Complete Production Services, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2009 Results

Complete Production Services, Inc. (NYSE:CPX) today reported first quarter revenue of $336.7 million, EBITDA, as defined below, of $65.7 million, operating income of $14.0 million and a net loss of $0.3 million, or ($0.00) per diluted share. The results include a $4.9 million non-cash, pre-tax charge ($3.5 million after tax, or $0.05 per diluted share) related to an asset exchange.

"The contraction in North American oilfield activity levels, which began in November, accelerated through the first quarter,” commented Joe Winkler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "While there were differences in the rate of change in activity levels by basin, no area or service line was immune from significant declines in utilization and price erosion.”

Revenue for the Completion and Production Services segment during the first quarter of 2009 was $287.5 million, a decrease of 18% year over year and down 29% sequentially. Segment EBITDA was $71.1 million when adjusted for the $4.9 million non-monetary asset exchange. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 24.7%, versus EBITDA margin of 29.6% for the quarter ending December 31, 2008.

First quarter Drilling Services segment revenue and EBITDA were $35.4 million and $6.9 million, respectively. First quarter EBITDA margins declined to 19.5% from 22.8% in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"Throughout the quarter we continued the implementation of cost savings initiatives which began in the fourth quarter of last year. The initiatives included workforce reductions, base and incentive compensation reductions and price concessions from our vendors. In addition to focusing on costs, we continued to refine and enhance our core service offerings. We exchanged the assets of our underperforming Canadian production testing business for the assets of a cased-hole E-Line operation, bolstering our already strong position in this market. We also took actions to reduce working capital, minimize capital expenditures and significantly reduce the borrowings on our revolving credit facility. The results were a $119.9 million reduction in our debt and a $5.7 million increase in our cash balance.”

"We have not yet seen the bottom of activity, nor have we seen the full impact of pricing pressure that will occur due to the excess service capacity in the marketplace. We will persist in appropriately reducing our cost structure, paying down our revolver, protecting our market position in key resource play basins and focusing on execution at the field level in order to capitalize on the eventual recovery,” concluded Mr. Winkler.

Complete Production Services, Inc. is a leading oilfield service provider focused on the completion and production phases of oil and gas wells. The company has established a significant presence in unconventional oil and gas plays in North America that it believes have the highest potential for long-term growth.

Conference Call

Complete will hold a conference call to discuss first quarter 2009 results on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. To participate in the live conference call, dial 866-362-5158 at least ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. When prompted, provide the passcode: 46749801. The conference call will be available for replay beginning at 2:00 p.m., April 29, 2009 and will be available until May 6, 2009. To access the conference call replay, please call 888-286-8010 and use the passcode: 15069606. The call is also being webcast and can be accessed at our website at www.completeproduction.com.

The foregoing contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are those that do not state historical facts and are, therefore, inherently subject to risk and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements included herein are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks associated with the general nature of the oilfield service industry. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release.

Management evaluates the performance of Complete’s operating segments using a non-GAAP financial measure, EBITDA. EBITDA is calculated as net income from continuing operations before net interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, impairment charge, and minority interest. EBITDA is not a substitute for the GAAP measures of earnings and cash flow. EBITDA is used in this press release because our management considers it an important supplemental measure of performance and believes it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry.