HI Uplift: Bristow upbeat on offshore earnings as outlook lifted

Bristow remains upbeat about the prospects for earnings growth over the next 18 months – particularly from its offshore energy sector – in second quarter (Q2) results posted this week. This year’s adjusted EBITDA outlook range was lifted to $240m – $260m and the 2026 outlook range was lifted to $300m – $335m.

While uncertainty continues to plague the global economy, Bristow enjoys better financial visibility than many others, claimed Jennifer Whalen, senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO). “In our OES [Offshore Energy Services] segment, we expect market conditions to remain constructive in 2025 and to generate adjusted operating income of approximately $200m to $205m on revenues of $980m to $1bn,” Whalen told an investor’s call on Wednesday (August 6th).

Government Services

In the company’s Government Services segment, Bristow expected to generate adjusted operating income of about $40m to $50m on revenues of $360m to $400m. The segment will continue to show the effects of the new contract transitions until they become fully operational. “The strong margins and earning potential of this business will not become fully evident until the operations and revenues for these contracts have fully ramped in 2026 and beyond,” said Whalen.

Bristow’s Other Services segment was predicted to generate adjusted operating income of about $20m to $25m on revenues of $120m to $130m. This is mainly due to the improved economics of its regional airline in Australia.

Key factors that could impact the results (upwards or downwards) include: supply chain dynamics that impact aircraft availability, customer activity levels influenced by global energy demand, new contract transitions and exchange rates of foreign currencies – particularly the British pound and the euro – relative to the dollar.

Chris Bradshaw, president, CEO and director underlined Bristow’s confidence in the improved outlook predictions. “This confidence is supported by the stability of our Government Services business, the heavy weighting of our Offshore Energy Services business to more stable production support activities and the breadth and diversity of the geographic markets we serve,” he said.

Revenues in Africa

During Q2, Offshore Energy Services revenues climbed $13m, with Europe revenues up $6.4m reflecting higher utilisation and favourable foreign exchange rates in Norway. Also up were revenues in the Americas, climbing by $3.7m mainly due to higher US utilisation rates. Revenues in Africa were $3m higher also reflecting higher utilisation and additional aircraft capacity.

Government Services revenues were $6.6m higher due to the continuing transition of the Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) search and rescue contract and higher utilisation in the UK search and rescue (UKSAR) contract. Operating loss was $1.9m in current quarter compared with operating income of $6m in Q1. This reflected higher subcontractor costs of $5.1m and higher personnel costs of $2.8m arising from the new Government Services contracts, unfavourable foreign exchange rate impacts of $3m, higher repairs and maintenance costs of $2m and higher fuel costs of $0.6m, offsetting the increased revenues.

Other Services revenues were $6.3m higher mainly due to seasonally higher utilisation in Australia of $6m. Operating income was $4.1m higher in the current quarter mainly due to these higher revenues, partially offset by higher operating expenses of $1.9m due to increased activity. About one third of Bristow’s revenues come from its non-oil and gas services.

Offshore markets

Returning to offshore markets, Bradshaw said the fleet status for offshore configured heavy and super medium helicopters remains at or near full effective utilisation levels. “The ability to bring in new capacity remains limited with production lines that must be shared with military aircraft orders and current manufacturing lead times of approximately 24 months,” he said.

To fill the gap, Bristow placed a new order early last year for AW189 offshore configured helicopters. Seven helicopters are firm orders with 10 options to provide additional capacity if necessary.

Managing through supply chain issues to meet customer demand remains the company’s “biggest challenge”, said Bradshaw. “It’s a challenge right now to keep up with the current level of demand. And this is why we’re moving existing aircraft in our portfolio to optimise utilisation around our different geographies and bringing in new aircraft to increase capacity in markets like Africa and Brazil.” He also identified the “US Gulf” as a “pretty constructive market”.

Tariff policy

So far, President Trump’s (changeable) tariffs policy has had no impact on Bristow’s business. While uncertainty about global trade and tariffs remains, Bradshaw was encouraged by the intended EU-US trade deal and the Brazil-US trade deal. “From everything that we understand, it’s understood that the agreements will exclude civil aircraft and parts from the tariff regime, keeping those at a zero-tariff basis, which obviously is constructive,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bradshaw began the earnings call by highlighting that safety is Bristow’s “Number one core value and our highest operational priority”. The operator suffered one air accident in Q2 involving a AW139 helicopter landing on an offshore platform in Brazil. The incident resulted in no injuries to personnel or damage to the offshore facility but the was damaged. Beyond that, the quarter saw continued falls in the number of recordable injuries and lost work time, he said.

Bristow Q2 results – at a glance

• Total revenues: $376.4m versus $350.5m in Q1
• Net income: $31.7m versus $27.4m in Q1
• Adjusted EBITDA: $60.7m versus $57.7m in Q1
• 2025 Adjusted EBITDA outlook range: Lifted to $240m – $260m
• 2026 Adjusted EBITDA outlook range: Lifted to $300m – $335m.

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HI Uplift Dashboard: Helicopters for sale

Multi engine

• Total for sale/lease: 272 – the same as last week
• Percentage for sale/lease: 3.61%
• Absorption rate: 4.17 months
• Total fleet: 7,545 – eight more than last week.

Single engine

• Total for sale/lease: 421 – four fewer than last week
• Percentage for sale/lease: 3.63%
• Absorption rate: 3.56 months
• Total fleet: 11,604 – three more than last week.

 Source: AMSTAT, August 8th, 2025.