Magseis Fairfield trims losses

Seabed seismic player Magseis Fairfield has narrowed it quarterly loss despite significantly lower year-on-year revenue.

The Oslo-listed company generated Q3 2020 revenue of $48.4 million, down from $74.4 million same time last year.

The year-on-year decline mainly reflects the significantly lower activity in the seismic acquisition market in 2020 compared to 2019.

The company booked quarterly loss of $7.8 million, versus loss of $46 million in the prior-year quarter.

For the full-year 2020 net loss was $19.7 million, against loss of $151.5 million in 2019.

Full-year 2020 revenue amounted to $193.4 million, compared to $459.6 million in 2019. The 2019 figures included approximately $110 million in one-off sales of MASS I nodes, with the remainder of the revenue decline attributable to the lower activity level in the market.

The above result is mainly due to the company’s cost-cutting initiatives in the past year.

In April 2020, Magseis Fairfield announced measures as a response to the new market environment, resulting in further capex cuts.

The company has reduced CAPEX by some 80 per cent and SG&A by approximately 60 per cent compared to 2019.

Magseis Fairfield order backlog stood at $198 million at the end Q4 2020. Total secured backlog for 2021 is currently approximately $190 million.

This backlog is up 17 per cent sequentially and also up 20 per cent year-over-year.

“There are signs of the market improving and we are indeed seeing an increased tender activity for 2021 projects in our core areas in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea. We potentially see higher utilization of the node inventory than previously anticipated,” says CEO Carel Hooijkaas in Magseis Fairfield.