CALFRAC BRACES FOR ANOTHER TOUGH YEAR IN THE OILPATCH

Calfrac Well Services Ltd. has shed more than 1,700 jobs from its Canadian and U.S. workforce since the end of 2014, underscoring how painful the crude price collapse has been for oilfield services firms. The Calgary-based company said Wednesday it has reduced its head count by 40 per cent in Canada and 60 per cent in the United States as it faces the worst oilpatch downturn in three decades. A Calfrac spokesperson said the company had 1,740 workers in its Canadian division and 1,750 in its U. S. division at the end of 2014, meaning the total staff cuts amounted to 1,746 since then. Meanwhile, Calfrac said it is suspending its quarterly dividend immediately until further notice. Last June, the dividend was cut in half to 6.25 cents a share, and then September it was slashed again to 1.6 cents. Also Wednesday, it posted a net loss for the fourth quarter of $141.5 million, versus a profit of $26.5 million during the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell 62 per cent to $ 286.2 million for the last three months of the year.