Tidewater earnings recorded a loss in the second quarter of this year, but management said the company was right where they thought it would be given the downturn in the offshore vessel sector.
For the quarter ended on 30 June, the Houston offshore giant posted a $111m loss, considerably deeper than the $16m loss it reported for the same period last year.
Its second-quarter performance represented a $2.74 loss on a per-share basis.
Quarterly revenue fell from $124m a year ago to $101m in the second quarter of this year.
"We are pleased that our performance for the quarter was consistent with the revised 2020 outlook we discussed on our last earnings call," Tidewater chief executive Quintin Kneen said in the company's earnings release, published after the close on Thursday.
"The environment remains very challenging but I remain confident that our dedicated team of mariners and shore-base employees will continue to perform exceptionally under the circumstances."
On its first-quarter earnings call, Kneen said the company could produce $65m in free cash flow by the end of the year despite a drop in vessel demand by as much as 25%. The company would have to delay dry dockings and scrap more ships than it initially had expected to do so, he said.
The company noted that when impairment charges on assets held for sale, affiliate credit losses, affiliate guaranteed obligations and administrative severance are backed out, the company posted a $900,000 profit.
Two of those expenses — impairment on assets held for sale and severance — were brought on by company restructuring, with both scrapping and changes made to its leadership team by activist investors.
On Thursday, Tidewater shares closed down $0.22 to $6.18.
In after-hours trading, the company's shares fell further, by another $0.15 to $6.03.
Tidewater crew suffering, too
Alongside its earnings, Kneen said the crew change crisis has hit Tidewater as well.
Tens of thousands of seafarers have been stuck aboard ships because of the Covid-19 outbreak and the reticence of world governments to allow crew changes in their jurisdictions, given fears seafarers could spread the highly contagious respiratory illness.
"We are doing everything in our power to remedy the situation for our seafarers, but the problem demands global governmental coordination," Kneen said.
"The situation is an inadvertent consequence of policies meant to reduce the spread of Covid-19 by restricting international travel, but it has resulted in the inability to move crews around the world to relieve and to return home crews onboard vessels today.
"Tidewater has always been dedicated to getting our employees home safe. They remain safe, but we need to get them home."
