HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

• Total revenues of $295.6 million in Q3 FY22 compared to $301.6 million in Q2 FY22
• Breakeven earnings and earnings per share in Q3 FY22 compared to net income of $2.8 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in Q2 FY22
• EBITDA adjusted to exclude special items and asset dispositions was $30.7 million in Q3 FY22 compared to $44.5 million in Q2 FY22
• Adjusted Free Cash Flow was $41.8 million in Q3 FY22 compared to $19.1 million in Q2 FY22
• Unrestricted cash balance was $274.0 million with total liquidity of $326.4 million

Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: VTOL) today reported net loss attributable to the Company of $0.1 million, or $0.00 per diluted share, for its fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2021 ("Current Quarter") on operating revenues of $285.0 million compared to net income attributable to the Company of $2.8 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the quarter ended September 30, 2021 ("Preceding Quarter") on operating revenues of $290.1 million.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") was $26.0 million in the Current Quarter compared to $45.3 million in the Preceding Quarter. EBITDA adjusted to exclude special items and gains or losses on asset dispositions was $30.7 million in the Current Quarter compared to $44.5 million in the Preceding Quarter. The following table provides a bridge between EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA excluding gains or losses on asset dispositions. See Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Metrics for a reconciliation of net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA.

"Bristow's disappointing financial results in Q3 FY22 were due to a number of factors, including $3.4 million in costs related to the temporary relocation of operations to alternate base locations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico due to damage caused by Hurricane Ida," said Chris Bradshaw, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bristow. "The decline in profitability relative to the preceding quarter was also due to negative variances of $3.1 million related to the timing of major repairs, $1.1 million related to aircraft lease return costs, a $3.0 million adverse variance in foreign currency exchange, and a $1.8 million decline in equity earnings from unconsolidated affiliates. On the top line, higher revenues in our oil and gas service line, which were driven by increased utilization in the Americas region, were offset by reduced flight hours in our UK SAR contract and reduced revenues from fixed wing services related to COVID-19 travel restrictions and seasonality. Overall, the disappointing Q3 results are in contrast to our positive outlook for the trajectory of demand for our services as spending in the offshore oil and gas market is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, which should drive substantial improvements in Bristow's financial results. Finally, we were pleased that the Company generated approximately $42 million in Adjusted Free Cash Flow in the current quarter despite the aforementioned challenges."

Sequential Quarter Results

Operating revenues in the Current Quarter were $5.1 million lower compared to the Preceding Quarter. Operating revenues from oil and gas services were $1.3 million higher primarily due to higher utilization in the Americas region, partially offset by lower utilization in the Europe and Africa regions. Operating revenues from government services were $3.3 million lower primarily due to lower utilization and the weakening of the British pound sterling relative to the U.S. dollar. Operating revenues from fixed wing services were $3.0 million lower primarily due to COVID-related travel restrictions and seasonality.

Operating expenses were $3.1 million higher in the Current Quarter primarily due to higher fuel expenses, maintenance costs and costs incurred to relocate operations from bases damaged during Hurricane Ida, partially offset by lower personnel and insurance costs.

General and administrative expenses were $2.0 million higher in the Current Quarter primarily due to increased nonrecurring professional services fees.

During the Preceding Quarter, the Company recognized a $2.9 million loss on the impairment of H225 helicopter parts inventory.

During the Current Quarter, the Company sold one fixed wing aircraft and other equipment resulting in a net gain of $0.7 million. During the Preceding Quarter, the Company sold four S-76C++ medium helicopters and two AW109 light-twin helicopters resulting in a net gain of $0.2 million.

During the Current Quarter, the Company recognized losses of $0.9 million from unconsolidated affiliates compared to earnings of $1.0 million in the Preceding Quarter.

Other income, net of $4.0 million in the Current Quarter was primarily related to government grants to fixed wing services of $3.2 million and a favorable interest adjustment to the Company's pension liability of $0.7 million. Other income, net of $15.3 million in the Preceding Quarter was primarily related to a bankruptcy-related legal settlement of $9.0 million, government grants to fixed wing services of $2.7 million, net foreign exchange gains of $2.2 million, insurance proceeds of $0.6 million and a favorable interest adjustment to the Company's pension liability of $0.6 million.

