CALGARY, Alberta, July 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pulse Seismic Inc. (TSX:PSD) (OTCQX:PLSDF) (“Pulse” or the “Company”) is pleased to report its financial and operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020. 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 AND SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2020Data library sales revenue was $1.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020 compared to $10.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019. Data library sales revenue was $4.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020 compared to $15.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019;Net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2020 was $2.3 million ($0.04 per share basic and diluted) compared to net earnings of $2.9 million ($0.05 per share basic and diluted) for the three months ended June 30, 2019. Net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2020 was $5.1 million ($0.10 per share basic and diluted) compared to net earnings of $209,000 ($0.00 per share basic and diluted) for the six months ended June 30, 2019;Cash EBITDA^(a) was $1.0 million ($0.02 per share basic and diluted) for the three months ended June 30, 2020, compared to $9.3 million ($0.17 per share basic and diluted) for the three months ended June 30, 2019. Cash EBITDA was $2.1 million ($0.04 per share basic and diluted) for the six months ended June 30, 2020 compared to $12.4 million ($0.23 per share basic and diluted) for the six months ended June 30, 2019;
 Shareholder free cash flow^(a) was $771,000 ($0.01 per share basic and diluted) for the second quarter of 2020 compared to $6.9 million ($0.13 per share basic and diluted) for the comparable period in 2019. Shareholder free cash flow was $1.5 million ($0.03 per share basic and diluted) for the six months ended June 30, 2020 compared to $9.6 million ($0.18 per share basic and diluted) for the six months ended June 30, 2019; and
 In the second quarter of 2020, a payment of $375,000 was applied to the balance of the term loan. At June 30, 2020 long-term debt excluding deferred financing charges was $29.0 million.CORPORATE AND COVID-19 UPDATEAt June 30, 2020 the Company was in compliance with all covenants related to its syndicated credit facility. As announced in June, with the ongoing uncertainty as to the length and continued severity of this oil and gas downturn, Pulse negotiated with its lending syndicate for its senior credit facility to amend its financial covenants to ensure additional flexibility in future quarters, beginning July 1, 2020. The details are disclosed in the financial statements as well as in the liquidity, capital resources and capital requirements section of the MD&A, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020.
Beginning in the first quarter, and continuing through the year, Management and the Board of Directors of the Company implemented cost-cutting measures in reaction to the decline in commodity prices and uncertainty surrounding the continuation of the low oil price environment. Pulse has implemented salary reductions ranging from 7.5 percent to 20 percent for all its employees. Also in the second quarter, Director fees for the chair of the Board was reduced by 50% and all other independent director’s fees were reduced by 40%.  All administrative and operating expenses and capital spending plans have been evaluated and reduced where appropriate. The Company also received $222,000 from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program for the second quarter. The CEWS program has been extended to December and the Company anticipates receiving the subsidy for some additional months, but is dependent on meeting the criteria which is yet to be determined for the extension period.Pulse continues to respond to very challenging business conditions brought about by the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the precipitous decline of oil prices brought on by the unprecedented demand fallout from COVID-19. These global events have caused significant declines in the 2020 capital budgets of Pulse’s customers in the oil and natural gas sector of Western Canada. While the Company continues to see a lack of clarity into future seismic data licensing opportunities, Pulse remains engaged with customers to monitor their seismic data requirements.
Pulse also remains committed to the health and safety of its employees. In response to the public health measures associated with the pandemic, Pulse implemented its disaster recovery plan and staff began working remotely as of March 13, 2020. Beginning in July, a small number of employees have returned to work in the downtown office and strict policies and procedures have been developed and implemented, using the guidance of the health authorities. It is anticipated that the remaining staff will continue to work remotely for the time being.  Pulse’s business is supplying licences to a digitally-based product, seismic data, and as a result, staff are able to respond to customer needs in a timely manner. The Company’s primary focus and attention at this time continues to be the safety of its employees, preserving cash and protecting the balance sheet while weathering these uncertain and unprecedented times.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, repayment of debt, purchase of its shares, discretionary capital expenditures and the payment of dividends, and is calculated as earnings (loss) from operations before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization less participation survey revenue, lease payments treated as capital lease and warehouse storage fees, 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 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.TTM cash EBITDA is defined as the sum of the trailing 12 months’ cash EBITDA and is used to provide a comparable annualized measure.These non-GAAP financial measures are defined, calculated and reconciled to the nearest GAAP financial measures in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis.OUTLOOK
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