Siem Offshore Inc

OSE:SIOFF

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q1

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the review and presentation of our results for the first quarter. My name is Bernt Omdal, and I'm the Chief Executive Officer of the company. I'm joined by our CFO, Vidar Jerstad. And together, we will take you through this presentation.

Siem Offshore, as we report for the first quarter, was released prior to the market opening today. And in this presentation, we will cover the main highlights of the report, and we'll refer to the presentation issued together with the financial report. And at the end of the presentation, we will open for questions.

Looking at the highlights for the quarter, we had 28 vessels in operation and all vessels delivered a positive EBITDA margin. We had USD 76.5 million in revenue, and we delivered $37 million in EBITDA, which is [ equivalent ] to 48% EBITDA margin. Our cash position was $106.5 million at the end of the quarter, and our book equity ratio was 37%.

We continue to deliver safe and efficient operations in all regions. This is a result of high focus on safety at all levels in the company. The utilization of the fleet was 89% in the first quarter, that is excluding vessels in lay-up, and we had two vessels in lay-up at the end of the quarter. It's also worth mentioning that we received $12 million as a down payment on a seller's credit. And then on the contract side, the Siem Barracuda was awarded a contract or an extension by 7 months. The vessel is working on a wind farm called Hywind Tampen and our end client is Equinor.

Siem Topaz is also working within the renewable market, and we managed to secure a contract in Taiwan with a firm commitment into fourth quarter this year. Moving on, Vidar Jerstad will now give you some more details regarding the results.

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

Thank you, Bernt. Siem Offshore has had a good first quarter. The company has a revenue of $76.5 million. This is up from $61 million same quarter last year. Operating expenses ended at $34.3 million, down from $38.9 million last year. Reduction in operating expenses is mainly explained by the $3.7 million reversal of impairments. This is related to the sale of Siem Marlin in 2019.

Operating margin for the quarter was $37 million, up from $16.7 million. When comparing these figures, please also remember that we had some one-off effects in the first quarter of 2022 with low utilization due to steaming and ducting of several vessels and also some increased operating expenses. Still, even adjusted for this, today's figures support our belief that we are in a long-term positive market trend.

Depreciation was $16.9 million. There were no impairments or a reversal of impairments in the quarter. Operating profit ended, therefore, at $20.1 million. Interest expenses were $7.7 million, up from $4.9 million same quarter last year. Increasing interest rates impact the company negatively. Having said that, 38% of our debt has fixed interest rate.

Net financial items ended positive by $9.9 million. The reason behind the positive net figure is unrealized currency gain of $9.5 million and also $5.8 million in reversal of impairment. This is also related to the sale of Siem Marlin in 2019. Net profit before taxes are $30.3 million and after taxes, $30.4 million. After adjusting for minority shareholders in one of our subsidiaries, we end up at $31 million.

This slide shows operating margin distributed on segments. The figures are before G&A and also excluding reversal of impairments. Our Subsea segment consists of four OACD vessels, two well intervention vessels and the scientific core drilling vessel, Joides Resolution. The segment had an operating margin of $28 million in the quarter. This is up by $9 million from same quarter last year.

The PSVs generated $2.6 million in margin. This is up by $3 million. Our anchor handlers, which now also include Avalon Sea, had an operating margin of $6.5 million, up by $5.8 million from same quarter last year. Our Brazilian vessels, our fast crew and oil spill recovery vessels, generated $0.8 million, down from $2.1 million. Summarized, we see a positive market trend materializing. That's our belief.

And let us take a look at the balance sheet. The book equity of the company is continuing to grow. The company has now $381 million in book equity and a book equity ratio of 37%. Gross interest-bearing debt is $552 million and net interest-bearing debt is $445 million. Siem Offshore's financial position is good, and it continues to improve. Siem Offshore is an attractive and solid business [ partner ] from a commercial and operational perspective, but also from a financial perspective.

And let's take a look at the cash flow for the quarter. We started the year with $95 million in cash. We have received $39 million in cash from operations. We have paid $4 million in interest. We have invested $10 million in the vessels, and we have repaid debt for $19 million in the quarter. And also some other changes, we end at a cash position at the end of the quarter of $107 million.