Income tax benefit was $1.6 million in the Current Quarter compared to expense of $14.5 million in the Preceding Quarter. The change in income tax expense in the Current Quarter was driven by lower pre-tax earnings, the tax impact of valuation allowances on the Company's net losses and the tax impact of deductible business interest expense.

Liquidity and Capital Allocation

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had $274.0 million of unrestricted cash and $52.4 million of remaining availability under its amended asset-based revolving credit facility (the "ABL Facility") for total liquidity of $326.4 million. Borrowings under the amended ABL Facility are subject to certain conditions and requirements.

In the Current Quarter, purchases of property and equipment were $5.9 million, and cash proceeds from dispositions of property and equipment were $0.7 million, resulting in net (proceeds from) / purchases of property and equipment ("Net Capex") of $5.2 million. In the Preceding Quarter, purchases of property and equipment were $14.3 million, and cash proceeds from dispositions of property and equipment were $3.2 million, resulting in Net Capex of $11.2 million. See Adjusted Free Cash Flow Reconciliation for a reconciliation of Net Capex and Adjusted Free Cash Flow.

Conference Call

Management will conduct a conference call starting at 10:00 a.m. ET (9:00 a.m. CT) on Friday, February 4, 2022, to review the results for the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2021. The conference call can be accessed as follows:

All callers will need to reference the access code 1829005.

Within the U.S.:  Operator Assisted Toll-Free Dial-In Number: (800) 289-0720

Outside the U.S.:  Operator Assisted International Dial-In Number: (856) 344-9142

Replay

A telephone replay will be available through February 18, 2022 by dialing 888-203-1112 and utilizing the access code above.  An audio replay will also be available on the Company's website at www.bristowgroup.com shortly after the call and will be accessible through February 18, 2022. The accompanying investor presentation will be available on February 4, 2022 on Bristow's website at www.bristowgroup.com.

About Bristow Group

Bristow Group Inc. is the leading global provider of innovative and sustainable vertical flight solutions. Bristow primarily provides aviation services to a broad base of major integrated, national and independent offshore energy companies. Bristow provides commercial search and rescue ("SAR") services in several countries and public sector SAR services in the United Kingdom ("U.K.") on behalf of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency ("MCA"). Additionally, the Company offers ad hoc helicopter and fixed wing transportation services.

