SED Energy Holdings Plc (0MO8.L) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to this presentation of the financial results for the third quarter of 2025 for Energy Holdings. My name is Kurt Waldeland, and I am the CEO of Energy Holdings. I am joined today by Viggo Pedersen, CFO of Energy Drilling; and Sveinung Alvestad, CFO of SeaBird Exploration. Before we begin, I kindly ask you to review the disclaimer slide regarding forward-looking statements. Energy Holding is an industrial holding company uniquely positioned with a robust backlog and a conservative capital structure. Our two subsidiaries, Energy Drilling and SeaBird Exploration, are both leaders in their respective segments, operating in highly attractive niches of the oil and gas service industry, with the primary exposure to brownfield development. Since the establishment of the company earlier this year, the key priority for us has been to distribute available liquidity to our shareholders. This commitment remains unchanged, and we completed our first distribution of $40 million in October, and I'm very pleased to be able to announce a second distribution for this quarter. The third quarter was another strong quarter for Energy Holdings, driven by strong operational performance at both subsidiaries. Energy Drilling achieved a technical utilization of 97% during the quarter, while SeaBird reported 93%. Revenue came in at $51 million with an adjusted EBITDA of $24 million. Our firm revenue backlog remains very strong and currently stands at $521 million. As mentioned, in October, we completed our first distribution to shareholders of $40 million for the first half of 2025. Starting from this quarter, we will be announcing distributions on a quarterly basis, and we are very pleased to announce that the Board has proposed a distribution of $20 million for the third quarter. At the same time, we update our guidance for the distribution for the full year to $80 million to $85 million. Our balance sheet remains exceptionally strong. Net debt to last 12 months EBITDA stood at just 0.2x at the end of the quarter, which is among the lowest in our industry. After the end of the quarter, both EDrill-2 and GHTH completed their yard stays and started on their multi-year contracts. The yard stays were completed on time and on budget, a great achievement by the teams involved. This is a significant milestone for the company with all rigs now being on contract and with no significant CapEx investments scheduled in the near term, which in turn improves our visibility and the cash conversion in the near term. As already mentioned, we completed the distribution of $40 million in October, and the Board has now proposed a distribution of $20 million for the third quarter. Going forward, we will announce the distributions on a quarterly basis. And as already communicated, we are committed to distribute available liquidity to our shareholders. The distribution proposed by the Board will be done as a repayment of previously paid in capital and is subject to EGM approval, and we expect the payment of this distribution in the first quarter of 2026. For the full year of 2025, we now update our guidance on the distribution to $80 million to $85 million. I then, hand it over to Viggo to cover the highlights for Energy drilling.

Thank you, Kurt. So, Q3 was another good quarter for Energy Drilling with solid operational uptime on all the rigs that were in operation. Quarter-on-quarter, our technical utilization remained largely flat. An economic utilization was then impacted by the said yard stays of EDrill-2 and GHTH. They have since then both left Singapore and completed their yard stays, as Kurt mentioned, on time and on budget, and I'm now prepared for the new drill campaigns in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. During the quarter, we had very limited CapEx. However, as just explained, the two rigs did leave the yard, and we do expect some of the additional CapEx to now come in the subsequent quarters. Some has also been pushed in the first half of 2026 to optimize the usage of our equipments. Post quarter end, we also signed a marketing agreement for two premium jackups with RigCo Holding in Singapore. This will allow us to capitalize on what we see as a recovering jackup market on an asset-light basis. Upon successful marketing of the rigs, the rigs will then be bareboated into Energy Drilling for further contracting out to our end clients. Overall, the drilling market in Asia Pacific looks healthy, and several premium jackups have moved into the region to meet increased drilling demand recently. That brings us to the next slide. Looking at our overall backlog, which stands at about $507 million at the moment. It's the first time we've had all rigs on contract, and it's solid contracting status that we have. Post quarter end, we now have all the rigs in operation. And as Kurt also mentioned, limited CapEx going forward. We have only one rig due for SPS in 2026, but that's going to be done offshore. For the first open positions that we have in our contract backlog in late 2026 and into 2027, we see a very healthy demand for our assets, and we remain extremely comfortable that we can secure additional work for our assets. EDrill-1 is the first one to come off contract and we see a very unique contracting opportunity for her, and we expect her to keep working with the same clients in the Gulf of Thailand. As I said, we remain very comfortable with our open market positions. And with that, I'll move on to some of the marketing backdrop. Overall, as we touched upon in our Q2 report, the macro pictures for Energy and Energy demand in Asia Pacific remains very healthy. The demand for natural gas in Asia Pacific, which is -- which accounts for about 95% of what we do is extremely resilient, and we expect it to grow significantly in the coming years. In its most recent report from the IEA, it illustrates that the vast majority of incremental gas demand is coming from the Asia Pacific region. In the same report, the same agency also concluded that in all scenarios, incremental supply of natural gas is required to meet demand. In any event, this is good news for drilling demand in the region. Talking a little bit about more specifically around the market in Southeast Asia. It's still a very healthy market, as I said. And there's still a rush to replace coal with natural gas. During the quarter, there are about 73 units were working in the region. That's largely flat quarter quarter-on-quarter. And there's quite a lot of new tenders and prospects ongoing for long-term work. In year-to-date, contracting awards in Asia has been quite healthy and so far, about 41 contracts have been awarded compared to 38 for all of 2024. There are more premium jackups and tender rigs on contract now compared to the start of the year. And that is despite the fact that we see certain countries lagging in drilling demand. More specifically, in Malaysia, where the overall rig activity has remained exceptionally low. So going forward, we do expect a pickup in drilling demand in Malaysia. And as I said before, overall, the expected drilling demand in the region among countries like Vietnam, Indonesia is expected to remain extremely healthy. And with that, I will hand it over to Sveinung for SeaBird's results.

Thank you, Viggo. So, now to receive a vertical, in short, for new investors, SeaBird Exploration is a global provider of marine seismic acquisition. The company specializes in operation within the high-end source vessel market. The company owns and operates two vessels, both built in 2009 with substantial upgrades during the later years. More detailed information about SeaBird is available on our web page. The technical utilization for third quarter was somewhat lower than expected. This was driven by both vessels where the Fulmar experienced some start-up issues, as she was the rig with a new source for our new client in September. This is not normalizing and feedback from our clients has been very good. The Eagle was operating in Trinidad with strong currents that imposed some navigation issues. She is now operating in the Gulf of Americas with familiar sea and weather conditions. The trailing 12 months technical utilization for SeaBird stands at 97%, which is an industry leading level. Economical utilization of 68% for the quarter reflects 2 weeks of off-hire period for the Fulmar between contracts and just over a month of off-hire on the Eagle. As of 1st of November, Eagle were back on hire and consequently, both our vessels is now contributing to SeaBird's earnings. Revenue for the third quarter of 2025 was $8.7 million, and EBITDA was $3.4 million, somewhat down compared to the previous year period, due to off-hire just discussed, but this was somewhat offset by the demobilization revenues from the two contracts that came to the end in August. Now turning to the backlog. SeaBird's firm backlog stands at $14 million, when including the recently announced contract for the Fulmar. SeaBird's firm backlog provides visibility into the second half or first quarter of '26. In addition, the Fulmar has options that could extend the firm period until mid-2026. For Eagle, her firm commitment is until mid-February, and the vessel is currently being marketed for new work in the Western Hemisphere. Hence, we are actively working to converting our pipeline into additional firm awards and we are convinced that we will have more work lined up for our vessel in due time. The short-term market fundamentals have been impacted by the increased political volatility which has resulted in delayed investment decision from our end clients. This has impacted the overall exploration spending and consequently delayed contracting activity for our vessels. Despite the near-term noise, we remain comfortable that the structural growth in the OBN market for the coming years is driven -- which is driven by all companies that are allocating more resources to reserves near existing infrastructure to reduce cycle time. The OBN technology provides a better