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CHC Gets Good News
By: Bill Wagstaff
Caption: Helicopter services firm CHC Helicopter has stated that third-quarter profit rose nearly 40 percent as higher contract rates and lower interest costs offse
Word Count: 245
Helicopter services firm CHC Helicopter has stated that third-quarter profit rose nearly 40 percent as higher contract rates and lower interest costs offset reduced activity in its European operations. For the quarter ended January 31, St. John’s-based CHC posted net earnings of $15.6 million, or 70 cents a share, up 39.3 percent from last year’s $11.2 million, or 62 cents a share. The most recent results, the company said, mark the 13th straight quarter of record year-over-year earnings growth. Quarterly revenue rose to $180 million from $151.6 million. On top of that good news, British Petroleum PLC renewed its contract with CHC covering support over a southern portion of the North Sea for a seven-year term. The contract will be serviced by CHC’s fleet of Sikorsky S-76s based at North Denes and Humberside in eastern England. In another deal, CHC signed the exclusive use of a new Super Puma AS 332L2 helicopter, and sole-use services of another Super Puma AS 332L out of Aberdeen. The service will provide support to ExxonMobil’s production and drilling operations in the Northern Sector of the North Sea. The contract will commence with the delivery to CHC in July of a new Eurocopter AS 332L2, the latest-generation Super Puma. CHC scored yet another win by clinching a four-year deal between subsidiary CHC Scotia and French oil consortium TotalFinaElf. Under the terms of the deal, CHC Scotia will provide a pair of AS 332L2 Super Pumas to support TotalFinaElf’s North Sea UK zone activities.