And now the contract backlog. At the end of first quarter, the backlog amount is $430 million, and this is with quality and solid counterparties. The Subsea segment consists of 7 vessels, dominate the backlog with 78% of the backlog. Over 6 PSVs has 12% of the backlog. Our Anchor Handling Vessel segment are represented by 5% of the backlog, and our fast crew and oil spill recovery vessels also has 5% of the backlog.

On this slide, you see firm contracts and auctions in green and vacant vessel capacity in blue. Especially the short backdrop for the anchor handling vessels represent a large degree of exposure to the markets, implicating market risk and market opportunities going forward. However, under the current long-term trend of improving markets and continued focus on energy security, we believe the available capacity going forward, in general, represent an attractive earnings potential. And back to you, Bernt.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

Yes. Our fleet consists of 28 vessels as mentioned. And in addition, we have three vessels under own management. There are no changes in the fleet composition since the last presentation. Thus, we will not spend more time on it. The company has really good global footprint, which is important for the utilization of the fleet, and we will continue to move vessels around the world where we can perform safe operations with sustainable conditions.

For the Anchor Handler segment, there are mainly shorter contracts and campaigns. Currently, we have Siem Opal, Siem [ Emerald ] and Siem Pearl trading the North Sea spot market. We have the Siem Sapphire and Siem Amethyst performing an installation campaign in India. And the anchor handler Siem Topaz are in Taiwan and Siem Aquamarine is mobilizing for a project out of Singapore. And Siem Ruby is still supporting a drilling campaign in Suriname and the Avalon Sea is on a term contract in Canada.

On the construction vessels, we have the Siem Barracuda in the North Sea on a medium-term contract supporting the Hywind Tampen for Equinor, which is a floating wind project. Siem Spearfish is on a firm contract, which gives utilization throughout the year. And Siem Stingray is currently in the North Sea and has commenced a long-term contract with Subsea7. And then we have the Siem Dorado, which is on a firm contract currently operating in Brazil. And we also have the two well intervention vessels, Siem Helix 1 and Siem Helix 2. They are also in Brazil, working on long-term contracts.

We have 6 PSVs in our fleet, most of them on long-term contracts, Siem Thiima and Siem Pilot on term contracts in Australia. Siem Atlas and Siem Giant, they are both in Brazil on long-term contracts. And we have Siem Pride on a long-term contract in the North Sea and Siem Symphony is on a term contract in Canada.

For the smaller -- [ when we ] go Brazilian fleet, oil spill recovery vessels, Siem Maragogi and Siem Marataizes are both on term contracts with Petrobras and the fast crew vessels Siem Pentotiba and Siem Piata, they are both in lay-up. And then we have the core drilling vessel during this resolution. She continues working around the globe on a term contract. The well stimulation vessel, Big Orange, still working in the North Sea. And as shown on the previous slide, we have a good contract coverage for this year the same time as Vidar mentioned, it is important to have vessels available in an improving market to increase the potential earnings.

We continue our focus on our ESG strategy. A lot of good work has been done by our onshore and offshore staff. We have full focus on reducing our carbon footprint. Many good initiatives are in process, and we can refer to our annual ESG report, which are available on our webpage.

Moving on to the market. The first quarter was good with generally high activity in all segments and in all regions. The spot market in the North Sea, they had a slow start. However, with good activity towards the end of the quarter.

The Anchor Handler segment was positive also outside the North Sea, where Australia and India campaigns contributed to better earnings and utilization of the fleet in [indiscernible] that is normally challenging. We also saw high -- we saw and we also see high utilization for the construction vessel, which has a positive effect on the day rates. Although processing is lower than expected, the increased activity in Brazil. West Africa and the North Sea showing signs of realization with higher day rates and longer periods of firm contracts within several segments. The high activity offshore is driven by strong energy prices and wind installation campaigns. And we believe that there is a growing demand for our fleets in the years to come.

So to summarize, we had a strong quarter with high activity. We improved our financial position. We continue delivering first-class operations with an excellent [ HSEQ ] performance. We have a strong backlog with quality clients, and we have a positive long-term market outlook in all segments. Okay, we will now open up for questions, please.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

There's one question raised in the chat here, will any of the subsea vessels see increased rate in second and third quarter? Or will repricing happen late 2023 and into 2024? And there's another question, can you comment on the most important charter options in the fleet? Are these priced or unpriced?