understanding of reservoirs in order to optimize the recovery rate and the lifespan of fields. And the OBN surveys are a cost-efficient technology, technology to increase the value of information of oil and gas fields. As for the supply side, the active fleet currently counts 12 vessels, whereas 10 are currently contracted. We continue to see low risk for influx of new additional vessels as the market, as the contract duration and the rate environment in the market does not provide sufficient economy to justify acquisition and/or commercial costs. In dialogue with our clients, it's apparent that securing critical resources, such as sourced vessels is high on the agenda, especially for the high-end tonnages. We believe these dynamics supports our tighter markets in the near or in the future. And in turn, we strengthened the pricing environment, especially for the high-end tonnages in a market like ours. Next, please. Now turning to the group financials. And before I'm going into the number, I want to repeat the basis of the accounts in this report -- in the presentation and in the report published this morning. In the presentation, we have applied a management reporting approach where we are presenting the figures as if the merger took place on 1st of January, meaning that the Energy Drilling and SeaBird Exploration figures are combined on a line-to-line basis, both in the current in the comparison periods. We believe this gives a good understanding for the readers of how the combined company is performing. The report is, however, prepared in accordance with IAS 34 and IFRS 3, which implies that the mergers has been recognized as a reverse acquisition. As a result of this, the financial information presented for the reports prior to the transaction reflects Energy Drilling only. Meaning SeaBird Exploration has only been included in the financial report from the transaction date, which was the 26th of May. Reconciliation between the management report and the consolidated financial statement is provided in the appendix of this presentation. Now to the numbers. Energy Holdings reported Q3 revenue of $51 million, which is approximately an increase of 30% from the prior year quarter. This increase is mainly driven by more rigs in operation at higher day rates. The SG&A of $6.8 million in the quarter is elevated due to timing effect and periodization. The SG&A for the first 9 months, adjusted for non-current merger cost and non-cash cost related to long-term incentive plans was $11.3 million. EBITDA adjusted for merger-related costs was $24 million in the third quarter and $85 million for the first 9 months of the year. This represents a 33% and 50% increase, respectively. The strong year-over-year growth is driven by higher activity at higher day rates as the revenue. We see this positive earnings development to continue in the coming quarter as all of our eight assets are now on contract and generating healthy cash flow to the company. The net profit for the third quarter was $7.8 million and $15.5 million for the first 9 months. Underlying net profit for the period were $8.3 million and $35.2 million, respectively. Turning to cash flow. And please note that the cash position and cash flow from SeaBird Exploration has been included from the transaction date in May. The company's cash balance at the start of the year was $32 million. During the first 9 months of 2025, the company has generated $57 million in operational cash flow before a $10 million adverse working capital movements. CapEx has been modest year-to-date. But with EDrill-2 recently completing her yard stay in preparation for a contract, we expect CapEx to increase in the fourth quarter. All upgrades and investments on GHTH will be expensed as the rig is chartered on a flexible bareboat contract. We continue to see the normalized CapEx for the group of around $60 million per year, with the yearly fluctuation due to annual services. The net debt amortization for the first 9 months is $3 million, while interest payments amounted to $4 million. In total, we maintained a strong liquidity position for the group with a cash position of $66 million by quarter end. Of this, $40 million was paid to shareholders in October. Now to the balance sheet. The group's gross interest-bearing debt per 30th of September was $89 million, which consists of a $75 million bank facility, where $70 million is drawn. The facility is amortizing $5 million quarterly. The lease liabilities relates to the flexible bareboat charter on GHTH. And the $1.6 million loan as marked as other financing in the slide is related to equipment financing in SeaBird Exploration, which is expected to be repaid over the next few quarters. The company's cash position was $66 million by quarter end, whereof $12 million is restricted performance bonds and DSRA. Consequently, net interest-bearing debt for the quarter ended at $23 million, which corresponds to a leverage ratio of 0.2x to the last 12 months adjusted EBITDA. And with that, I will pass the word back to Kurt.

