Higher costs and lower revenues combined to produce disappointing financial results for helicopter operator Bristow Group in the fourth quarter, according to CEO Chris Bradshaw. Revenue for the quarter stood at $295.6 million, down from $301.6 million in the third quarter.
Bradshaw said the company basically broke even, compared to a modest $2.8 million profit in the third quarter. However, he said Bristow is well-positioned to take advantage of a surging offshore oil and gas market going forward and noted that the company still has $326 million of liquidity.
Several factors combined to dent the company’s most recent quarterly bottom line, including $3.4 million in costs related to the temporary relocation of operations to alternate base locations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico due to damage caused by Hurricane Ida, $3.1 million to the timing of major repairs, $1.1 million in conjunction with aircraft lease return costs, a $3 million adverse variance in foreign currency exchange, and a $1.8 million decline in equity earnings from unconsolidated affiliates.
Higher oil and gas revenues were offset by reduced flight hours from the company’s UK search-and-rescue contract and lower revenues from the company’s fixed-wing service, which it blamed on Covid-19 and seasonality. Bristow was also forced to take a $2.9 million write-down on its inventory of Airbus H225 parts.