Troubled drilling services firm Boart Longyear has posted a third straight annual loss and expects difficult market conditions to continue this year.
Boart reported a $US326.3 million ($A457.48 million) loss for the 12 months to December 2015, hurt by impairments and unfavourable currency movements amid lower volumes and prices.
The full year loss is slightly lower than its $US332.7 million loss in 2014.
Revenue fell 15 per cent to $US735 million.
"I don't think it will get worse. But we won't see a dramatic change in the results," chairman Marcus Randolph told an investor call on Monday.
"While drilling utilisation rates haven't recovered, we are seeing more requests."
Boart, the world's biggest supplier of drilling rigs to the mining industry, has struggled for several years as a savage downturn in commodity prices has taken a toll on its business.
It went through a massive private equity recapitalisation in 2015, but chief executive Richard O'Brien stepped down in August after the company's half year losses blew out.
The company has looked to aggressively tackle costs and push up drilling productivity, even as it has suffered price erosion because of contract renegotiations.
On Monday, the Salt Lake City-based company said it was promoting finance head Jeff Olsen into the chief executive role from March 1. Mr Olsen, who previously spent 18 years with Rio Tinto, joined Boart in 2014.
"We continue to aggressively manage our cost structure," Mr Olsen said on the call.
"We will continue to reduce overheads, but we are putting an emphasis on cutting operating costs for 2016."
Boart said it initiated additional actions in the second half to reduce selling, general and administrative expenses by $US25 million annually, but expects the impact will only be visible by 2016.
The company expects volumes to be largely flat in the new year, but says there is potential for more activity in the gold sector, which contributes nearly half of its revenue.
Boart shares, which have tumbled more than two-thirds in the past 12 months, reacted positively to Monday's announcements and closed 2.5 cents higher at 9.2 cents.
BOART POSTS FULL YEAR LOSS
* Net loss $US326.3mln vs $US332.7 mln loss
* Revenue down 15pct to $US735 mln
* No dividend paid, unchanged
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