Erickson Incorporated (NASDAQ:EAC) (“Erickson,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”), a leading global provider of aviation services, today announced first quarter 2016 financial results.

“The first quarter was largely consistent with our expectations. Revenue for our services continues to be disappointing as we were unable to replace certain defense, and oil and gas contracts we had last year. Despite a $19 million decline in revenue, we were pleased to deliver a $7 million improvement in operating cash flow compared to the first quarter of 2015. We are also pleased that our pipeline continues to grow, and we are starting to see some improvement in our backlog. During the quarter we delivered some important contract wins including a Vertrep contract with the U.S. Navy, and a contract in India for the first time in our company’s history. While it is difficult to predict the timing of contract wins, our growing pipeline is encouraging, and we look forward to contract awards in the coming months,” said Jeff Roberts, President and CEO.

First Quarter 2016 Highlights

• Awarded two 5-year Vertrep contracts with the U.S. Navy’s military sealift command to provide aerial re-supply for U.S. Navydetachments while at sea
• Contract win with Sterlite Grid in India for precision lift installation of power line towers using an S-64E Aircrane
• Two exclusive-use one-year contract wins each with four additional option years with the State of Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources for wildfire suppression. Erickson to provide two medium-lift helicopters
• Sale of two B-212 helicopters for a total of $2.0 million in furtherance of our fleet rationalization plan

Recent Highlights

• Heavy lift contract win in Peru to provide one S-64F Aircrane with related support for year round use with an oil and gas operator in the Amazon region
• Contract win with Rokstad Power to provide heavy-lift precision placement services to Brucejack Mine in Stewart, British Columbia, using an S-64F Aircrane. Contract duration of 4 months with possible extensions

First Quarter Results
Erickson recorded net revenue of $46.8 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to net revenue of $66.2 million for the first quarter of 2015. First quarter 2016 loss from operations was $13.1 million, an improvement of $52.1 million compared with $65.2 million for the same period in 2015, which included goodwill and asset impairments of $57.0 million. First quarter 2016 Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of$3.1 million compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $2.2 million for the same period in 2015.

Commercial Aviation Services revenues decreased $6.3 million, to $19.9 million in the first quarter of 2016 from $26.3 million in the first quarter of 2015 primarily due to the overall decline in global oil and gas exploration combined with lower firefighting activity in Australia, which experienced a milder fire season. We did however see improvements in timber harvesting activity in Canada, as well as higher revenues generated from a European firefighting contract that was not in place during the first quarter of 2015. Infrastructure construction revenues were relatively flat on a year-over-year basis.

Global Defense and Security revenues decreased $13.8 million to $19.1 million for the first quarter of 2016 from $32.9 million in the first quarter of 2015 due to contracts ending and, to a lesser degree, a reduction in scope of U.S. Department of Defense activity.

Manufacturing and MRO revenues increased by $0.8 million to $7.8 million compared to $7.0 million for the first quarter of 2015. This increase was primarily driven by revenue derived from the refurbishment of two MH-53E Sea Dragons for the U.S. Navy.

Closing Comments
“The transformation program we have initiated and the subsequent work to turn around our business continues. The initiatives we put in place to manage cash and liquidity have served us well. Our business development and sales efforts remain concentrated on uncovering new opportunities that will develop into revenue, and we are maintaining our focus on exceeding customer expectations and upholding stringent safety standards. We are working hard to improve efficiencies from a cost standpoint, which includes the ongoing fleet rationalization process. These efforts will help lead our transition to a growing, profitable enterprise,” concluded Jeff Roberts.

The full financial statements can be seen here