Rises as TD Securities upgrades on strong first quarter

Major Drilling International

10/09/2019 18:09

** Shares of Canada-based contract drilling co  MDI.TO  rise
12.8% to C$5.68 - trading at their highest in over a year
    ** Co posts Q1 profit of 8 Canadian cents/shr vs loss of 3
Canadian cents/shr a year earlier
    ** Revenue rose 19.2% to C$117.5 mln
    ** TD Securities upgrades to "buy" from "hold" and says Q1
results a strong start to the year; EBITDA of C$18 mln beat
brokerage's estimate of C$12.3 mln
    ** "We are in the early stages of a recovery of the drilling
industry and we expect activity levels and margins to improve
going forward" - brokerage
    ** Says MDI well-positioned to capitalize on recovery vs
competitors, given strong balance sheet and ready-to-go rig
fleet
    ** 4 of 5 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 1
"hold"; median PT is C$6.50
    ** Including session's gains, stock up 23.4% this year

 (Reporting by Debroop Roy in Bengaluru)
 ((Debroop.Roy@thomsonreuters.com))