Orbit Garant Drilling Inc. (OGD) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Orbit Garant Drilling Fiscal 2022 Second Quarter Results Conference Call and Webcast. [Operator Instructions] Please be aware that certain information discussed today may be forward-looking and that actual results could differ materially. Certain non-IFRS financial measures will also be discussed. Please refer to the company's SEDAR filings for additional information on both risk factors and non-IFRS measures. This call is being recorded on Thursday, February 10, 2022. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Eric Alexandre, President and CEO of Orbit Garant. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. With me on the call is Daniel Maheu, CFO. Following my opening remarks, Daniel will review our financial results and I will conclude with comments on our outlook. We will then welcome questions. We continue to generate strong year-over-year growth in revenue and meter drilled in the quarter, driven by strong customer demand in our Canadian and international operations. Revenue was up 27.2% compared to Q2 last year. And we drilled approximately 445,000 meter in the quarter, a year-over-year increase of 18.3%. Our drill utilization rate in the quarter was approximately 64% compared to 55% in Q2 last year. Our utilization rate has now been at least 60% for 4 consecutive quarters, which reflects the strong recovery in demand following the initial negative impact of the pandemic. Our drilling activity in Canada and West Africa is at or near record levels. And drilling activity in Chile has now returned to pre-pandemic levels. Our margins in the quarter continued to be impacted by higher costs related to driller training, wages, project ramp-ups, mobilization on new project, and higher cost of material and supplies due to supply chain disruptions. We expect margins to improve over the second half of the fiscal year. We have recently implemented price increases on contracts, including on 4 large contract renewals in Quebec that we announced in November. As these increase take hold, we expect them to offset our increased wage and material costs. In addition, we expect international mobilization cost to decline over the second half of fiscal 2022, providing further support to margins. The outbreak of the Omicron variant negatively impacted our productivity starting in late November 2021 as customers in Canada and internationally further heightened restriction and implemented stricter contact tracing and quarantine protocols due to the increased transferability of Omicron, which resulted in temporary interruptions to work in progress. Our customers also commence holiday project shutdowns or slowdowns approximately one week earlier than usual as a precautionary measure due to the spread of Omicron. Subsequent to the end of the quarter in January 2022, our customers delayed the restart of certain drilling projects following the holidays due to Omicron, which will impact our contract revenue and margin for the early part of Q3. We remain focused on driving productivity and margin expansion in the second half of the fiscal year while continuing to maintain strong health and safety protocols to minimize the impact of COVID-19 in our operation. I will now turn the call over to Daniel to review our second quarter financial results in more detail. Daniel?

Thank you, Eric, and good morning, everyone. Our fiscal 2022 second quarter revenue totaled $45.9 million, an increase of 27.2% from Q2 last year. Canada revenue totaled $32.7 million in the quarter, up 11.2% from $29.4 million in Q2 last year, reflecting strong demand. International revenue increased to $13.2 million from $6.7 million in Q2 last year, attributable to increased drilling activities due to new long-term contract in Guinea and Chile. Gross profit for the quarter was $2.7 million compared to $5.4 million in Q2 last year. Adjusted gross margin, excluding depreciation expenses, was 11.5% compared to 21.3% in Q2 last year. Gross profit and margin were impact in Canada by increased drilling training and project ramp-up costs and increased wage rates. Gross profit and margin in our international operation were impact by mobilization costs related to new long-term contract in Guinea and Chile. In addition to those factors, the year-over-year decline in gross margin reflect the cost increase to material and supply related to COVID-19, supply chain disruption in all the region in which we operate and temporary business disruption related to Omicron variant that began in late November 2021. As Eric noted, we expect to offset the increased wage and material costs in the second half of the fiscal year through higher contract pricing, and we expect international mobilization costs to decline during this period as well. G&A expenses were $3.2 million in the quarter or 6.9% of revenue compared to $3.7 million or 10.1% of revenue in Q2 last year. EBITDA for the quarter was $2 million compared to $4.4 million in Q2 last year. Net loss was $1.7 million or $0.05 per share compared to net earnings of $0.3 million or $0.01 per share in Q2 a year ago. The negative variances were primarily attributable to the factors discussed previously that impact our gross margins. These factors were partially offset by our increased drilling activities. Now turning to our balance sheet. We repaid a net amount of $1.4 million on our credit facility in the second quarter compared to a repayment of $5 million in Q2 last year. Our long-term debt under the credit facility, including USD 1 million drawn from our USD 5 million revolving facility and the current portion, was $24.2 million as of December 31, 2021, compared to $24.3 million as of June 30, 2021, our fiscal 2021 year-end. The debt was used to support working capital requirement and the acquisition of capital assets, property, plant and equipment. During the second quarter, on November 22, 2021, we reached an agreement with National Bank of Canada on certain amendment to our credit facility. The amendments provide us with more favorable interest rates and extend the maturity date by 2 years to November 2, 2024. We are pleased to have this additional flexibility. And we adjust our operation and ramp-up to meet the strong customer demand we are experiencing. As at December 31, 2021, our working capital position was $50.2 million compared to $54 million at the end of fiscal 2021. I will now turn back the call to Eric for closing comments. Eric?

Thanks, Daniel. We are pleased to see continued strong demand for our drilling services. We have more than 100 people in our driller training program at this time. And we look forward to deploying our newer personnel on existing and future drilling projects. While the Omicron variant has had a short-term impact on our industry, our customer are maintaining elevated exploration and development spending budgets. The Omicron variant has not been fully impacted those plan, but it is a reminder that we need to remain vigilant. At the end of our first quarter, we thought that supply chain issues would start to ease early this year, but due to Omicron, these issues will continue to persist into 2022. We are adapting to this challenge. As we noted, our margins have been impacted by short-term costs related to driller training, project ramp-up and new project mobilization. By incurring those costs, we are now in a strong position to expand profitability over the course of this strong mining cycle. With strong metal prices, mining companies remain focused on replacing and expanding their reserves. Finally, I want to note that we recently received UL ECOLOGO environmental Certification for Supplier of the Mineral Exploration Industry. This certification requires extensive third-party verification and recognize that we have met a series of responsible development indicators. The certification will further support our position as a preferred partner for the mining industry and local communities into the future. Looking ahead, with our highly skilled team, recently strengthened financial flexibility, leading-edge drilling technology, established presence in the leading copper and gold mining market, recent investment in extensive driller training, project ramp-ups, and mobilization and increased contract pricing, we are well positioned for growth and improved profitability in the quarter ahead. That concludes our formal remarks. Daniel and I will now be pleased to answer any question. Operator, please begin the question period.

[Operator Instructions] There are no questions at this time. Mr. Alexandre, you may proceed.

Thank you very much for listening, and we'll see you for the next quarter. Thank you very much, and we will end up the call right now. Thank you.

Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a great day.