Bristow currently has customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad, the U.K. and the U.S.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements represent Bristow Group Inc.'s (the "Company") current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "project," or "continue," or other similar words. These statements are made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, reflect management's current views with respect to future events and therefore are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown. The Company's actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are made. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to provide any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which the forward-looking statement is based that occur after the date hereof. Risks that may affect forward-looking statements include, but are not necessarily limited to, those relating to: public health crises, such as pandemics (COVID-19) and epidemics, and any related government policies and actions; expected cost synergies and other financial or other benefits of the merger ("Merger") might not be realized within the expected time frames, might be less than projected or may not be realized at all; the ability to successfully integrate the operations, accounting and administrative functions of Era Group Inc. ("Era") and the entity formerly known as Bristow Group Inc. ("Old Bristow"); managing a significantly larger company than before the completion of the Merger; diversion of management time on issues related to integration of the Company; the increase in indebtedness as a result of the Merger; operating costs, customer loss and business disruption following the Merger, including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees and customers, may be greater than expected; our reliance on a limited number of customers and the reduction of our customer base as a result of bankruptcies or consolidation; the possibility that we may be unable to maintain compliance with covenants in our financing agreements; global and regional changes in the demand, supply, prices or other market conditions affecting oil and gas, including changes resulting from a public health crisis or from the imposition or lifting of crude oil production quotas or other actions that might be imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producing countries; fluctuations in the demand for our services; the possibility that we may impair our long-lived assets and other assets, including inventory, property and equipment and investments in unconsolidated affiliates; our ability to implement operational improvement efficiencies with the objective of rightsizing our global footprint and further reducing our cost structure; the possibility of significant changes in foreign exchange rates and controls, including as a result of the U.K. having exited from the European Union; potential effects of increased competition and the introduction of energy efficient alternative modes of transportation and solutions; the risk of future material weaknesses we may identify while we work to align policies, principles, and practices of the combined company following the Merger or any other failure by us to maintain effective internal controls; the possibility that we may be unable to re-deploy our aircraft to regions with greater demand; the possibility of changes in tax and other laws and regulations and policies, including, without limitation, actions of the Biden Administration that impact oil and gas operations or favor renewable energy projects in the U.S.; the possibility that we may be unable to dispose of older aircraft through sales into the aftermarket; general economic conditions, including the capital and credit markets; the possibility that segments of our fleet may be grounded for extended periods of time or indefinitely; the existence of operating risks inherent in our business, including the possibility of declining safety performance; the possibility of political instability, war or acts of terrorism in any of the countries where we operate; the possibility that reductions in spending on aviation services by governmental agencies could lead to modifications of our search and rescue ("SAR") contract terms with the UK government, our contracts with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ("BSEE") or delays in receiving payments under such contracts; and our reliance on a limited number of helicopter manufacturers and suppliers capabilities.. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements because the matters they describe are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our forward-looking statements are based on the information currently available to us and speak only as of the date hereof. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these matters or how they may affect us. We have included important factors in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021 (the "Annual Report") which we believe over time, could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ from the anticipated results, performance or achievements that are expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. You should consider all risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Annual Report and in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), all of which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Bristow Group Inc. Lines of Service

Beginning in fiscal year 2022, the revenues by line of service tables have been modified to more accurately reflect how management views the Company's lines of service. These changes include the addition of a Government services line of service which includes revenues from U.K. SAR, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ("BSEE"), and other government contracts. In addition, our Other activities and services ("other" services) will now reflect revenues derived from leasing aircraft to non-governmental third party operators, oil and gas contracts that do not materially fit into one of the three major oil and gas operating regions and other services as they arise. As such, operating revenues from Asia Pacific oil and gas services are now shown under other services following the exit of that line of service in the Asia Pacific region. Prior period amounts will not match the previously reported amounts by individual lines of service. Management believes this change provides more relevant information needed to understand and analyze the Company's current lines of service.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Metrics

The Company's management uses EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to assess the performance and operating results of its business. EBITDA is defined as Earnings before Interest expense, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA further adjusted for certain special items that occurred during the reported period, as noted below. The Company includes EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to provide investors with a supplemental measure of its operating performance. Neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA is a recognized term under generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. ("GAAP"). Accordingly, they should not be used as an indicator of, or an alternative to, net income as a measure of operating performance. In addition, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not intended to be measures of free cash flow available for management's discretionary use, as they do not consider certain cash requirements, such as debt service requirements. Because the definitions of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (or similar measures) may vary among companies and industries, they may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The following table provides a reconciliation of net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (in thousands).

Adjusted Free Cash Flow Reconciliation

Free Cash Flow represents the Company's net cash provided by operating activities plus proceeds from disposition of property and equipment, less expenditures related to purchases of property and equipment. Adjusted Free Cash Flow is Free Cash Flow adjusted to exclude nonrecurring professional services fees, costs paid in relation to the Merger, the Chapter 11 Cases and government grants related to the Company's fixed wing services.  Management believes that the use of Adjusted Free Cash Flow is meaningful as it measures the Company's ability to generate cash from its business after excluding cash payments for special items. Management uses this information as an analytical indicator to assess the Company's liquidity and performance. However, investors should note numerous methods may exist for calculating a company's free cash flow. As a result, the method used by management to calculate Adjusted Free Cash Flow may differ from the methods used by other companies to calculate their free cash flow.

The following table provides a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow (in thousands).

The chart below presents the number of aircraft in our fleet and their distribution among the regions in which we operate as of December 31, 2021 and the percentage of operating revenue that each of our regions provided during the Current Quarter.

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SOURCE Bristow Group