dataset in Western Canada.
CORPORATE UPDATE
Paul Crilly will be nominated for election to Pulse’s Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting on May 10, 2017. Mr. Crilly has over 25 years of experience in the oil field services industry, including senior management experience in the seismic acquisition industry.
In addition, Peter Burnham is retiring from the Board. Pulse thanks Mr. Burnham for his valued contributions over the past five years.
CONFERENCE CALL
The Company’s next conference call will be held after the release of its year-end 2017 results, in March 2018. Should investors or analysts wish to contact the Company, please feel free to contact Neal Coleman or Pamela Wicks at the e-mail address or telephone number provided below.
CORPORATE PROFILE
Pulse is a market leader in the acquisition, marketing and licensing of 2D and 3D seismic data to the western Canadian energy sector. Pulse owns the second-largest licensable seismic data library in Canada, currently consisting of approximately 28,600 square kilometres of 3D seismic and 447,000 kilometres of 2D seismic. The library extensively covers the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin where most of Canada’s oil and natural gas exploration and development occur.
This document contains information that constitutes “forward-looking information” or “forward-looking statements” (collectively, “forward-looking information”) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation.
The Outlook section contains forward-looking information which includes, among other things, statements regarding:
- Pulse remains cautiously optimistic for an improvement in 2017 while still not predicting an imminent rebound in its business;
- Pulse anticipates the possibility of continued weakness in traditional sales for the short term, followed by a gradual and/or extended recovery;
- Oil and natural gas prices;
- Oil and natural gas drilling activity and land sales activity;
- Oil and natural gas company capital budgets;
- Future demand for seismic data;
- Future seismic data sales;
- Future demand for participation surveys;
- Pulse’s business and growth strategy; and
- Other expectations, beliefs, plans, goals, objectives, assumptions, information and statements about possible future events, conditions, results and performance.
Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to vary and in some instances to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Pulse does not publish specific financial goals or otherwise provide guidance, due to the inherently poor visibility of seismic revenue.
The material risk factors include, without limitation:
- Oil and natural gas prices;
- The demand for seismic data and participation surveys;
- The pricing of data library license sales;
- Relicensing (change-of-control) fees and partner copy sales;
- Cybersecurity;
- The level of pre-funding of participation surveys, and the Company’s ability to make subsequent data library sales from such participation surveys;
- The Company’s ability to complete participation surveys on time and within budget;
- Environmental, health and safety risks;
- Federal and provincial government laws and regulations, including those pertaining to taxation, royalty rates, environmental protection and safety;
- Competition;
- Dependence on qualified seismic field contractors;
- Dependence on key management, operations and marketing personnel;
- The loss of seismic data;
- Protection of intellectual property rights; and
- The introduction of new products.
The foregoing list is not exhaustive. Additional information on these risks and other factors which could affect the Company’s operations and financial results is included under “Risk Factors” of the Company’s MD&A for the most recently completed financial year and interim periods. Forward-looking information is based on the assumptions, expectations, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management at the time the information is presented.
President and CEO
Tel.: 403-237-5559
Toll-free: 1-877-460-5559
Pamela Wicks
VP Finance and CFO
Tel.: 403-237-5559
Toll-free: 1-877-460-5559
E-mail: info@pulseseismic.com
Please visit our website at www.pulseseismic.com