Siem Offshore Inc

OSE:SIOFF

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q2

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the review and presentation of our results for the second quarter of 2023. My name is Bernt Omdal, and I'm the CEO of the company. I'm joined by our CFO, Vidar Jerstad, and together, we will strake you through this presentation.

Siem Offshore's report for the second quarter of 2023 was released prior to the market opening today. In this presentation, we will cover the main highlights of the report, and we will refer to the presentation issued together with the financial report. At the end of the presentation, we will open up 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 close to $89 million in revenue, and we delivered $5.9 million in EBITDA, which is equivalent to 52% EBITDA margin. Last year, the same number was 43%.

Our cash position was $109 million at the end of the quarter and our book-to-equity ratio was 39%. Operating profit increased by 84% compared to last year. 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 in the second quarter was 89%. That number is excluding vessels in lay-up layer and we had 2 vessels in lay-up at the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, we signed a short contract for Siem Emerald with a duration of 6 months.

We also got in place at 12 months extension for the Brazilian vessels, Siem Atlas and Siem Giant]. And we recently signed a contract for 2 anchor handlers in Australia: the Siem Aquamarine and Siem Amethyst, and the contract will take us well into 2024. Moving on, Vidar Jerstad, will now give some more details regarding the results for the second quarter

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

Thank you, Bernt. Siem Offshore had a good first quarter, and now also we have a very good second quarter. Today's figures support our belief that we are in a long-term positive market trend. The company has $88.8 million in revenue for the second quarter, and that is up from $75.3 million same quarter last year.

Operating expenses ended at $37.6 million, and that is flat from the year before. G&A expenses came a bit lower and operating margin for the quarter ended at $45.9 million, which is up from $32.2 million. Depreciation was $17.3 million. There were no impairments or any reversal of impairments in the quarter.

Operating profit ended therefore at $28.6 million. That is up from $15.5 million. Interest rate expenses were $7.9 million, that is up from $5.3 million. 38% of our debt has fixed interest rate and is not affected by increasing interest rates. There are unrealized currency gain of $7.9 million also in the accounts. All in all, net financial items ended positive by $1.2 million.

Net profit before taxes is $30.1 million, after tax is $30.3 million and after adjusting for minority shareholders, $30.2 million. The next slide shows operating margin distributed on segments. The figures are before G&A.

Our Subsea segment consists of for OCV vessels, 2 well-intervention vessels and the scientific core drilling vessel, Joides Resolution. The segment had an operating margin of $32.6 million in the quarter. This is up by $7.6 million or 28% from same quarter last year.

The PSV has generated $6 million in margin. This is up by $3.6 million or 149%. Our anchor handling segment had an operating margin of $10.7 million. That is up by $3.3 million or 43%. Our fast crew and oil spill recovery vessels generated $1.9 million, that's down $800,000. After G&A, operating margin is up by 43%.

And let us take a look at the balance sheet. The book equity of the company grows steadily. The company has now $408 million in book equity and a book equity ratio of 39%. Gross interest-bearing debt is $538 million. Net interest-bearing debt, $428 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 clearly also from a financial perspective.

And now let's take a look at the cash flow for the first half year of 2023. We started the year with $95 million in cash. We have generated $73 million from operations. We have paid $10 million in interest. We have invested $50 million in the vessels. We have repaid debt of $34 million and some minor adjustment. In addition to that, we end up with a cash of $110 million.

And now the contract backlog. At the end of first quarter, the backlog amount is $384 million with quality counterparties. The Subsea segment consists of 7 vessels dominate with 75% of the backlog. Over 6 PSVs has 15% of the backlog. Our 9 anchor handling vessels represent 5% of the backlog. Our fast crew and oil spill Recovery vessels also has 5% of the backlog.

On this slide, you see firm contracts as options in green and vacant vessel capacity in blue. Especially the short backlog for the anchor handling vessels represent a large degree of exposure to the markets, implicated 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 represents an attractive earnings potential. And now back to you, Bernt.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

Thank you. Our OSV fleet consists of 27 owned vessels as listed below. And in addition, we have 2 vessels under own management. The only change since our last presentation is that we have sold 1 vessel, the vessel Big Orange is sold for recycling.

The company has a good global footprint, which is important for the utilization of the fleet. We will continue to move our assets around the world, where we can perform safe operation with its sustainable conditions. For the anchor handler segment, there are mainly shorter contracts and campaigns. And currently, we have 2 vessels operating in the spot market in the North Sea, that's Siem Opal and Siem Pearl. And we also have the Siem Emerald in the North Sea. She's on a firm contract.

