MIDLAND, Texas, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dawson Geophysical
Company (NASDAQ:DWSN) today reported revenues of $52,319,000 for
the quarter ending June 30, 2009, the Company's third quarter of
fiscal 2009, compared to $84,568,000 for the same quarter in fiscal
2008, a decrease of 38 percent. The Company reported a net loss for
the third quarter of fiscal 2009 of $1,626,000 compared to net
income of $9,707,000 in the same quarter of fiscal 2008. Losses per
share for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 were $0.21 per share,
compared to earnings of $1.27 per share in the same quarter of
fiscal 2008. EBITDA for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 was
$4,245,000 compared to $22,397,000 in the same quarter of fiscal
2008, a decrease of 81 percent. The revenue decrease in the quarter
was primarily the result of previously announced reductions in
active crew count during the second quarter (four crews), and third
quarter (two crews), a more competitive pricing environment and
substantially lower utilization rates of the remaining crews.
Revenues in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 continued to include
relatively high third-party charges related to the use of
helicopter support services, specialized survey technologies and
dynamite energy sources. The sustained level of these charges is
driven by the Company's continued operations in areas with limited
access in the Appalachian Basin, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The
Company is reimbursed for these expenses by its clients. Stephen
Jumper, President and CEO of Dawson Geophysical Company said,
"Despite today's challenging environment, we remain optimistic
regarding the industry's long-term fundamentals. In recent months
we have seen an increase in demand for our services in many of the
oil producing basins as well as continued demand in the large
natural gas producing shale basins. Today, approximately 30 percent
of our active crews are working in oil producing regions. Although
our clients may cancel their service contract on short notice, our
current order book reflects commitment levels sufficient to
maintain operation of our ten crews into fiscal 2010." Jumper
continued, "While we have reduced crew count in both the second and
third quarters, the average data collection channel count per crew
remains strong. Exploration and production companies are continuing
to demand greater sub-surface resolution in their search for
hydrocarbon reservoirs, and as a result, continue to rely on an
increased number of channels to achieve this objective. Our
investments in recording capacity and equipment in recent years
give us the ability to provide this service while simultaneously
helping to lower finding and development costs through increased
crew efficiencies and positions us as a valuable component in our
clients' ongoing initiatives." Nine Months Results For the nine
months ended June 30, 2009, revenues were $197,160,000, compared to
$240,530,000 for the same period in 2008, a decrease of 18 percent.
Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 decreased 52
percent to $12,278,000, compared to $25,703,000 for the first nine
months of fiscal 2008. Earnings per share for the first nine months
of fiscal 2009 were $1.57 as compared to $3.35 for the first nine
months of fiscal 2008, a decrease of 53 percent. EBITDA was
$40,221,000 in the first nine months of fiscal 2009 as compared to
$59,595,000 during the same period of fiscal 2008, a decrease of 33
percent. The Company has significantly reduced its capital
expenditures during the first nine months of fiscal 2009 to
$4,318,000 from $47,726,000 for the same period during the previous
fiscal year. Due to current market conditions, the Company plans to
continue to limit its approved $20,000,000 capital expenditures
budget in the near term to necessary maintenance requirements
rather than investing in additional equipment as in the past few
years. Jumper concluded, "As we anticipate improvement in industry
fundamentals and a stronger economy, we are positioned to react
quickly to capture the upside of the business cycle. Our financial
strength and disciplined investment strategy allows us to respond
quickly to market dynamics. We believe our strong balance sheet,
the flexibility to deploy capital as needed to maintain competitive
technology, our quality personnel and broad range of services
provide us with the opportunity to build upon our position as the
leading provider of seismic data acquisition services in the lower
48. Our commitment to helping our clients limit dry-hole risk,
lower finding and development costs and evaluate basins most
conducive to hydrocarbon accumulation is as strong today as it was
57 years ago." Dawson Geophysical Company is the leading provider
of U.S. onshore seismic data acquisition services as measured by
the number of active data acquisition crews. Founded in 1952,
Dawson acquires and processes 2D, 3D and multi-component seismic
data solely for its clients, ranging from major oil and gas
companies to independent oil and gas operators as well as providers
of multi-client data libraries. This press release contains
information about the Company's EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial
measure. The Company defines EBITDA as net income (loss) plus
interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization
expense. The Company uses EBITDA as a supplemental financial
measure to assess: -- the financial performance of its assets
without regard to financing methods, capital structures, taxes or
historical cost basis; -- its liquidity and operating performance
over time in relation to other companies that own similar assets
and that the Company believes calculate EBITDA in a similar manner;
and -- the ability of the Company's assets to generate cash
sufficient for the Company to pay potential interest costs. The
Company also understands that such data are used by investors to
assess the Company's performance. However, the term EBITDA is not
defined under generally accepted accounting principles and EBITDA
is not a measure of operating income, operating performance or
liquidity presented in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles. When assessing the Company's operating
performance or liquidity, investors and others should not consider
