Vallourec revenues down

YOUNGSTOWN

Vallourec Star’s France-based parent company, Vallourec, reported second-quarter and first half 2015 earnings today showing the impact of the downturn in oil and gas market.

Revenues from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2014 dropped 23.1 percent from $2,936,851 in the first half of 2014 to $2,257,438 when converted from euros to U.S. dollars.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring costs or EDITDA went down 85.1 percent in the first half of 2015 compared with the percent half of 2014.

Free cash flow, or cash flow from operating activities after capital expenditures, was down about $37 million in the first half of 2015 compared with the last.

“The severe downturn in the oil & gas markets persists,” said Philippe Crouzet, chairman of Vallourec’s management board, in a statement. “The resulting decline in drilling activity since the beginning of the year, particularly in North America and the EAMEA (Europe, the middle east and Africa) region, led to a sharp fall in our sales and increased pressure on prices in the first semester. As a result, our mills have been operating well below capacity, leading to inefficiencies typically associated with low load. Vallourec’s management remain fully committed to confront this depressed environment, which will further affect the remainder of 2015.”

Earlier this month, leaders at the Vallourec Star plant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Youngstown announced a workforce reduction of about 60 to 80 effective in August because of the a significant drop in sales from last year.