Bristow has released its financial statement for the three months to 31 December 2015, the first directly comparable quarter since the oil price went into free-fall at the back end of 2014.  Turnover in oil-related operations is down 21.2%.  Here are some extracts from the full statement:-

Our operating revenue for the December 2015 quarter was impacted by reduced activity and revenue from our oil and gas clients resulting from the ongoing cyclical downturn driven by low crude oil prices globally. Operating revenue from oil and gas clients declined $81.2 million, or 21.2%, from the same quarter in fiscal year 2015. Despite challenging industry conditions, our diversification results with U.K. SAR and fixed-wing operations partially offset lower oil and gas revenue

Europe Caspian Region – Operating revenue for the December 2015 quarter reflects the impact from the downturn in the oil and gas industry, which has resulted in decreased activity levels with our oil and gas clients. Additionally, a substantial portion of our revenue in the Europe Caspian region is contracted in British pounds and Norwegian kroner, both of which weakened significantly against the U.S. dollar since the December 2014 quarter. Foreign currency exchange rate changes resulted in an $8.7 million reduction in revenue for our Europe Caspian region year-over-year. Partially offsetting the year-over-year decrease in operating revenue was the startup of two U.K. SAR bases in April 2015, one base in July 2015, one base in August 2015 and one base in October 2015, which contributed$35.7 million in additional operating revenue, and the addition of a new oil and gas contract that commenced in late fiscal year 2015 and contributed $13.7 million in operating revenue in the December 2015 quarter.

Africa Region – Operating income decreased by $22.0 million compared to the prior year quarter, with a decrease in operating margin from 30.6% to 7.1% year-over-year.

Americas Region – Operating revenue for the Americas region decreased in the December 2015 quarter primarily due to a decline in the number of small and medium aircraft on contract and reduction in flight hours for large aircraft in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which reduced operating revenue by $15.9 million, and a decrease of $1.7 million from Brazil due to fewer aircraft leased to Líder.  (and separately….) Earnings from our investment in Líder (in Brazil) increased by $1.0 million and reduced by $7.7 million in the December 2015 and 2014 quarters

Asia Pacific Region – In January 2015, Bristow Australia acquired an 85% interest in Airnorth and in November 2015, purchased the remaining 15% of the outstanding shares of Airnorth which contributed $17.9 million in operating revenue and $5.2 million in adjusted EBITDAR for the December 2015 quarter. Operating revenue also increased by $8.5 million from new contracts in Australia, including the INPEX contract which started in the June 2014 quarter, offset by $10.5 million less revenue due to the ending of short-term contracts in Australia.  A substantial portion of our operations in the Asia Pacific region are contracted in the Australian dollar, which weakened significantly against the U.S. dollar compared to the same quarter a year ago.  Foreign currency exchange rate changes resulted in a reduction in revenue for our Asia Pacific region of $4.4 million year-over-year.  Operating income, operating margin and adjusted EBITDAR increased primarily as a result of the acquisition of Airnorth, partially offset by bad debt expense of $1.0 million recorded during the December 2015 quarter.