this data in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss),
cash flow from operating activities or other cash flow data
calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles. In addition, the Company's EBITDA may not be comparable
to EBITDA or similar titled measures utilized by other companies
since such other companies may not calculate EBITDA in the same
manner as the Company. Further, the results presented by EBITDA
cannot be achieved without incurring the costs that the measure
excludes: interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A
reconciliation of the Company's EBITDA to its net income (loss) is
presented in the table following the text of this press release. In
accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Dawson Geophysical
Company cautions that statements in this press release which are
forward-looking and which provide other than historical information
involve risks and uncertainties that may materially affect the
Company's actual results of operations. These risks include but are
not limited to, the volatility of oil and natural gas prices,
disruptions in the global economy, dependence upon energy industry
spending, limited number of customers, credit risk related to our
customers, cancellations of service contracts, high fixed costs of
operations, weather interruptions, inability to obtain land access
rights of way, industry competition, managing growth, the
availability of capital resources and operational disruptions. A
discussion of these and other factors, including risks and
uncertainties, is set forth in the Company's Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended September 30, 2008. Dawson Geophysical Company
disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended June 30, June 30,
------------------ ------------------- 2009 2008 2009 2008 -----
---- ----- ---- (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)
Operating revenues $52,319,000 $84,568,000 $197,160,000
$240,530,000 Operating costs: Operating expenses 46,374,000
60,457,000 151,126,000 176,111,000 General and administrative
1,761,000 1,649,000 6,324,000 5,192,000 Depreciation 6,521,000
6,317,000 19,651,000 17,722,000 --------- --------- ----------
---------- 54,656,000 68,423,000 177,101,000 199,025,000 Income
(loss) from operations (2,337,000) 16,145,000 20,059,000 41,505,000
Other income (expense): Interest income 73,000 76,000 213,000
410,000 Interest expense - (116,000) - (316,000) Other (expense)
income (12,000) (141,000) 298,000 (42,000) --------- ---------
---------- ---------- Income (loss) before income tax (2,276,000)
15,964,000 20,570,000 41,557,000 Income tax benefit (expense):
Current 963,000 (4,981,000) (7,163,000) (13,631,000) Deferred
(313,000) (1,276,000) (1,129,000) (2,223,000) --------- ---------
---------- ---------- Net income (loss) $(1,626,000) $9,707,000
$12,278,000 $25,703,000 ========= ========= ========== ==========
Net income (loss) per common share $(0.21) $1.27 $1.57 $3.35
========= ========= ========== ========== Net income (loss) per
common share-assuming dilution $(0.21) $1.26 $1.57 $3.33 =========
========= ========== ========== Weighted average Equivalent common
shares outstanding 7,810,592 7,668,651 7,802,186 7,665,253
========= ========= ========== ========== Weighted average
equivalent common shares outstanding -assuming dilution 7,810,592
7,733,076 7,839,324 7,727,205 ========= ========= ==========
========== DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY BALANCE SHEETS June 30,
September 30, 2009 2008 ---- ---- (Unaudited) ASSETS Current
assets: Cash and cash equivalents $29,920,000 $8,311,000 Short-term
investments 20,177,000 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for
doubtful accounts of $795,000 in June 2009 and $55,000 in September
2008 50,071,000 76,221,000 Prepaid expenses and other assets
6,425,000 877,000 Current deferred tax asset 1,722,000 873,000
----------- ----------- Total current assets 108,315,000 86,282,000
Property, plant and equipment 240,833,000 250,519,000 Less
accumulated depreciation (108,957,000) (103,180,000) ------------
------------ Net property, plant and equipment 131,876,000
147,339,000 ------------ ------------ $240,191,000 $233,621,000
============ ============ LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities: Accounts payable $10,825,000 $15,308,000
Accrued liabilities: Payroll costs and other taxes 1,638,000
3,363,000 Other 10,308,000 14,869,000 Deferred revenue 2,366,000
993,000 ------------ ------------ Total current liabilities
25,137,000 34,533,000 ------------ ------------ Deferred tax
liability 15,100,000 13,128,000 Stockholders' equity: Preferred
stock-par value $1.00 per share; 5,000,000 shares authorized, none
outstanding - - Common stock-par value $.33 1/3 per share;
50,000,000 shares authorized, 7,822,494 and 7,794,744 shares issued
and outstanding in each period 2,608,000 2,598,000 Additional
paid-in capital 88,766,000 87,051,000 Other comprehensive expense,
net of tax (9,000) - Retained earnings 108,589,000 96,311,000
------------ ------------ Total stockholders' equity 199,954,000
185,960,000 ------------ ------------ $240,191,000 $233,621,000
============ ============ Reconciliation of EBITDA to Net Income
(Loss) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended ------------------
----------------- June 30, June 30, -------- -------- 2009 2008
2009 2008 ---- ---- ---- ---- (in thousands) (in thousands) Net
income (loss) $(1,626) $9,707 $12,278 $25,703 Depreciation 6,521
6,317 19,651 17,722 Interest expense - 116 - 316 Income tax expense
(650) 6,257 8,292 15,854 --------- --------- ---------- ---------
EBITDA $4,245 $22,397 $40,221 $59,595 ========= =========
========== ========= Reconciliation of EBITDA to Net Cash Provided
by Operating Activities Nine Months Ended ----------------- June
30, -------- 2009 2008 ---- ---- (in thousands) Net cash provided
by operating activities $42,508 $30,605 Changes in working capital
items and other 193 29,899 Non-cash adjustments to income (2,480)
(909) ---------- --------- EBITDA $40,221 $59,595 ==========
========= DATASOURCE: Dawson Geophysical Company CONTACT: L. Decker
Dawson, Chairman, or Stephen C. Jumper, CEO and President, or
Christina W. Hagan, Chief Financial Officer, all of Dawson
Geophysical Company, 1-800-332-9766
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