Siem Offshore Inc

OSE:SIOFF

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q4

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of Siem Offshore results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2022. My name is Vidar Jerstad, and I am the CFO of the company. Our Chief Commercial Officer, Andreas Hageli has joined me. And together, we will take you through this presentation.

Siem Offshore's fourth quarter report was released prior to the market opening today. The slides of this presentation were also made available then. We will now cover the main highlights of the fourth quarter report. And at the end of the presentation, we will open up for questions.

Some highlights for the quarter, there were 28 vessels in operation. Revenue was $64.3 million. EBITDA came out at $20.8 million, which is equivalent to 32% of EBITDA margin. Our cash position was $94.9 million at the end of the quarter. Our book equity ratio was 35%. This was a typical quarter for entering the winter season and somewhat weaker quarter than same quarter last year.

And then some business update. Excluding vessels in lay-up, average utilization of -- for the fleet in Q4 was 88%. Three vessels were in lay-up at the end of the quarter. However, the anchor handler, Siem Emerald, is in the process of being reactivated. We have continued to deliver safe and efficient operations in all regions. This is a result of high focus on safety at all levels in the company.

Contract awards in the fourth quarter, Siem Dorado was awarded a 1-year firm contract plus options. And for battery hybrid PSV, Siem Symphony has been awarded a new 4- to 6-month contract with BP in Canada. And we have, of course, entered several shorter spot contracts in the period.

Subsequent events. Siem Barracuda has been awarded a contract extension of 7 months with Hywind Tampen offshore wind farm projects for client Equinor.

Siem Offshore has for the full year delivered $104 million in operating margin. This [indiscernible] from previous year, and we believe this represents a long-term positive market trend. In the fourth quarter, Siem Offshore generated $64.3 million in revenue and achieved an operating margin of $20.8 million.

G&A is hit by general inflation and certain one-off effects. Depreciation was $15.2 million. There were no impairments or any reversal of impairments in the quarter. Operating profit ended therefore at $5.5 million.

Interest rate expenses were $7 million, up from $4.7 million same quarter last year. Increasing interest rates impact the company negatively. Having said that, 38% of our debt has fixed interest rate. There are $7.1 million in currency losses recognized in the P&L. However, note that this should be seen in connection to currency gains under other comprehensive income.

Net financial items ended thereby negatively by $13.9 million. Net profit before taxes are negative by $8.1 million and after taxes, negative by $8.7 million. After adjusting for minority shareholders in one of our subsidiaries, we end up at minus $6.4 million.

However, let me add that the equity increased by $5.3 million in fourth quarter. This is due to other comprehensive income mentioned just half a minute ago and, among other things, include a currency gain of $12.2 million.

And now take a look at the margins of the segment. These slides show operating margin before G&A and distributed on segments. OSCV and well-intervention vessels had an operating margin of $18.5 million in last quarter. This is up by $2.5 million from same quarter last year due to increase in charter rates.

The PSVs generated $1.8 million in margin last quarter. This is down $1.3 million due to reduced charter rates in combination with increased cost due to trading area. Anchor handling vessels had a negative operating margin of $1.9 million, down from a positive figure of $1 million. The reduced margin is due to weak spot market, lower utilization and increased OpEx due to one more vessel in operation compared to last year and one vessel under reactivation. Other vessels generated $9 million.

And let us bring the attention to the right-hand side of the slide. The year as a whole has an increase in margin, and we believe this represents an underlying positive market trend.

And let's take a look at the balance sheet. As mentioned, the book equity of the company is continuing to grow. The company now has $359 million in equity, and the book equity ratio is 35%. Gross interest-bearing debt is $569 million. Net interest-bearing debt is $474 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.

The cash flow for 2022 shows the following. We started the year with $92 million in cash. We have generated $100 million in cash from operations. We have paid net interest of $15 million. We have invested $25 million in CapEx, and we have repaid debt of $55 million. We ended the year with $95 million in cash.

