Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (HP) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to the 2021 Annual Meeting for Helmick and Pain, Inc. Our host for today's call is John Lindsay, President and CEO. [Operator Instructions]. I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Lindsay, you may begin, sir.

Thank you, Paul. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm going to call the meeting to order and welcome you to our annual meeting of the stockholders. In the interest of a fair and orderly meeting, we ask that you follow the rules of conduct of the annual meeting. The agenda, the rules for conduct, proxy statement and annual report are available in the virtual annual meeting portal. Among other things, the rules of conduct address procedures with respect to questions. If we do not address questions at the meeting in accordance with the rules, we will reach out with a response. I'd like to begin by making a few introductions. Our Chairman, Hans Helmerich, is here with us today. Directors joining us virtually are Delany Bellinger, Kevin Crampton, Randy Foutch, José Mas, Tom Petrie, Don Robillard, Meg VanDeWeghe, John Zeglis and Ed Rust. In addition, Ernst & Young, the company's independent accountants, John Eaton, as partner in charge; Katie Toller, Audit Senior manager. The inspector of election, Tony Carideo, who is a representative of Broadridge Financial Solutions. Will Gault, our Corporate Secretary, will now make the statement regarding mailing of notice and declaration of a quorum.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. This meeting is being held [indiscernible] printed notice mailed on January 19, 2021, to each stockholder of record on January 5, 2021. The affidavit of distribution from Broadridge Financial Solutions will be filed in the company's minute book, a notice of Internet availability of proxy materials and the company's proxy materials were first made available to our stockholders on January 19, 2021. The count of shares present immediately prior to the commencement of this meeting indicated that 94,913,675 shares of the company's voting common stock were present or person -- present in person or by proxy, which constitutes a quorum for this meeting.

Thank you, Will. There are 3 proposals before the meeting today. I will address each of these proposals. Proposal one is election of directors. The following 11 individuals have been nominated as directors of the company, with terms expiring in 2022. Delaney M. Bellinger, Kevin G. Cramton, Randy A. Foutch, Hans Helmerich, John W. Lindsay, José R. Mas, Thomas A. Petrie, Donald F. Robillard, Jr., Edward B. Rust, Jr., Mary M. VanDeWeghe and John D. Zeglis. I declare nominations closed since the company has not timely received any other nominations. The company recommends a vote for each individual nominated by the Board. Proposal 2, ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as independent auditors of the company for fiscal 2021. The company recommends a vote for proposal 2. And finally, proposal 3, an advisory vote to approve the executive compensation disclosed in the proxy statement. The company recommends a vote for proposal 3. [Operator Instructions]. Polls are now open. Any stockholder who hasn't yet voted or wishes to change their vote, may do so by clicking on the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions there. While we allow time for stockholders to complete voting, I'd like to remind you that some of the statements made at this meeting may be considered forward-looking. We urge you to read the rules of the meeting and the notice regarding forward-looking statements posted to the annual meeting web portal. So we're allowing a little additional time for the voting. And we can also address any proposal related questions. [Voting]

At this time, we will now close the polls. The inspector should now tabulate the vote for the 3 proposals. Since there's nothing further, the next item of business is to report as to -- as for the report of the inspectors. The results of [indiscernible] will now be reported by the inspector of election. Tony?

Thank you, Mr. Lindsay. The vote shows that the stockholders have elected each of the 11 director nominees by a majority of the votes cast. The stockholders have ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young as the company's independent auditor by a vote for of over 98% of the shares present and entitled to vote. The stockholders have approved on an advisory basis, the company's executive compensation as disclosed in the proxy statement by a vote for of more than 97% of the shares present and entitled to vote. And the final results of the vote today will be announced in an 8-K filing with the SEC within 4 business days of this meeting.

Thank you, Tony. I declare that the following have been approved by the company's stockholders. The 11 director nominees and proposals 2 and 3 have been approved in the manner stated by the inspectors of election. Since there's no further business to come before the meeting, the stockholder meeting is now concluded. With the stockholder meeting completed, I thought I'd make a few remarks on the business. With 2020 in the record books, we have a combined sense of relief and optimism, relieved that one of the most difficult years in the company's 100-year history is behind us, and optimistic considering the market share gains we've attained since the bottom of the cycle in August of last year. We are hopeful, and we're encouraged by the recent worldwide development of COVID-19 vaccines. We're encouraged with an improving crude oil price picture, and we're encouraged by the progress we continue to make on strategic efforts to deploy additional digital technology solutions and advance new commercial models. H&P's differentiated customer-centric approach of combining our people, our FlexRigs and our leading-edge automation technology enables us to deliver the highest value wells for our customers. I'm very pleased with our people's service attitude and their ability to quickly respond to customer demand for our rig and technology solutions. We've added back more rigs than the competition due to our proven ability to reactivate rigs safely, efficiently and cost effectively. I believe our dedicated teams are well equipped and our conservative financial stewardship will enable us to capitalize on the challenges and opportunities ahead. Along with looking at emissions reducing opportunities like geothermal, H&P will continue to explore and invest in new and diversified technologies as well as expand our digital technology capabilities for the long-term sustainability of the company. So thank you again for joining us today. So thank you again, and have a good day.

This now concludes the meeting. Thank you for joining, and have a pleasant day.