EANS-News: C.A.T. oil AG / C.A.T. oil further improves profitability and earnings under abnormally harsh weather conditions

- Revenue development impacted by rough weather conditions and
changes in revenue mix
- Ongoing cost control and portfolio
optimisation contribute to increased EBITDA and EBIT margins

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quarterly report/Q1 2010 Results

Subtitle: - Revenue development impacted by rough weather conditions
and changes in revenue mix - Ongoing cost control and portfolio
optimisation contribute to increased EBITDA and EBIT margins

Vienna (euro adhoc) - 27 May 2010 - C.A.T. oil AG (O2C, ISIN:
AT0000A00Y78), one of the leading providers of oil and gas field
services in Russia and Kazakhstan, today has published its results
for the first quarter 2010. During the reporting period, C.A.T. oil,
on the one hand, experienced positive effects from the global
economic recovery; on the other hand, the Company faced adverse
weather conditions in Western Siberia. As a consequence, the
Company´s operational weather downtime days reached a historical high
and had a negative impact on revenue development. Despite the
climatic challenges, however, C.A.T. oil was able to further improve
its profitability and increase its EBITDA and EBIT margins.

Manfred Kastner, CEO of C.A.T. oil, commented: "The first quarter is
tradition-ally weaker due to the difficult winter weather in our core
markets. With aver-age temperatures of minus 35 degrees Celsius in
Western Siberia, representing the lowest levels since C.A.T. oil went
public, the first quarter 2010 has been exceptional. Our weather
downtime days were nearly two and a half times as high as usual. The
right combination of our expertise, state-of-the-art technology and
efficiency was decisive for the performance in the first quarter. The
fact that we were able to further increase our profitability during
this extraordinary winter demonstrates that our ongoing efforts to
optimise op-erations have paid off. C.A.T. oil is operationally and
financially very solid and well positioned to deliver additional
growth in 2010."

Revenues impacted by lower job count and amended service mix

To meet customers´ demand more flexible and improve revenue mix,
C.A.T. oil is constantly optimising its service portfolio and
capacities. In the first quarter 2010, the Company reduced its own
capacities for low-margin auxiliary workover services as in the
future these will be performed by external partners, if and where
needed. C.A.T. oil enjoyed solid demand for its core businesses in Q1
2010, with sidetrack drilling being growth driver number one,
delivering a 100% YoY increase in job count.

In the reporting period, the total number of jobs declined by 7.3%
YoY to 618 jobs (Q1 2009: 667 jobs), reflecting the reduced
operational activities due to the weather and the streamlined service
portfolio. At an average level of 41.4, the Rouble-to-Euro exchange
rate was more favorable than in the previous year, but was not strong
enough to offset the effects of the difficult weather conditions. In
the reporting period, revenues declined by 12.4% YoY to EUR 47.1
million (Q1 2009: EUR 53.8 million) and average revenues per job
decreased by 2.4% YoY to TEUR 74 (Q1 2009: TEUR 76), largely
reflecting changes in hydraulic fracturing and sidetrack drilling
revenue mix and lower seismic activities.

The cost of sales went down by 12.4% YoY to EUR 41.7 million (Q1
2009: EUR 47.6 million) - reflecting the reduced working day level as
well as positive effects of the Company´s continued strict cost
management. As part of C.A.T. oil´s continued cost optimisation
programme, general and administrative expenses were reduced by 5.7%
YoY to EUR 4.2 million (Q1 2009: EUR 4.4 million); personnel expenses
decreased by 13.9%, primarily reflecting the outsourcing of auxiliary
functions and the adjustment of the work force to 2,557 employees (Q1
2009: 3,228).

Strong increase in EBIT and EBITDA

The successfully implemented measures to increase profitability are
clearly visible in the Company´s income statement: earnings before
interest, corporate tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)
increased by 11.9% YoY to EUR 9.1 million (Q1 2009: EUR 8.1 million),
resulting in an improved EBITDA margin of 19.2% (Q1 2009: 15.0%).
C.A.T. oil´s earnings before interest and corporate tax (EBIT) rose
by 40.6% YoY to EUR 1.8 million (Q1 2009: EUR 1.3 million) with an
expansion in the EBIT margin to 3.7% from 2.3% in Q1 2009.

C.A.T. oil´s net financial result increased to EUR 1.2 million (Q1
2009: loss of EUR 3.5 million), mainly due to the unrealised foreign
currency translation gain of EUR 1.0 million on the euro-denominated
inter-company loans (Q1 2009: loss of EUR 2.8 million). As a
consequence of the improved financial result, pre-tax profit was up
to EUR 2.9 million, compared to a pre-tax loss of EUR 2.2 million in
Q1 2009.

C.A.T. oil´s net income amounted to EUR 1.0 million, compared to a
net loss of EUR 0.9 million a year ago. Earnings per share amounted
to EUR 0.021 in Q1 2010 (Q1 2009: loss per share of EUR 0.019).

