Oilfield services provider C&J Energy Services, Inc. (CJES) reported Wednesday a profit for the first quarter that nearly halved from last year, reflecting higher costs and expenses. Both earnings per share and quarterly revenues missed analysts' expectations.
"During the first quarter we encountered challenging conditions across the U.S. hydraulic fracturing market. The impact to our hydraulic fracturing operations was greatest over the latter part of the quarter, as our exposure to a weakened spot market increased due to lower utilization by contracted customers, who generally managed to the minimum contractual hours," Founder, Chairman, and CEO Josh Comstock said in a statement.
The Houston, Texas-based company reported net income of $25.14 million or $0.46 per share for the first quarter, lower than $49.38 million or $0.92 per share in the prior-year quarter.
On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.55 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenues for the quarter increased 15 percent $276.05 million from $239.05 million in the same quarter last year, but missed six Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate on $288.31 million.
The company attributed the double-digit revenue growth to the addition of new equipment for hydraulic fracturing and coiled tubing as well as the contribution from the newly acquired wireline business in June 2012.
Hydraulic fracturing revenues were $173.8 million by completing 1,698 fracturing stages, compared to $186.4 million by completing 1,476 fracturing stages in the same quarter last year.
Coiled tubing operations contributed $36.4 million of revenue and completed 1,057 coiled tubing jobs, compared to $35.5 million and 908 jobs completed last year.
Wireline operations contributed $62.1 million of revenue, and manufacturing business contributed $1.2 million.
"Through our Research and Technology group, we are actively identifying opportunities to expand our product offerings, as well as evaluating new technology that will enhance our current service capability and efficiency," Comstock added.
CJES closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $19.29, down $0.50 or 2.53% on a volume of 0.62 million shares. The stock lost a further $0.79 or 4.10% in after-hours trading.
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