And now the contract backlog, at the year end of 2022, the backlog amount is $442 million with quality counterparties. The OSCV and well intervention vessels dominate with 64% of the backlog. Our anchor handling vessels are represented by only 1% of the backlog.

On this slide, you see firm contracts and auctions in green and vacant vessel capacity in blue. Especially the short backlog in 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 represents an attractive earnings potential.

And now Andreas, over to you.

[Andreas Hageli, executive]

Thank you, Vidar.

Let's see, our OSCV fleet consists of 28 owned vessels as listed below. And additional, we have 3 vessels under our management. There are no changes in the fleet composition since the last presentation.

Let's look at our areas of operation for today. The company has a very good global footprint, which is important for the utilization of the fleet. We will continue to move vessels around the world where we can perform safe operation with sustainable conditions.

For the anchor handler segment, there are mainly shorter contracts and campaigns. Currently, we have Siem Opal and Siem Pearl trading the Northeast spot market and Siem Emerald will follow when she is fully reactivated during a few weeks. Siem Sapphire and Siem Amethyst performing an installation campaign in India. And Siem Topaz and Siem Aquamarine operates in Australia. Siem Ruby is supporting a drilling campaign in Suriname. And Avalon Sea is on a firm term contract in Canada.

Moving on to the construction vessels. We have the Siem Barracuda in the North Sea on a medium-term contract supporting the Hywind Tampen for Equinor, which are floating wind project. Siem Spearfish is on a firm contract, which give utilization throughout the year. Siem Stingray currently in the North Sea and will commence a long-term contract. And Siem Dorado has started a firm contract and is currently in Brazil.

The well intervention vessels, Siem Helix 1 and 2, are both on long-term contracts working off Brazil.

We have 6 PSV in our fleets, most of them on long-term contracts. Siem Thiima and Siem Pilot on long-term contracts in Australia. Siem Atlas and Siem Giant on term contracts in Brazil, Siem Pride on a long-term contract in the North Sea, and the Siem Symphony is trading the North Sea spot market.

Our smaller Brazilian fleet, we have the oil spill recovery vessels, Siem Maragogi and Siem Marataizes, both on term contracts with Petrobras. And the fast crew vessels, Siem Pendotiba and Siem Piata are both in lay-up.

Our core drilling vessel, Joides Resolution, continue working around the globe on a long-term contract. And the well-stimulation vessel, Big Orange, is still working in the North Sea.

As shown by Vidar on a previous slide, we have good covers for this year. But at the same time, it's important to have vessels available in an improving market to increase the potential of earnings.

We continue our work 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, and many good initiatives are in process. Our latest report will be soon available on our web page.

And some comments to the market. Reduced activity and day rates in most segments compared to previous quarter as several campaigns and projects ended, and vessels became available. The North Sea spot market was roughly similar to recent years, considering entering into the winter season, where anchor handlers suffered slightly more than the PSV segment.

Our offshore construction vessels experienced high utilization compared to the segment in general, and we see more opportunities for long-term contracts in the market. Although progressing slower than expected, the increase in activity in Brazil, West Africa and North Sea is showing signs of realization with higher day rates and for longer periods within several segments. The high activity offshore, driven by strong energy prices and wind installation, suggests a growing demand for our fleet in the years to come.

And then Vidar, I will let you do the summary.

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

Thank you, Andreas.

On the summary slide, we see that Siem Offshore has delivered $104 million in operating margin for 2022. The fourth quarter is characterized by high activity in some segments, while other segments are impacted by a weak spot market. However, the company continued to improve its financial position. We have delivered 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.

And with that, we now open up for questions.

[Andreas Hageli, executive]

Okay. We have received a question. You state in the reports special focus to ensure utilization on tanker alerts in Australia, Asia and North Sea. How is the outlook for such utilization?

The outlook is fairly good. We have an increased market now when we're entering into the summer season. The North Sea market seems to be kicking off already now in March, so we are very positive for the outlook, especially for the summer season.

We are now in the winter season. But anyway, it seems like the summer season will start already in March, which is good.

Have you been able to secure some project work for your anchor-handler fleet? We are in position to grab some of the projects. We are working on some projects. But of course, we can't comment individual contracts at the moment.

And then we also had a question, very disappointing PSV and anchor-handler results. How are outlook for first half 2023 for these 2 segments?

We are -- we only have 1 PSV available in the spot market, which are also going to start a contract in Canada in April and -- which are -- is a very good one. So we are very pleased with the situation at the moment. For anchor handlers, it's, of course, as for everybody else, a sort of lack of term contracts, but there seems to be very positive the coming months now going forward. So again, we are pleased and looking forward to the summer market.

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

And there is one person asking me to repeat what I said about fixed interest rates. In our debt portfolio, we have 38% of outstanding secured debt is fixed interest rates.

[Andreas Hageli, executive]

Another one, what do you mean by summer season starting in March based on rig activity or project activity?

That's a combination. What we have seen in previous years is that the projects mainly kicking off around April. But this year, it seems like some of the vessels is departing the North Sea, and we expect the market to be tighter in a combination of project work and increased activity in the drilling markets.

Another one with a very weak financial performance in the anchor handling segment, not only Siem Offshore, but the whole industry with USD 2 million negative anchor handling EBITDA in fourth quarter. Why do you spend significant CapEx to reactivate Siem Emerald?

The main reason is due to the market expectations. It's long lead time for the spare parts and get the job done. And of course, it's also some operational considerations when we are doing the reactivation of such vessels.

Other OSCV companies report all-time high subsea vessel rates. Do you also see all-time high rates for new subsea contracts?

Yes, we do. We are very pleased with the contracts we have today. We also have availability in the end of the year. So it's not always wise to take the first contracts entering the market. So yes, we are pleased with the situation.

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

And there is also a question regarding on -- with recent refinancing processes in other OSCV names in mind, when will you start working on your end of 2024 maturity? Can this be concluded in 2023?

Well, when it comes to refinancing, we are continuously in good dialogue with banks and investors with regards to upcoming refinancing and the [ bullet ] in 2024. We have a very positive outlook to the refinancing coming up in 2024, and I think that's all I can say about that right now.

[Andreas Hageli, executive]

Okay. It seems like we have been mute on some of the questions. So just repeating. You state in a report special focus to ensure utilization of anchor handlers in Australia, Asia and North Sea. How is the outlook for such utilization?

The outlook is fairly good. We have an increased market now when we are entering into the summer season. The North Sea market seems to be kicking off already now in March. So we are very positive for the outlook, especially for the summer season. We are now in the winter season. But anyway, it seems like the summer season will start already in March, which is good.

Have you been able to secure some project work for your anchor-handler fleet? We are in position to grab some of the projects. We are working on some projects. But of course, we can't comment individual contracts at the moment.

And then we also had a question. Very disappointing PSV and anchor handler results. How are outlook for first half 2023 for these 2 segments?

We are -- we only have one PSV available in the spot market, which are also going to start a contract in Canada in April and -- which is a very good one. So we are very pleased with the situation at the moment.

For anchor-handlers, it's, of course, as for everybody else, sort of lack of term contracts. But there seems to be very positive the coming months now going forward. So again, we are pleased and looking forward to the summer markets.

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

And there is one person asking me to repeat what I said about fixed interest rates.

In our debt portfolio, we have 38% of outstanding secured debt is fixed interest rates.

[Andreas Hageli, executive]

Another one. What do you mean by summer season starting in March, based on rig activity or project activity?

That's a combination. What we have seen in previous years is that the projects mainly kicking off around April. But this year, it seems like some of the vessels is departing the North Sea, and we expect the market to be tighter in a combination of project work and increased activity in the drilling market.

[Vidar Jerstad, executive]

All right. Then we have answered all questions, but feel free. We wait 15 seconds more for any more questions.

All right. Thank you all for attending, and have a good day.