Nekkar Asa

OSE:NKR

Earnings Call Analysis

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q1

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this first quarter presentation for Nekkar. I am Ole Falk Hansen, the CEO of Nekkar. Today's presentation will start with a recap of Nekkar's value proposition and company. We will present the key financial highlights from our first quarter for the group. And furthermore, we will give an update on each of the portfolio companies' developments, and we will round off with a Q&A after the presentation. You may submit questions through the webcast as we go along.

So Nekkar, we are an industrial technology company with focus on efficiency and sustainable solutions for ocean-based industries. We have world-class expertise within engineering, industrial software and complex project execution. Nekkar are an engaged long-term active owner. That means we have a long-term horizon with no specific exit date. We focus on building profitable growth in our companies, and we have an active agenda including both operational and structural tasks. And finally, we are flexible in terms of ownership and operating model for all our companies and investments.

As an introduction, let me give you a short recap of our current business portfolio. Syncrolift is the global leading provider of shipyard solutions for safe and efficient ship docking solutions. Intellilift provides industrial software solutions for automation and remote control system for drilling, maritime and offshore load handling. In Techano, we have intelligent load handling solutions, such as cranes, gangways both for renewables, subsea and also aquaculture vessels. And within FiiZK, we are the leading provider of closed-cage solutions and technical textiles and also software products for the aquaculture industry. And finally, SkyWalker is our disruptive wind turbine service and installation machine for both onshore and offshore usage.

The Nekkar portfolio is focused on ocean-based industries, as you can see here on the slide. More specifically, we are targeting 4 business segments: Syncrolift towards the shipyard business segment; Techano Oceanlift, both towards renewable, aquaculture and offshore energy; and Intellilift delivering to all Nekkar companies in addition to being a provider to the offshore energy segment. FiiZK is a pure aquaculture industry player. And finally, SkyWalker targeting the offshore and onshore renewable developments for wind.

The Nekkar portfolio is spread across the business life cycle, providing a balanced exposure towards generating solid financial performance in the short term and providing strategic opportunities for the future. As you can see illustrated below, you will see our portfolio map from SkyWalker in the innovation stage on the left, with technology development focus with partners and also soft funding. On the other side, to the right, you find Syncrolift, which is the clear market leader for shiplifts with solid financial results and healthy EBITDA margins. And in the middle, you will see all our 3 growth companies having revenues and products in the market, which we are scaling and growing to hit the more established space.

So let's move to the first quarter highlights. In the first quarter of 2024, we delivered yet a solid quarter. The revenue grew 50% year-on-year to NOK 152 million, and the EBITDA came in at NOK 30 million and a 20% margin in the quarter. Our strong financial position continues with NOK 197 million in cash, 0 interest-bearing debts and favorable loan facilities. With a solid order intake of NOK 188 million, we are pleased to share that our backlog continues to grow. Currently, the backlog is at close to NOK 900 million.

If we move to the operational highlights, Syncrolift has won new projects in both Chile, India and Dubai in the quarter, and we continue to execute our running projects according to plan. Intellilift receives good customer feedback and a new automation system is being undertaken by a super major oil and gas customer in the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, we received a control system contract for a drillship upgrade. Techano Oceanlift is progressing well with its 2 cranes contract awarded last year. The commercial team is also experiencing high market and tendering activity, especially within the Subsea segment. And for SkyWalker, we are working on establishing partnerships to commercialize SkyWalker as we are having the plan to launch the project later on. And for FiiZK, Jan Erik is on board and started first of April this year, and we have now launched and updated a new closed-cage design. And furthermore, we are reviewing the strategic portfolio of FiiZK for the future years to come.

In the first quarter, we have seen a solid revenue of NOK 152 million, which is an increase of 50% from last year, as I mentioned. And also the EBITDA of NOK 30 million represents a margin of 20%, which is equal to the historical average for the last quarters, as you can see, illustrated to the right. The order intake in the first quarter is primarily driven by new contracts for Syncrolift. And the backlog going out of Q1 is close to NOK 900 million. We are maintaining a book-to-bill ratio above 1, and we are maintaining a solid backlog, which you can see also being steadily over the last quarters on the right-hand side.