Yes. Let's start with the first question here for the subsea vessels. Most of our vessels have firm employment as [indiscernible] coming off contracts end of the year. And we believe that we will be able to secure term contracts for those two vessels as well. What we have seen and what we see is that the day rates are picking up or increasing. So we believe we are in a good position to secure favorable contracts for the company.

To comment on the most important charter options in the fleet, are these priced or unpriced?

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

Yes, we will, of course -- we can't comment on specific contracts, but we -- as Bernt mentioned, we have a few vessels now available in the end of the year. And we expect we will be able to increase the rates going forward for all type of segments.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

Some vessels have [ rates ] we virtually agreed and some have fixed day rates. Okay. There's one more question here. Recently, we have seen one $6 million contracts and one 3-year contract on high-end anchor handler vessels in the North Sea, do you see opportunities to secure long-term work on some of the anchor handler vessels in your fleet?

Yes. I mean, wherever -- when there is term contracts, we will, of course, be in a position to secure contracts. We believe that there will be more tenders in -- especially in Brazil in the North Sea, not that many, but there might be some out in Australia as well going forward.

There's another question here, have you secured any project work on the North Sea anchor handlers, Ruby, Pearl and Opal in 2023?

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

Yes, we did some few opportunities out there. But again, we can't comment specific contracts before we are sending it out, but there's absolutely some opportunities.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

Okay. Questions there? We have had a strong presence in Australia with the anchor handler fleets, but no anchor handler vessels in your region at the moment, how do you see the demand for anchor handlers in Australia going forward?

Well, Australia is a challenging country to operate in. But still, we believe that there will be a couple of rigs moving into the region, and there will be some opportunities in Australia as well. So in general, we see increased activity in all regions, also in Australia.

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

A few questions on finance. There is a question regarding the sellers credit and we have a book value of the remaining debt to NPL that is roughly between $17 million and $18 million. However, the nominal amount is $22 million. And of course, we will do the utmost to receive everything from that.

What is the planned debt amortization for 2023? Well, we do not do any guiding, and we are having cash sweeps. So if I told you clearly that, that would be maybe too much guiding. But as you can see from this quarter that we will pay down debt considerably, and we will continue to do so.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

And there is another question here, what kind of contract duration are you looking for at the different segments? I think that depends on what the day rate is obtainable. So it's hard to give any comments to it, I mean high rates from long-term contracts, of course.

Will you consider moving vessels between regions going forward? Yes. I mean that is what we are good at. We have a good global footprint, and we have a really flexible organization that is able to handle vessels moving from one region to another region. So the answer is yes. Any further questions, please?

There's one more question here. Would you consider acquiring vessels going forward? If there is good vessels out there at favorable prices, yes, we would consider that.

One more question here, our clients starting to realize they need to secure vessel capacity earlier than in recent years? The answer is yes. I mean, for example, [indiscernible] construction vessels before it was more like [ several ] campaigns, now they are asking for contracts for 365 days and multiple years.

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

And there is a question regarding the refinancing of debt maturing in the fourth quarter of 2024. We have debt coming up in the fourth quarter of 2024 that has high attention from the management. We are in a good dialogue with creditors and investors, and we are really optimistic when it comes to the refinancing coming up in 18 months' time.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

All right. There's another question here, are you involved in tenders for floating offshore wind? And when do you expect a meaningful volume in this segment? We are participating in some studies and handlers for floating wind. We believe it will take some -- say some years before we see a meaningful volume in that segment.

And then there's another question, could you say something about Kristian Siem acquisition of [ solstad ] shares? No, we cannot. We are representing Siem Offshore and not Kristian Siem.

And there's one more question here. With the strong demand and lack of vessels in certain segments, do you expect new build announcements in 2023? That's a good question. There might be some placing an order or two this year, I'm not sure. But as the day rates are increasing, there might be someone placing an order for a new building. Hard to say.

All right. And there is -- I don't see any further questions here, so we thank you all for attending this call, and wish you all a good day. Thank you.