Boart Longyear reports a loss, axes thousands more jobs

Boart Longyear (ASX: BLY), the world’s largest provider of drilling services for the mining industry, logged Monday a substantial loss and said it is cutting thousands more jobs as it experiences the worst industry conditions since the global financial crisis.

The Utah-based company said it made a net loss of US$329.4 million in the six months through to June, compared with $97.7 million in profit a year earlier. The company added it wouldn’t be able to pay an interim dividend to shareholders.

Boart blamed the sharp slowdown in demand from China for the loss, as its key mining customers have cut capital expenditure, including drilling services.

“Operating conditions and key performance indicators have continued to deteriorate early in the second half of the year, and are similar to levels experienced during the previous market downturn in 2009,” said the firm in a statement.

Boart Longyear has axed over 2,800 jobs so far this year and it has also sold its non-core environmental and infrastructure drilling services operations.

Equipment image courtesy of Boart Longyear

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