Let's deep dive into Syncrolift. For market and sales, in Q1, we received an award for a USD 5 million contract performing a design contract from ASMAR in Chile. And the contract includes also a USD 24 million option for delivery of the equipment package for the Shiplift and the ship transfer system, which will be finalized and concluded the coming year. Furthermore, we received a 5-year maintenance contract worth NOK 23 million for Karwar in India for the Indian Navy's ship repair facility. And finally, we have yet another contract with Dubai Maritime City for USD 8 million for new ship transfer systems. The financials in the quarter were good, with a 33% growth from the same quarter last year. Also, Syncrolift delivers healthy EBITDA margins in the quarter. On the operational side, we have good progress on ongoing projects. We have commissioned the upgrade projects for DMC in the quarter and finalized the 2 shiplifts that [ were ] awarded about a year ago. And furthermore, we have commissioned and delivered the first of the 4 transfer systems to DMC. As a backdrop, Syncrolift has delivered 19 of the top 20 operational shiplifts globally sorted by lifting capacity, as you can see illustrated here. And we believe this document Syncrolift's position as the clear global market leader of shiplifts.

Furthermore, our recent contract wins in '23 and '24 emphasize Syncrolift's global reputation and competitiveness. We have been awarded 7 individual customer contracts in the period. And as you can see there, we illustrated over large parts of the world. In Chile with ASMAR, we were awarded a design contract, including an option for a new shiplift and ship transfer system. The contract value is USD 5 million. ASMAR is a state-owned shipyard for both naval and commercial use. And the design contract is to be executed over the coming 12-months, and the option for the equipment delivery is priced at USD 24 million.

Moving to Dubai. Dubai Maritime City is 1 of the leading shipyards in the Middle East. Last year, we received an upgrade contract for 2 of their shiplifts, which we finalized this quarter, as I mentioned. And we received an additional ship transfer system. Now in the first quarter, we have received an order for additional 3x ship transfer systems with a value of USD 8 million in total. And we are continuing to serve DMC as a strategic customer for both further projects and also for ongoing service projects.

Going forward, we see a good outlook for the activity level of Syncrolift. As you can see on the left side, our backlog and our current expectation in terms of execution of the total backlog of about NOK 800 million. As you can see, about NOK 600 million of the backlog is to be executed in '24 and '25, while the remaining is to be executed later. And we are still experiencing a high tendering activity in the newbuild and upgrade segment. And we see a strong tender pipeline in the coming years to come. And we estimate that tenders with a potential worth of around NOK 2 billion to NOK 3 billion are to be awarded over the coming 2 years. And we are confident that Syncrolift will continue to secure a significant portion of these projects.

Let's move to Techano Oceanlift, which has now been part of Nekkar for 1 year, and in the first year of operations delivered revenue of above NOK 50 million for the first year. On the market and sales side, we have high tendering activity, and we see several projects and several tenders with potential new cranes and also other deliveries to be awarded over the coming months and quarters to come. On the financials, we continue to grow the revenue as the project execution on the assigned projects last year is progressing. The margins are positive but soft, which reflects that we are a market entry projects in order to establish both customer trust and also the new products in the market.

On the operational side, the focus is now on execution of the 70 tonne offshore crane to the Sefine Shipyard, which will go on a charter for Reach Subsea as it's been delivered. And we have commenced engineering on the -- the last order, the 150-tonne crane also for the Sefine Shipyard and Agalas as the shipowner.

Let's look at Intellilift, our software and automation provider. On the market side, we received a contract for a complete third-party control system contract for a drillship upgrade, which was awarded directly to Intellilift in the quarter. Additionally, we are tendering for simulators and other drilling control systems. The financials are driven by the drilling projects that we have secured in the quarter and also previous quarters. And we are now conducting a new rig installation before the summer in the Gulf of Mexico for an oil and gas supermajor, which has an option to purchase the system. And for the first rig, which you have heard about before, Transocean Norge, the scope is now finalized and in operations with excellent customer feedback. And we are also pleased to see that InteliWell performance is highlighted by Transocean during the latest earnings conference call. The installation of Transocean Norge has been successful. And as I mentioned, the new projects are underway in Gulf of Mexico for an additional rig.

For SkyWalker, a Nekkar-led consortium was awarded a NOK 75 million grant in December from the Norwegian government. The scope of the project is to demonstrate SkyWalker in an offshore environment for performing a full-scale major component replacement on an offshore wind turbine. The focus from our side now is to finalize the project agreements as well as the project financing for the project. And additionally, we are working on a go-to-market partnership solution for the commercial phase after the pilot project is finalized.

Let's look at some more detailed financials. First up, revenue. The revenue ended at NOK 152 million, which is a strong increase of 50% compared to the same period last year. The EBITDA ended at NOK 30 million, which is also a 33% increase compared to the same quarter last year. And our EBITDA margin remained solid at 20%, although slightly down from 22.6% last year's first quarter. The net financial items are driven by Nekkar's share of FiiZK quarter loss, totaling NOK 6 million and losses on FX contracts not qualifying for hedge accounting. As already mentioned, the order intake in the quarter was NOK 188 million, and we have a solid backlog of close to NOK 900 million in -- going out of the quarter, which provides good visibility for the coming couple of years. And the net capitalized cost ended at NOK 3 million, which is mainly R&D developments.

