KCA Deutag is facing better prospects after slashing its debt and “battening down the hatches” in during a tumultuous 2020, the Aberdeen-based oil and gas drilling giant’s chief finance officer said yesterday.
Neil Gilchrist was speaking after the company revealed better-than-expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) last year, with the figure down by 15.3% to £183.9 million from £217.2m in 2019.
Mr Gilchrist said this comfortably beat expectations of Ebitda coming in at £171.3m.
Pre-tax profits for 2020 came in at £8.5m, against losses of nearly £160m the year before, boosted by a one-off gain of nearly £504m – the result of a financial restructuring that wiped more than £1 billion off the firm’s £1.4bn debt pile.
Sales fell by 14% to £850m as industry projects in some parts of the world tailed off amid the pandemic.