UNAUDITED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
For the year ended December 31, 2006, Pulse generated total revenues of approximately $45 million of which seismic data licensing revenue amounted to approximately $34 million. Free cash flow(1) (funds from operations less total participation survey capital expenditures) amounted to approximately $17 million, and the Company generated an additional $3 million in cash proceeds from the sale of non-core assets.
Pulse acquired a total of approximately 17,860 net kilometres of 2D seismic data and approximately 460 net square kilometres of 3D seismic data in 2006. Capital expenditures directed to seismic data purchases were $36.4 million and the Company completed one participation survey with a total cost of $6.8 million.
For the LiDAR business segment, Terrapoint recorded a cash loss of approximately $1.5 million for 2006 on revenues of approximately $7.8 million. Pulse's working capital position was approximately $6 million at December 31, 2006 (including a cash position of approximately $2.5 million). During 2006, Pulse utilized cash resources mainly for seismic data purchases ($11.4 million), a participation survey ($6.8 million), long-term debt repayment ($11.9 million) and dividends ($7.1 million).
In January 2006, Pulse increased its annual dividend rate to $0.15 per common share amounting to a total of $7.1 million in cash returned to its shareholders in 2006. Based on Pulse's closing share price on February 5, 2007, this annual dividend rate provides an effective yield of 6.1 percent. Looking ahead for 2007, the trend of increasing oil and gas industry interest, oil and gas activity levels and increasing cost to shoot and obtain new seismic data in the deeper-drilling Foothills areas of Alberta and British Columbia is expected to generate strong demand for the high-quality regional 2D seismic data that Pulse recently acquired.
The Company has exceeded its internal data sales targets for the month of January 2007 by achieving $4.3 million in 2D and 3D data library sales, which is approximately 30% higher than in January 2006. The financial information contained in this news release is based on management's estimates only and it has not yet been approved by the Company's Audit Committee or Board of Directors, or audited by the Company's auditors.
2006 AUDITED FINANCIAL RESULTS RELEASE
Pulse intends to release its complete audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2006, along with details regarding the next regular quarterly dividend after close of trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Monday, March 19, 2007. The year-end news release will be available on the Pulse web site at the same time.
In addition, a conference call and webcast to review the 2006 results are scheduled for Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 1:00 pm EST (11:00 am MST). Further details of the conference call, including dial-up numbers, will be provided at a later date.
Pulse is a Calgary-based company with two operating units: Pulse Seismic which specializes in acquiring, marketing and licensing seismic data to the western Canadian energy sector, and Terrapoint which focuses on acquisitions and processing of digital elevation and image data (also referred to as LiDAR) to diverse markets. Through these two operating units, Pulse Seismic and Terrapoint, the Company has evolved into an industry leader providing Better Information Faster(TM).
Pulse trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PSD.
(1) The Company's continuous disclosure documents provide discussion and analysis of "free cash flow". This financial measure does not have a standard definition prescribed by generally accepted accounting principles in Canada (GAAP) and therefore it may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies. The Company has included this non-GAAP financial measure because it is used by management, investors, analysts and others as a measure of the Company's financial performance. The Company's definition of free cash flow is cash available for debt servicing, discretionary capital expenditures and the payment of dividends, and is calculated as funds from operations less total participation survey additions to the data library.
Certain information contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Such statements are subject to known or unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Investors are encouraged to review the "Risk Factors" section of the Management's Discussion and Analysis in the Company's most recent Annual Report and interim reports for a discussion of risks that could affect the Company's operations and financial results. Forward-looking statements are based upon management's assumptions, expectations and estimates at the time that such statements are made. Pulse does not update forward-looking statements should circumstances change or management's assumptions, expectations or estimates change, except as required by law. -- www.tsx.com
Posted February 9th, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
