Polarcus 4th Quarter Revenue Down 24% v. 2013

Polarcus Limited announced another disappointing quarter today, reporting $93.3 million in fourth quarter revenues, down 24% from the same quarter in 2013.

Polarcus, the operator of a global fleet of seismic research vessels, released their fourth quarter and preliminary full year 2014 financial reports on Tuesday, and the company cited "a rapid decline in oil prices and cautious spending by oil companies" for creating a "challenging market environment."

The Dubai-based and Oslo-listed company also announced multi-client sales of $21.1 million, up 100% from 2013's fourth quarter. In addition, Polarcus reported a $280 million backlog, which the company said provides good visibility for 2015.

2014 earnings were negatively affected by a $28.8 million impairment charge, of which $22.6 million resulted from a detailed evaluation of the sales outlook for the company's multi-client library and $6.2 million relates to old thrusters held as spares. Financial costs were negatively affected by the depreciation of the Russian Ruble and the Norwegian Krone, resulting in higher than expected foreign exchange losses.

The news comes less than a week after Rod Starr assumed his new role as the company's CEO after leaving TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company. He replaced Rolf Ronnigen, who informed the company's board of his planned retirement last year.

"The last quarter has seen our clients exercise extreme caution on exploration spend as the oil price declined at its fastest rate since the 2008 cycle," Starr said. "Against this challenging market backdrop we are accelerating the previously announced initiatives to regionalize sales resources and implement a rigorous cost management program with a clear focus on capital discipline."