Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE: HP) reported net income of $97 million, or $0.91 per diluted share, from operating revenues of $720 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, compared to net income of $46 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, from operating revenues of $631 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2022.
The net income per diluted share for first quarter of fiscal 2023 and fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022 include $(0.20) and $(0.03) of after-tax losses, respectively, comprised of select items(1). For the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, select items were comprised of $(0.20) of after-tax losses pertaining to a non-cash impairment for fair market adjustments to decommissioned rigs and equipment that are held for sale and non-cash fair market adjustments to our equity investments.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $185 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 compared to $117 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022.
President and CEO John Lindsay commented, "Almost a year has passed since we set into motion plans to achieve revenue per day in excess of $30,000 and direct margins of 50% in our NAS segment. These financial guideposts were established as proxies for what is required to generate favorable economic returns in this capital-intensive business. This recent quarter marks a milestone in achieving that revenue per day goal, and we are making strong progress towards the direct margin goal. We've made significant headway in just a year which has generated considerable shareholder value. Our first fiscal quarter results of 2023 show another strong sequential improvement in our financial performance and the continuation of momentum established in fiscal 2022.
Additional First-Quarter Highlights
- Quarterly North America Solutions (NAS) operating income increased $53 million sequentially, while direct margins increased $57 million to approximately $260 million, as revenues increased by $75 million to $627 million and expenses increased by $18 million to $367 million
- NAS exited the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 with 184 active rigs reflecting an increase in revenue per day of approximately $3,500/day or 12% to $33,000/day on a sequential basis, while direct margins(2) per day increased by roughly $3,000/day or almost 25% to $15,700/day
- H&P anticipates the NAS segment to exit the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 with 183-188 active rigs with the ability to get to 191 rigs during fiscal year 2023 dependent on customer demand
- For the fiscal second quarter, H&P expects its NAS direct margins per day to increase by another 7%-15% on a sequential basis
- In December 2022, we published our second annual sustainability report maintaining the commitment to providing transparency to various stakeholders
- Fiscal year-to-date H&P has repurchased approximately 1.3 million shares for approximately $60 million at an average share price of roughly $47/share
- On December 9, 2022, the Board of Directors increased the maximum number of shares authorized to be repurchased in calendar year 2023 to five million common shares representing a one million share increase from the previous year's authorization and declared a quarterly base cash dividend of $0.25 per share and a supplemental cash dividend of $0.235 per share; both dividends are payable on February 28, 2023 to stockholders of record at the close of business on February 14, 2023