Thank you. So going forward, we are well positioned to continue to deliver strong results for our shareholders. The chart on the left-hand side illustrates how cost-efficient tender drilling rigs are compared to conventional jackup units. With the cash cost, 30% to 40% below jackups, the tender drilling rigs will always be lowest on the cost curve in this market. And as such, able to generate healthy cash flows even at rates that are below the cash breakeven of most jackup players. And as illustrated on the table on the right-hand side, the EBITDA and cash flow potential for the company is significant even at current day rates. And of course, there is a significant upside as market rates improve. As already mentioned, our balance sheet remains exceptionally strong. At the end of the quarter, we had a net debt of $23 million and a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 0.2x, which is among the lowest in the industry. Three rigs and both the seismic vessels are currently unencumbered, giving us significant financial flexibility. This conservative leverage profile insurance resilience and distribution capacity in all market conditions and gives us significant optionality to pursue value-enhancing initiatives. Going forward, our strong backlog provides robust visibility and a solid foundation for continued significant shareholder distribution. Based on existing firm contracts, we expect an increase in revenue in 2026, laying the foundation for a step-up in distributions from 2025 to 2026, assuming continued strong operational performance. For 2025, as mentioned earlier, we have completed the first distribution of $40 million for the first half of 2025 and the Board has now proposed a distribution of $20 million for the third quarter. For the full year of 2025, we are now guiding $80 million to $85 million in total distribution. In conclusion, strong backlog, high cash conversion from operations and a robust balance sheet enables significant shareholder distributions for 2025 and beyond. This is further supported by an encouraging market outlook for both our subsidiaries. We will continue to optimize the balance sheet and realize financial synergies to further increase flexibility and distribution capacity. In parallel, we are assessing accretive strategic opportunities within the broader oil and gas service value chain. But as always, we will remain disciplined and focused on opportunities that support our distribution capacity. So with that, I hand it over to Viggo again to go through any questions that may have been submitted.

Thank you, Kurt. I think, just looking at the questions that's come in, I think one of the key one that's recurring, I'd say, is questions around this marketing agreement that we have with RigCo for the two jackups. And we can elaborate a little bit. The way it's structured is they have two jackups, one just came off a contract and it's available to us. We will market that extensively globally. And once contracted, we will then try -- we will then bareboat her in on a pre-agreed bareboat and operate her as one of our own rigs, in the same way as we do with GHTH. So that's the extent of what I can actually say. That's the kind of model that we put together with RigCo at the moment. I think one of the other questions that's coming up is on the options that we hold for some of the rigs. Well, I can comment on the several ongoing conversations with the inclines for some of the near-term options that we have. But mind you, the first option is only coming into play in December of 2026. And generally speaking, options don't have to be exercised until 6 months prior to start-up. So, for now, it's too early to really get into the details around whether or not our clients will exercise options or retender for additional work. Another question that came back is regarding the options that we have with another Chinese shipyards for two additional tender rigs. I think we commented extensively around that on the Q2 report. But again, we continue to market those assets extensively, but those will -- those we have to acquire and from our perspective, requires more capital to be deployed. As such, we will only deploy the rigs unless we have multiyear contracts available for them at a very attractive rates that ensures a timely payback of the capital paid in. So, I guess, Kurt, here is one for you. One, this is a question of the extreme concentration that we have on our shareholders.

Yes. So it's, of course, difficult for management team to make any comments around the shareholders. What I can say is that we are -- we have -- so they are represented on the board and are contributing in a significant way through the work on the board. So -- but it's not possible for us to make any comments around that and around the shareholder base as such.