If we look on our balance sheet and on the asset side, for the financial assets, about NOK 40 million of the assets are linked to the investment in the FiiZK Group.

Moving on to working capital. At the end of Q1, we have a strong working capital of NOK 134 million, which is an increase of NOK 10 million compared with year-end 2023. And the working capital is mainly related to projects in Syncrolift. And as project has reached invoicing milestones, the accounts receivables has increased, which means we expect strong cash conversion during the second quarter. We have no interest-bearing debt and a solid equity of NOK 433 million in the balance sheet.

Let's move on to cash flow. The operating cash flow for Q1 is positive at NOK 14 million, driven by a solid EBITDA in the period, offset by increased working capital. Cash flow from investments in Q1 is negative at NOK 4 million and is primarily related to R&D projects. And furthermore, the share buyback program had investments of NOK 9 million in the first quarter. In summary, we have a total cash inflow of NOK 3 million in the quarter, and our financial position remains robust.

Finally, I will give a couple of comments about our capital allocation strategy. In the current market conditions, Nekkar is seeing several opportunities to grow our business with organic investments into our existing portfolio and M&A for new businesses within our refined segments. Since we launched our buyback program in August '23, we have acquired almost 2.3 million shares at an average price of NOK 8.88 per share. And the total cash spending related to the program has been about NOK 20 million.

So before we round off and move to the Q&A, I will make some conclusion remarks. We have a strong revenue and EBITDA compared to the first quarter last year. Our order-backlog creates a good visibility going forward, and we see high tendering activity in all our business segments. Nekkar has a strong financial position, and we are positioned in market industries which have a positive outlook in the coming years to come. And with this, I will finalize my presentation, and we will move on to the Q&A for the quarter.

[Unknown Executive]

Thank you, Ole. We have a couple of questions. First question, can you provide any more details about Intellilift's control system contract that you mentioned during your presentation?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

I think -- we are glad to share that we have received a control system contract, whereby we will do a -- a complete change out of an existing control system and human machine interface for an existing drillship upgrade, which will go out in operations in the next year. And Intellilift is delivering all the hardware and the software components for the control system upgrade and change out. And we believe this is a solid award and also a proof of Intellilift's position also to provide the hardware and the software part in addition to, also later on to provide automation systems as part of Intellilift's offering.

[Unknown Executive]

Thank you. A question on the financials. There is a buildup of pretty big posts of receivables, both nonaccrued and trade receivables. When do you expect to see a reversal in net working capital?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. Already in the second quarter, we hope to see that the working capital will be reduced. And that's, of course, moving from non-invoiced to trade receivables is, of course, a step towards getting it on the cash account. So that's our plan.

[Unknown Executive]

A question about the share buyback program. The program ends on the 30th of June. However, there have just been buybacks for NOK 26 million of the NOK 80 million. Will the buyback program be extended? Or will it be ramped up? And I guess that's primarily a question to the General Assembly who decides on the buyback program, but maybe you can share some details?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes, it's correct, as mentioned, and the invitation for the General Assembly is now out -- sent out with the same mandates as being part of last year's Assembly meeting. And of course, after that, it's up to the Board to decide to continue such a program after the General Assembly meeting in end of May.

[Unknown Executive]

You mentioned high tendering activity for Techano Oceanlift. Is this primarily for offshore cranes, or are you also tendering for live fish transfer systems and other types of contracts?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

It's for several types of projects, and it's mainly related to, I would say, offshore wind and offshore oil and gas energy projects. Of course, the live fish transfer systems are mainly linked to the offshore aquaculture business, which is currently at the moment, I would say, partly on hold due to the tax regime in Norway, and clarity whether that will be imposed some times in the future for the offshore fish farming.

[Unknown Executive]

Are you able to indicate how large share of the Syncrolift tender pipeline is related to naval projects?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes, that's, of course, a good question. And many of the projects, and you could say, the shipyards like ASMAR, as I mentioned, they are a combination of a naval and commercial shipyard. And that's -- I would say that's -- for many of the projects, they are a mix of both naval and commercial usage [ as such ] they are not kind of solely related to one of them.

[Unknown Executive]

A question about InteliWell, how would you estimate the potential of InteliWell's -- InteliWell together with Transocean?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. I think now as we have the first rig demonstrated, that's a very good mark for both InteliWell and also for Transocean. And -- and we hope to see that will continue into further rigs. And as mentioned, we are now finalizing the installation of the second rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and we hope to see that on commercial contract after the summer this year.

