Hunting gets off to strong start as US shale boom continues
Oilfield services group Hunting revealed that while sentiment throughout the industry remains "fragile", revenues in the first three months of the year have been ahead of management's expectations.
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Benefiting from continued strong activity levels in US shale, the FTSE 250-listed group, whose chief executive Dennis Proctor last week announced his retirement after 16 years in the role, reported underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of approximately $5.5m.
While US onshore shale drilling has been strong, Hunting said in a statement ahead of its annual shareholder meeting US offshore and international operations "continue to show weakness, given the lower forecast capital expenditures of the industry and the lower oil price environment".
With cash generation under close control and just $1.5m of capital expenditure across the group, net debt has increased from $1.9n at the end of December to close to $9m, principally as a result of monthly revenue increases and the resultant build up of trade receivables.
"While sentiment throughout the industry remains fragile, Hunting is well positioned to respond to the stabilising trading environment, utilising its global footprint of high efficiency manufacturing plants, led by an experienced management team," the company said.