Siem Sapphire, Siem Amethyst and Siem Aquamarine, they are all trading in Asia, and Siem Ruby is on her way back now to Europe. And we have the Avalon Sea still working on a term contract in Canada. On the construction vessels, we have Siem Barracuda in the North Sea. Siem Spearfish, she is on a firm contract, which give utilization throughout the year. Currently, she is working on the West Coast of Africa.

And we have the sister vessel, Siem Stingray. She's operating in the North Sea currently on a long-term contract. And the last one, Siem Dorado is on a firm contract in Brazil. The 2 well-intervention vessels continue working in Brazil, that's Siem Helix 1 and Siem Helix 2. They're on long-term contracts. We

have 6 PSVs in our fleet. Most of them on long-term contracts. Siem Thiima and Siem Pilot on the long-term contracts in Australia. Siem Atlas and Siem Giant, long-term contracts in Brazil. And the Siem Pride, she's on a long-term contract in the North Sea. And this sister vessel, Siem Symphonyd, she just completed her contract in Canada and she's heading back to Europe.

For our smaller Brazilian fleet, we have the oil spill recovery vessels, Siem Maragogi and Siem Marataizes. They are both working for Petrobras, and then we have fast crew vessels, Siem Pendotiba and Siem Piata, they are currently in lay-up. Core drilling vessel, Joides Resolution, continues working around the globe on a term contract.

As shown on previous slides, we had a good contract coverage for this year. At the same time, it's important to have vessels available in an improving market. This is to increase the potential earnings of our fleet. The second quarter showed a general increase in activity in most regions. The PSV market was strong throughout the quarter, which was reflected in medium- and long-term contracts concluded at really good levels.

The anchor handler segment saw strong activity and high utilization in Southeast Asia and also in Australia, but we experienced a bit more volatility and lower utilization in the North Sea. Our construction vessel was fully utilized in the quarter, which is reflecting high activity worldwide.

Most segments are experiencing an increased number of multiyear contracts, and we see that charters are willing now to pay a much better day rate than we have seen in previous years. The expected increase in activity for all segments indicates good market prospects for our high-end fleet.

So to summarize, we had a strong quarter with high activity. We continued improving our financial position. We continue to deliver first-class operation 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. All right. We will now open up for questions, and it will be good if you could introduce yourselves before asking any questions. And please remember to unmute your microphone. Any questions, please.

[Unknown Analyst]

Yes. It's [ Trig Brundt ] here, asking a question here. On your balance sheet and debt refinancing next year, could you shed some light on that? And also you said 38% of your debt has fixed interest rate. Is that part of the debt that's going to -- you're going to refinance next year?

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

The company's current debt service capacity is pretty good, and we have a very positive outlook with regards to the debt pool coming up at the end of next year. Management has high attention to optimize timing and achieving attractive pricing on the new financing. So that's what to say about that. We are very optimistic about that. Yes, some of the bullet that comes up at the end of 2024 is fixed interest rates.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

Any other questions, please?

[Ina Golikja, analyst]

Yes. This is Ina Golikja from Fearnley Securities. I had a question on general North Sea market. You said you had the lowest utilization in the fleet on the -- part of the anchor handler fleet that was trading in the North Sea. I was just wondering how do you see the North Sea going forward with now rigs moving out of the region? What are your expectations for the third and fourth quarter?

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

Well, we think that the anchor handler market -- the spot market in the North Sea will still be very volatile. But what we have seen is a steady increase in the day rates obtained in the spot market, which is a good sign that the market will improve. But again, the winter might be challenging, but we are optimistic with regards to the anchor handler segment as well.

[Ina Golikja, analyst]

And I had another one. I was just wondering if you could give some color on the, say, average duration of your -- of the contract that you have in your backlog now on -- especially on the construction vessels, but also on the PSV ones.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

The average -- could you say again, please, the average duration? Was that the question?

[Ina Golikja, analyst]

Yes, the average duration of your -- of the contract in your current backlog.

[Bernt Omdal, executive]

I haven't calculated that, but I would say around approximately 2 to 3 years. That's not an exact figure, but a rough estimate from my side. Please feel free to ask questions. Right. Give you one more chance. Any questions, please? Right. So if no further questions, we will end this session, and we thank you all for time being. Thank you.