[Unknown Executive]

A question regarding FiiZK. What are the main updates in FiiZK's new closed-cage system design? And how has market interest been so far?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes, that's -- of course, it's a technical question. We launched the new updated design last week on the fish fair trade fair in Bergen, which received positive feedback and reviews. It's built on the experience which FiiZK has developed over the last, yes, 10-years within this industry, both taking into account, the positives and also the negatives. And that's also strengthened by the competence and value that Nekkar brought into the table. So we are now -- the new design is a steel-based floating color with a [ back ] of PVC, as before, which will we believe then can handle the challenges of fish farming and provide both environmental and more fish-friendly solutions for the aquaculture industry.

[Unknown Executive]

A couple of questions about Syncrolift. How big was service revenue for Syncrolift in the quarter?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. So we disclose the service revenue twice a year. But I could say that the service revenue continues to have a good trajection. And also in the first quarter, we have a solid service share of the business. And as presented last quarter, we are around 20% of revenues, and we expect and have a plan to grow that continuously. And also like this contract in India for Karwar, that's also a way to provide more stability in the service part by signing long-term contracts instead of having a repeat business being called off every now and then.

[Unknown Executive]

Another question about Syncrolift. Can you say anything about the reason for why Pearlson was chosen for the Darwin project instead of Nekkar or the third participants?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. So with -- with the Darwin project, of course, there's a lot of speculation and market and media publicity. The project, to our knowledge, is still not finally concluded. However, of course, we are also seeing a lot of media and press release that Pearlson has been awarded the project. We are, of course, continuing to following it up. But I would say, we have in the last quarters and months received several other contracts. And Darwin is 1 of the projects we -- which we hope and we hoped to be signed. But at the same time, we have several other projects in the same size like both PT Pal last quarter is on the same size as Darwin. And we also have other projects now, which we -- will maintain Syncrolift's competitive position in being the leading global provider.

[Unknown Executive]

How much effort are you putting into new M&A opportunities for Nekkar?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. We are open for new investments and opportunities. But of course, they need to be within our defined mandate in terms of where we invest and what type of companies we invest in. And I would say on a general notice, we are kind of reviewing a couple of opportunities on an ongoing basis with, of course, screening and looking into making value -- good value deals for Nekkar and continue building the portfolio.

[Unknown Executive]

A couple of more questions about InteliWell, Ole. How does the competitive landscape look like for InteliWell?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. So of course, InteliWell, I would say, mainly competes with the O&M players, meaning the ones which has delivered the hardware of the drilling equipment. And of course, we are agnostic in terms of not being linked to any hardware and also being agnostic in terms of we can operate with all kinds of third-party software and systems. And that's kind of our key selling point, that -- we are open to both incorporate and also share our systems and not kind of making a bundled package of both hardware and software -- into the customer side.

[Unknown Executive]

There was a question about the new rig installation in the first half of '24 in Gulf of Mexico for a supermajor. You mentioned that there is an option to purchase the system. What do you mean by this option?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. So we have an agreement that we now will install the system and make it operational and prove the system's operability and efficiency now in the first year -- half year of '24. And assuming everything is progressing as planned, we hope to see that that will lead into a commercial day rate contract starting in the second half of this year. And that's kind of the setup of that contract.

[Unknown Executive]

Two more questions about FiiZK. What is the current financial health for FiiZK? And how has sales development been during 2024?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. So -- as you know, the fourth quarter was negative and also the first quarter this year was negative at -- with about NOK 6 million in the quarter. And I think I mentioned last quarter that we have a plan to turn FiiZK from negative numbers into positive numbers during 2024. And we are seeing clear trends that we are heading in that direction and turning from negative to positive number. So that's also good to see. And now with the launch of the updated closed-cage design, we hope to see, of course, contracts and revenue from that business activity also, which has been on hold since yes, over the last year, whether has been limited to no revenue in the closed-cage business as we have worked on improving and launching a new design before we make it ready for contracts.

[Unknown Executive]

And finally, a question about SkyWalker. Can you give a ballpark figure for your share of investments in the next phase of the SkyWalker project?

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Yes. So as I mentioned, we are now in the phase where we are reviewing all partners' scope and mandates and also finding a project financing of the remaining part which is not granted by the Green Platform Award. Nekkar's share of the development program is roughly half or 50%. And we are then, of course, now looking into models whereby we can finance and also have partners being part of this development. And I think also an important part is to not only look on the project itself, but also have a planned and a go-to-market strategy for when the project is finalized, and we are moving into a commercial stage of business.

[Unknown Executive]

Thank you, Ole. That covers the large majority of topics and questions that we have received today. So with that, it's safe. And just a short thank you to all the viewers.

[Ole Hansen, executive]

Thank you.