Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE:BRS) today reported net income for the June 2012 quarter of $23.7 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, compared to net income of $21.0 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago.  Adjusted net income, which excludes asset dispositions and a special item, was $29.6 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, for the June 2012 quarter, an increase of $9.7 million, or $0.27per diluted share, over the June 2011 quarter.

Operating revenue for the June 2012 quarter increased 12% to $320.7 million from $286.8 million in the June 2011 quarter, with revenue growth in Europe, West Africa and North America.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent (“Adjusted EBITDAR”), which excludes asset dispositions and a special item, increased 26% to $84.3 million for the June 2012 quarter from $67.0 million in the same quarter a year ago.  Net cash provided by operating activities also increased, totaling $55.4 million in the June 2012quarter compared to $52.9 million in the June 2011 quarter and $37.4 million in the March 2012 quarter.

The June 2012 quarter’s GAAP net income was affected by the following items, the first two of which are not included in adjusted net income:

• A loss on disposal of assets of $5.3 million (which includes non-cash impairment charges of $1.9 million associated with aircraft held for sale), compared with a gain on disposal of assets of $1.4 million in the June 2011 quarter,
• A special charge of $2.2 million for severance costs related to the termination of a contract in the Southern North Sea, and
• Compensation expense of approximately $2.0 million included in general and administrative expense related to the departure of an officer of the Company.

“The strong operating performance we experienced in our fiscal 2012 fourth quarter continued in the first quarter of fiscal 2013,” said William E. Chiles, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bristow Group.  “We are benefitting from the strength of the deep-water markets as our results for the June 2012 quarter were driven by higher activity in the North Sea, recovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, higher aircraft utilization levels in Nigeria and lower costs primarily at the corporate level.”

Mr. Chiles continued, “We are expecting the solid revenue growth experienced over the recent quarters to continue throughout the remainder of fiscal 2013, and anticipate strong adjusted EBITDAR margins.  The Bristow Client Promise – to provide unmatched safety, reliability and hassle-free service – is making a real difference for our clients and as a result, we are being awarded new contracts with better terms for our value proposition.”

FIRST QUARTER FY2013 RESULTS

• Operating revenue increased 12% to $320.7 million compared to $286.8 million in the same period a year ago.
• Operating income increased 10% to $40.0 million compared to $36.4 million in the June 2011 quarter.
• Net income increased 12% to $23.7 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, compared to $21.0 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, in the June 2011 quarter.  Adjusted net income increased 49% to $29.6 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, compared to $19.9 million, or$0.54 per diluted share, in the June 2011 quarter.
• Adjusted EBITDAR increased 26% to $84.3 million compared to $67.0 million in the same period a year ago.
• Cash totaled $227.3 million and our total liquidity, which includes cash and borrowing availability on our $200 million revolving credit facility, was $387 million as of June 30, 2012.

There continues to be strong demand both from new and existing clients in the Northern North Sea and in Norway.  To meet this demand, we have added new large aircraft to our Europe Business Unit over the past year.  These new aircraft, as well as an overall increase in flying activity, led to a 14% increase in operating revenue and an 11% increase in adjusted EBITDAR over the June 2011 quarter.  Adjusted EBITDAR margin of 32.2% was slightly lower than the prior year quarter’s margin of 33.0%.

Activity levels continue to be strong in our West Africa Business Unit, where we saw a 12% increase in flight hours over the June 2011 quarter, leading to a 27% increase in operating revenue, a 37% increase in adjusted EBITDAR and an 8% increase in adjusted EBITDAR margin.

The addition of S-92 large aircraft to our fleet of our North America Business Unit continues to drive operating improvement in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico along with the issuance of more drilling and completion permits.  Operating revenue increased 20% resulting from the addition of the new large aircraft despite no significant change in flight hours from the June 2011 quarter.  This revenue increase, coupled with a reduction in cost structure and the leasing of new aircraft, led to an almost doubling of adjusted EBITDAR and a significant increase in adjusted EBITDAR margin to 23.2% from 14.3% in the prior year quarter.  Adjusted EBITDAR margin also improved sequentially over the March 2012 quarter performance of 19.4%.

Despite a decrease in operating revenue in our Australia Business Unit, adjusted EBITDAR improved 25% and adjusted EBITDAR margin improved 34% over the June 2011 quarter in this market.  The improvement represents the result of significant work in this market to reduce costs and better utilize our existing fleet.

Our Other International Business Unit was negatively affected by a decline in activity inMexico, and an increase in operating costs in Trinidad and lower than expected earnings from Líder in Brazil.  Our earnings from Líder were less than expected for the June 2012quarter due to changes in foreign exchange rates and startup costs that were incurred for new aircraft in advance of revenue generation.  We expect Líder’s contribution to our earnings to remain unpredictable over the remainder of fiscal year 2013.  The results fromMexico, Trinidad and Brazil were the primary contributors to the 25% decrease in adjusted EBITDAR margin for Other International compared with the June 2011 quarter.

CONTRACT AWARDS

We recently announced that we have secured several major new multi-year contracts for the provision of a total of 20 large aircraft that are expected to generate in excess of $2 billion in revenue in Europe, Australia and Brazil.  This contract work, with higher pricing and improved terms, comes online over the period beginning in the September 2012 quarter through fiscal year 2015, with three aircraft starting work under these contracts in the September 2012quarter, ten aircraft in fiscal year 2014 and seven aircraft in fiscal year 2015.

DIVIDEND

On July 31, 2012, our Board of Directors declared a sixth consecutive quarterly dividend.  This dividend of $0.20 per share will be paid on September 14, 2012 to shareholders of record on August 31, 2012.  Based on shares outstanding at June 30, 2012, total dividend payments to be made during the three months ended September 30, 2012 will be approximately $7.2 million.

GUIDANCE

Bristow is reaffirming today the adjusted earnings per share guidance provided in May 2012for the full fiscal year 2013 of $3.25 to $3.55.

“Our 2013 guidance reaffirmation is based on the results of this historically strong first quarter of our fiscal year,” said Jonathan E. Baliff, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Bristow Group.  “In addition to the stronger performance and earnings per share growth year over year, we continued to generate significant operating cash flow.  This is a testament to the hard work of our global operations and commercial teams.”

As a reminder, our GAAP earnings per share guidance does not include unrealized gains and losses on disposals of assets as well as special items because their timing and amounts are more variable and less predictable.  This guidance is based on current foreign currency exchange rates.  In providing this guidance, the Company has not included the impact of any changes in accounting standards and any impact from significant acquisitions and divestitures.  Changes in events or other circumstances that the Company cannot currently anticipate or predict could result in earnings per share for fiscal year 2013 that are significantly above or below this guidance.  Factors that could cause such changes are described below under Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure.

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