Healthy financial situation: strong equity ratio and net cash

Despite C.A.T. oil´s cash earnings before changes in working capital
improved by 61.6% YoY to EUR 10.0 million (Q1 2009: EUR 6.2 million),
cash flow from operating activities was a net outflow of EUR 0.4
million (Q1 2009: net inflow of EUR 13.9 million). This development
primarily reflected the postponed invoicing due to delays related to
third-party administrative processes. Cash flow from investing
activities represented a net outflow of TEUR 40 (Q1 2009: net outflow
of EUR 3.2 million), reflecting the combination of maintenance capex
and proceeds from sale of equipment. The Company´s cash flow from
fi-nancing activities amounted to a net inflow of EUR 1.7 million in
Q1 2010, compared to a net outflow of EUR 9.1 million in Q1 2009.
This is primarily indicating the increase in Rouble-denominated
short-term interest-bearing liabilities of the Company subsidiaries.

Cash and cash equivalents increased by 11.5% to EUR 32.4 million as
of 31 March 2010, compared to EUR 29.1 million as of 31 December
2009. Net cash rose by 6.3% to EUR 30.8 million as of 31 March 2010
(31 December 2009: EUR 29.0 million). Thanks to a conservative
financial strategy, the Company sustained a strong balance sheet with
an equity ratio of 84.4% as of 31 March 2010 (31 December 2009:
84.6%).

Cautious optimism for 2010 reiterated

During the reporting period, C.A.T. oil demonstrated yet again its
capability to navigate efficiently through a challenging operating
environment. The Compa-ny´s lean structure and strong operational
expertise fuel the management´s confidence that C.A.T. oil will be
able to capitalise on the existing and future growth opportunities.
C.A.T. oil´s current order book amounts to EUR 206 million and the
Company views prospects for additional service orders in the second
half of 2010 as positive. Although C.A.T. oil´s work flow was
disrupted by abnormally harsh weather conditions, the management
anticipates that the Company´s customers will rollover unexecuted
service orders into the current and the following quarters of 2010.

With respect to capital expenditures, C.A.T. oil maintains its
conservative approach and continues to focus on near-term growth
through the optimised deployment of its existing capacities and
further gains in its operational efficiency. The Company´s capital
expenditure programme, is contingent upon the sustainable improvement
in demand for oil and gas field services. C.A.T. oil will revise
capex levels in the second half of the year and decide on adjustments
depending on the sustainability of market conditions.

www.catoilag.com

Press contact:
FD

Carolin Amann Lucie Maucher
Tel.: +49 (0)69 92037-132 Tel.: +49 (0)69 92037-183
Email: carolin.amann@fd.com Email: lucie.maucher@fd.com

About C.A.T. oil AG:

C.A.T. oil AG is one of the leading providers of oil and gas field
services in Russia and Kazakhstan and is listed on the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange (SDAX). C.A.T. oil offers a wide spectrum of services
to increase the lifecycle of an oil field or to make abandoned oil
fields accessible. The Company´s growth is driven by three
significant factors: Existing oil fields need to be stimulated due to
shrinking oil and gas resources in order to optimise capacities.
Simultaneously, idle wells are reactivated or made accessible through
new methods in order to deploy wells to their maximum. Additionally
C.A.T. oil offers seismic services which help to identify new oil and
gas sources.

Since its foundation in 1991 in Celle, Germany, C.A.T. oil has built
up a leading hy-draulic fracturing services business in Russia and
Kazakhstan. Following its IPO in 2006 the Company has invested more
than EUR 200 million in additional services and capacities: sidetrack
drilling has become the Company´s second core business. Apart from
the services mentioned above, C.A.T.oil´s diversified service
portfolio includes coiled tubing, formation evaluation services, well
work-over, cementing and seismic services. Due to the recent
expansion investments C.A.T. oil´s fleets and rigs are
state-of-the-art and therefore allow for time-efficient and effective
deployment. C.A.T. oil´s customer base includes the leading Russian
and Kazakh oil and gas producers amongst them Gazprom, KazMunaiGaz,
LUKOIL, Rosneft and TNK-BP. C.A.T. oil has a long-standing
relationship with these customers and has been a reliable service
pro-vider since its market entrance in the early nineties.

The Company has its headquarters in Vienna and employed an average of
2,557 people on 31 March 2010, most of whom are based in Russia and
Kazakhstan. The Company´s current order book for 2010 amounts to
approximately EUR 206 million.

Key financial figures for Q1 2010

[million EUR] Q1 2010 Q1 2009 Change %
Revenues 47.1 53.8 -12.4
Cost of sales 41.7 47.6 -12.4
Gross profit 5.4 6.1 -12.1
EBITDA 9.1 8.1 11.9
EBITDA margin (%) 19.2 15.0
EBIT 1.8 1.3 40.6
EBIT margin (%) 3.7 2.3
Net income 1.0 -0.9 > 100
Earnings per share (EUR) 0.021 -0.019 > 100
Equity Ratio (%) 1 84.4 84.6

Cash flow from operating activities -0.4 13.9 > -100
Cash flow from investing activities -0.04 -3.2 -98.8
Cash flow from financing activities 1.7 -9.1 > 100
Cash and cash equivalents 1 32.4 29.1 11.5

Total job count 618 667 -7.3
Per-job revenue (in thou. EUR) 74 76 -2.4
Employees 2,557 3,228 -20.8

1 As of 31 March 2010 and 31 December 2009 respectively

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: C.A.T. oil AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Lucie Maucher

Tel.: +49 (69) 920 37-183

E-Mail: lucie.maucher@fd.com

Branche: Oil & Gas - Upstream activities
ISIN: AT0000A00Y78
WKN: A0JKWU
Index: SDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard