Secure Energy Services Inc

TSX:SES

Earnings Call Analysis

Strong Q2 Performance and Positive Outlook

Secure Energy reported a robust Q2 2024 with an adjusted EBITDA of $114 million, surpassing expectations due to high industry demand and favorable weather. The company raised its full-year guidance to $470-$490 million. Significant share buybacks were executed, totaling $250 million at an average price of $11.41 per share, highlighting Secure's undervaluation. The company anticipates continued share repurchases and remains focused on infrastructure projects, including a $75 million investment in expansion projects. Secure's strategic initiatives and strong market fundamentals position it well for ongoing growth.

A Strong Quarter Amidst Market Dynamics

Secure Energy reported a promising second quarter for 2024, achieving an adjusted EBITDA of $114 million, translating to $0.43 per share. This performance exceeded company expectations, supported by robust industry fundamentals and favorable weather conditions which boosted customer demand. The company raised its full-year guidance to an expected adjusted EBITDA between $470 million and $490 million, reflecting the optimistic market outlook and strong results from Q1 and Q2. This upward revision indicates a healthy growth trajectory for the rest of the year.

Strategic Share Buybacks: Enhancing Shareholder Value

During the quarter, Secure Energy successfully executed a share buyback program, repurchasing nearly 14% of its outstanding shares for approximately $250 million. The buyback was conducted at a weighted average price of $11.41, which management considers beneficial for shareholder returns. The company's leadership sees this buyback as a necessary response to the significant valuation gap between their market value and the fundamental strengths of the business, emphasizing their commitment to enhancing shareholder value through strategic capital allocation.

Operational Highlights: Waste Management and Energy Infrastructure

The company reported the recovery of over 315,000 barrels of oil from waste, along with the safe disposal of 612,000 tons of waste in its landfill network. Notably, same-store waste processing volumes surged over 10% year-over-year, aided by recovering post-wildfire activity. The Energy Infrastructure segment saw an average throughput of 120,000 barrels per day in crude oil and condensate, a 24% year-over-year decrease attributed to expanded capacity from the Clearwater terminal. Moving forward, Secure expects significant growth in processing and recovery capabilities due to investments made and favorable market conditions.

Future Outlook and Growth Initiatives

Secure Energy's outlook for the latter part of 2024 remains optimistic due to expected increases in volumes driven by several key projects. The commissioning of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the anticipated completion of the LNG Canada export terminal are expected to enhance customer access to global markets, thereby creating opportunities for revenue growth. The company projects ongoing demand for its services with mid to high 60% utilization rates at waste processing facilities and no immediate need for substantial capital investment, demonstrating operational efficiency.

Capital Expenditures and M&A Strategy

The company plans to allocate approximately $75 million in growth capital primarily for brownfield infrastructure projects in 2024 to manage increased production volumes. Meanwhile, Secure is cautious about larger M&A transactions, focusing on smaller tuck-in acquisitions, the latest being a $31 million acquisition in Saskatchewan which will enhance operational capacity. The company remains committed to analyzing its capital allocation strategies carefully to optimize returns, balancing growth, acquisitions, and share buybacks.

Key Financial Metrics and Industry Performance

Despite a minor decline in profit margins—down around 4% to 5% year-over-year—the company reported that overall operational metrics, including same-store sales growth and asset utilization, remain strong. They anticipate a slight uptick in margins during Q3 and Q4 due to seasonal effects. With an adjusted EBITDA multiple currently below 7x, the company identifies significant upside potential, aiming to close the valuation gap through strategic execution and market performance.

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q2

[Operator]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Secure Energy Q2 2024 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. This call is being recorded on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chad. Please go ahead.

[Chad Magus, executive]

Thank you, and good morning to everyone who is listening to the call. Welcome to Secure's conference call for the second quarter of 2024. Joining me on the call today is Allen Gransch, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Corey Higham, our Chief Operating Officer.

During the call, we will make forward-looking statements related to future performance, and we will refer to certain financial measures and ratios that do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and may not be comparable to similar financial measures or ratios disclosed by other companies.

The forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Secure with respect to future events and are based on certain key expectations and assumptions considered reasonable by Secure.

Since forward-looking information addresses future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent assumptions, risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to numerous factors and risks. Please refer to our continuous disclosure documents available on SEDAR+ as they identify risk factors applicable to Secure, factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements and identify and define our non-GAAP measures.

Today, we will review our financial and operational results for the second quarter of 2024 and our outlook for the remainder of the year.

I will now turn the call over to Allen to provide second quarter highlights.

[Allen Gransch, executive]

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. We were pleased to report another strong quarter this morning, achieving adjusted EBITDA of $114 million or $0.43 per basic share ahead of our expectations as robust industry fundamentals and favorable weather conditions drove higher customer demand.

We have increased our full year adjusted guidance to $470 million to $490 million to reflect strong results from the first half of 2024 and ongoing market dynamics driving a constructive remainder of 2024.

During the quarter, we successfully executed on our share buyback plan, repurchasing nearly 14% of our outstanding shares through a substantial issuer bid for $250 million, a direct acquisition from our largest shareholder and continued repurchases under our normal course issuer bid. We completed these buybacks at a weighted average price of $11.41, which we believe provides an excellent return for the corporation.

We will continue to view a significant disparity between our market valuation and the underlying business based on the following factors.

Our critical infrastructure network provides reoccurring cash flows that have proven year-over-year, our growth opportunities, the strength of our balance sheet and capital allocation flexibility and the large trading valuation gap to our waste and energy infrastructure peers. Because of this valuation disparity, we continue, we expect to continue to repurchase our shares under the normal course issuer bid over the course of the back half of the year.

In total, we can repurchase up to 6.3 million common shares on the open market prior to the renewal of the bid period in December of 2024. As we started buying back shares [Break] [Call Restarts]

[Technical Difficulty]

[Corey Higham, executive]

We were able to recover over 315,000 barrels of oil from waste. Across our landfill network, we safely disposed 612,000 tons of contaminant and solid waste in the quarter. Excluding the divested assets, same stores on a comparable basis for waste processing and landfill volumes were up over 10% from the second quarter of 2023. In the prior year comparative period, these volumes were impacted by wildfires in the corporation's operating region.

Additionally, production growth as well as increased drilling and completion activity and mandatory abandonment remediation and reclamation spending drove incremental volumes in certain regions. Produced water volumes were also marginally higher on a pro forma basis for the second quarter of 2023, we should not see the same slowdown as waste processing and solid disposal from wildfires.

Ferrous metal volumes recycled increased 4%, driven by continued strong demand for recycled metals, consistent feedstock and increased processing and logistics capabilities due to investments made in the past year. In our Energy Infrastructure segment, crude oil and condensate terminalling and pipeline volumes averaged 120,000 barrels per day in the second quarter, a 24% decrease from the same period in 2023, driven by the addition of the Clearwater heavy oil terminal, which commenced operations in the fourth quarter of 2023 and approximately doubled capacity on June 1, 2024.

Our $75 million growth capital planned for 2024 relates primarily to brownfield infrastructure expansion projects to manage incremental production volumes for our customers. Major growth projects are backstopped by new commercial agreements providing reliable volumes and recurring cash flows over the life of the contract.

We continue to expect to spend approximately $60 million of sustaining capital in 2024 and approximately $15 million of selling Secure's abandonment retirement obligations. Our exceptional operating teams continue to work safely, make progress in improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions, building community relations and monitoring ethical standards within our supply chain.

In 2024, we will also be completing the Progressive Aboriginal Relations program certification to continue to broaden our efforts and participate in the growing original business economy. I will now hand it back to Allen.

[Allen Gransch, executive]

Thanks, Corey. Turning now to the outlook for the remainder of the year and beyond. Secure is in an excellent position for continued success with a strong industry backdrop, growth opportunities and the financial capacity to execute on our strategic initiatives and enhance shareholder value. The successful commissioning of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in May, along with the anticipated completion of the LNG Canada's export terminal by early 2025 and future approved LNG products, [Break] projects demonstrates positive tailwinds for our business and enhances our proposition.

These projects offer our customers increased takeaway capacity and stronger pricing through access to global markets, which is expected to sustain and boost activity levels in the coming years. As industry fundamentals strengthen, we anticipate a rise in volumes and overall demand for secure infrastructure services.

Our waste processing facility are averaging approximately 60% to 65% utilization, providing ample capacity to accommodate growing customer needs for processing, disposal, recycling, recovery and terminalling, all with minimal incremental fixed costs or additional capital investment.

With our critical infrastructure network supporting stable and higher reoccurring cash flows and strategically positioned to benefit from multiple growth drivers, along with the balance sheet strength and financial flexibility to execute on our strategic priorities, the corporation is extremely well positioned to advance our strategy as a leader in waste management and energy infrastructure, ensuring our ongoing success in these sectors.

That concludes our prepared remarks. We will now be happy to take your questions.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions]. Your first question comes from John Gibson from BMO.

[John Gibson, analyst]

Congrats on a strong quarter, especially post asset sale. First, can you maybe talk about the same-store sales number, which reference is up double digits. Was this more a factor of higher utilization across your footprint? Or were there some pricing that increases mixed in there?

[Allen Gransch, executive]

Yes. So I think when we look at the quarter compared to 2023, I think the #1 factor we recognized is the wildfires did have an impact on where volumes were going to different locations. We do, or we have seen our utilization increase. I mean it's still in that 60% to 65%. I believe it was a bit lower in 2023. I think you also have some fundamentals that were driving increased value. You had TMX start-up in May, which allowed a lot more takeaway capacity for our customers.

And as we think about the facilities, I know we're showing in the MD&A with our locations that were included in those results in 2023. But in Q1 and partway through the end of 2023, we did provide the percentage of EBITDA at which those 29 facilities contributed. So really, if you take that same percentage on a pro rata basis, you would be able to kind of come to the same conclusion in terms of where the pro forma growth is where, as Corey had mentioned, we saw water volumes that were higher, our emulsion volumes were higher. I'd say probably the biggest impact on volumes without our landfills.

And again, I think part of that was because of some of the wildfires. But it's been an exceptional quarter, nonetheless, I mean I think when you look at the capacity that we have, the 60% to 65% utilization, we can continue to grow in what we see as very strong and robust fundamentals in the sector and not have to add a lot of capital to the facility. So overall, I think for us, a solid quarter. Adjusted EBITDA of $114 compared to $119 with those 29 locations, phenomenal results. And then obviously, we're very happy with the same-store sales growth increase as well.

[John Gibson, analyst]

Sure. And I agree on all fronts. Second for me, transportation costs were up a little bit this quarter. Wondering could we see this normalize given a higher percentage of your volumes are coming from production tie-in facilities? Are you still seeing some pressure on the cost side? Or is it more of a onetime thing this quarter?

[Corey Higham, executive]

Yes. That's a great question. I think from a normalization perspective, I think it's probably -- you can look at it as a onetime cost for this quarter and start to flatten out as we progress through the remainder of the year.

[John Gibson, analyst]

Okay. Great. Last thing for me. In terms of M&A, nice to see a tuck-in. Is metals recycling the main focus right now? Or do you have other areas or end markets that you're looking at as well?

[Allen Gransch, executive]

Yes, I think for -- I talked a lot about our core business segments is where we're focusing on and obviously, in our core competencies. I think when you look at the acquisition, that $31 million is a great tuck-in given it's a privately owned yard in a bunch of yards in Saskatchewan. It allows us to expand our operating network and helps us diversify our customer base. We've got more industrial customers, residential customers, commercial customers, it's obviously going to help with our processing capabilities and logistics. I talked a little bit about having that rail access and being able to use Red Deer as a central hub.

It came with a shredder, which we can obviously process quicker with the shredder less labor-intensive. But I would say we're going to continue to have these smaller kind of tuck-in opportunities that fit within our core business segments. And that will be the way we're going to continue to look through 2024 and 2025. I think our main focus from capital allocation was really around that stock buyback in June and buying back our stock was a phenomenal return for our shareholders because we still believe we, there's a huge disparity between the current share price which we trade at in our peer group.

And so I think we're going to balance our capital allocation priorities in terms of acquisitions, organic growth and stock buybacks as we think about where the business trades and how it looks as we get to the back half of 2024 year.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions]. Your next question comes from Patrick Kenny from National Bank.

[Patrick Kenny, analyst]

Maybe just sticking with the tuck-in acquisition here. Sorry if I missed it, but are you able to disclose any financial contributions out of the gate here from the assets, maybe perhaps a run rate EBITDA multiple for the transaction? And then also, just curious what sort of runway of organic growth opportunities you might be able to go after in the Saskatchewan market.

[Allen Gransch, executive]

Patrick. Yes, I mean, I think when you look at the $31 million acquisition, it is really a tuck-in, I would say the EBITDA contribution is not material, but we did raise our guidance here for the back half of the year, moving it from the start of the year at $440 to $465. We're now at $470 million to $490 million. So we're very pleased that we're raising guidance and part of the acquisition will contribute to it. But what I will say just about the metrics is that we're trading at sub-7x here. It was accretive to our current trading multiple.

So very pleased with all those operating and processing capabilities and efficiencies that it's going to bring to the table as we think about our smaller tuck-ins. In terms of growth and growth capital, I mean, we maintained the $75 million, and we brought on in Q2. Phase II of our Nipisi or Clearwater terminal. We're now up over 60,000 barrels a day in that area, so substantial volume. We've actually sanctioned or continue to progress Phase III, which will now involve some waste processing capabilities where we have to strip some water out. We're anticipating that will be brought online here at some point in Q4. We're working on quite a pipeline of opportunities for water and water management.

I think as we talked about same-store sales growth, we're going to have to put in capital where there are certain areas that is just driving a broader growth. And so we look at areas where we can take volume off a truck, put it on a pipeline, the economics look great. Great from an efficiency standpoint with our customers. Operationally, it's easier for us to manage specific quality of volume. So you'll see us continue to update the market as these contracts get signed. And so we're working on a number of opportunities. And so if we do increase our growth capital, it would be predicated on having a signed contract, and I would expect that part of that spend could be in Q4 of this year, but would likely then tail into 2025, and we would be a contributor to the back half of 2025. But we'll update as those contracts grass.

[Patrick Kenny, analyst]

Got it. That's great color. Also just in terms of how you're thinking about M&A at this stage, would you consider the size of tuck-in as the sweet spot for you going forward? Or -- are you also considering larger transactions as well, assuming the deal terms make sense. But I'm just curious if you had any color on what the deal pipeline looks like going forward, smaller deals versus some larger opportunities during the back half of the year?

[Allen Gransch, executive]

Yes. No, good question. I think whenever you're contemplating larger deals and obviously, with the divestment in February of over $1 billion, that transaction alone took almost a year to put together and there's a ton of due diligence, I do not foresee and we're not looking at any large transactions. I would say we're looking at these smaller tuck-ins, maybe they range from 30 to 80 to maybe slightly over 100. Nothing that I would consider substantial or large. I think from our perspective right now, we really want to focus on optimizing the business. The fundamentals are great. We -- there are some of these kind of smaller tuck-ins that we'll do. As we think about 2025, again, it will be a capital allocation.

But from an M&A standpoint, not looking at doing substantial acquisitions in the near term. These would be smaller tuck-ins. But I do believe there's opportunities in a few of our business segments to do some of these smaller tuck-ins. And you always have areas of which you're looking and whether or not you can agree on a price with a seller and then the value that you're willing to pay. Obviously, I think if we can get our multiple in our valuation to be more representative of our business, it would open up more opportunities for us, but we're still not there. And that obviously is why we bought back a substantial part of the company in Q2, and we're going to continue to execute like we have in this quarter and hopefully get rewarded by the market and get rewarded in the valuation of the business.

[Patrick Kenny, analyst]

That's great. Makes sense. And then maybe last one for me, and it might be for Chad. But I know there's a bit of noise this quarter with oilfield services now being reported within Waste Management. But it looks like year-over-year waste management revenues are up, call it, 15%, yet segment profit margins are actually down 4% to 5%. Were there any factors in the quarter that might normalize going forward? Or does this quarter kind of establish a new base for margins going forward?

[Chad Magus, executive]

Yes. There's nothing that jumps out to me, Pat. We're overall, we're pretty happy with the activity in Q2 in that segment and the margins. I think, and considering where the margins are overall, that 34%, we're happy in that range. And I think we can expect there might be some modest uptick in Q3, Q4, just with some seasonality in those quarters typically being a bit stronger, but it's not going to be drastically different.

[Operator]

And there are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back over to Allen for closing remarks.

[Allen Gransch, executive]

Well, thank you for being on the conference call today. A tape broadcast of the call will be available on Secure's website. We look forward to providing you with updates on Secure's performance at the end of October after the completion of the third quarter.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Thank you.