Solstad Offshore ASA ($SOFF)

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the Solstad Offshore's First Quarter 2026 Presentation. This presentation will be held by Kjetil Ramstad, CFO; and myself, CEO, Lars Peder Solstad. We will take you through the financial and operational performance for the quarter and also share some thoughts about the market outlook. And if you have any questions, please send them in the chat, and we will answer them in the Q&A session after this presentation. A quick look at the disclaimer before we move on to the highlights of the quarter. We delivered a solid financial performance in the quarter supported by strong contributions from our joint ventures and associated companies, Solstad Maritime, Omega Subsea and NISA. Operational adjusted EBITDA was lower than the same quarter last year, primarily due to 2 vessels being between contracts. And during the quarter, we secured a 225-day contract for the Normand Tonjer. This includes the mobilization time to the Asia Pacific region. And in total, we had an order intake of $28 million in the quarter. This morning, we announced a very important contract for the company where we have signed an LOI for the Normand Maximus for a 2-year contract, and this will add significant backlog to the company for the coming years. Solstad Offshore will receive about $11 million in dividend from Solstad Maritime for the quarter. And based on the quarter's performance and the company's cash position, the Board intends to distribute a dividend of $0.1 per share for the quarter to the shareholders. So then Kjetil, can you take us through some of the key numbers for the quarter?

Yes. Thank you, Lars Peder. If we start with the financial and operational summary, the first quarter 2026 had a fleet utilization of 79%, lower than the same quarter last year, which had 93%. The lower utilization for the quarter is mainly driven by 2 vessels, Normand Topazio that will start on a 4-year contract with Petrobras in May this year and Normand Tonjer that started on a 225-day contract mid-February. Rest of the fleet was fully utilized. The operating income for the first quarter was $86 million versus $69 million in first quarter last year. The increase is driven by 4 Solstad Maritime vessels on bareboat to Solstad Offshore, which all commenced their 4-year contracts in February. The operational adjusted EBITDA was $12 million in the quarter, down from $16 million last year. The main reason for the lower operational adjusted EBITDA was the lower utilization on the mentioned vessels, Topazio and Tonjer and lower service contribution from Normand Maximus compared to last quarter. In terms of adjusted EBITDA, this is offset by higher earnings from joint ventures and associated companies of $22 million, an increase of $9 million from same quarter last year. This gives an adjusted EBITDA of $34 million in the first quarter. The main driver for the increase is earnings from Solstad Maritime as associated company. Net result in the quarter was $29 million versus $24 million last year. Book equity at the end of first quarter was $448 million, up from $311 million last year, reflecting an increase of $137 million, giving equity ratio of 41%. Book equity has increased by the net result in the period, offset by dividends paid to the shareholders. Cash position at the year-end was $77 million versus $52 million last year. The main reason for the higher cash position is strong operational performance and limited CapEx in the last 12 months. The company continued to maintain a cash -- high cash position to be in a position to exercise the Maximus purchase options. The adjusted net interest-bearing debt was $49 million at the quarter end, down from $107 million last year. The firm backlog for the Solstad Offshore owned vessels was $306 million versus $190 million last year, which is an increase of approximately 61%. Then if we move over to Solstad Offshore debt overview. Solstad Offshore has a regular bank facility of $80 million drawn in November 2024. It's a 5-year amortization profile and maturity in November 2027. We also have $43 million financing of our owned Brazilian-built vessels with BNDES matures between 2026 and 2031. And as you can see in the graph, it's a low scheduled amortization for the next coming years. The lease commitments includes the present value of the Norman Maximus bareboat, as you can see of $42 million until October 2027 and the present value of the purchase option, which is the $125 million and the present value will then be $110 million. The other leases of $266 million mainly consists of commitments from Solstad Maritime vessels operating through Solstad Offshore Brazil setup. These leases has increased significantly from the last quarter, fourth quarter '25 due to commencement of lease contracts for the 4 vessels entering into 4-year contracts in Brazil. Solstad Offshore has external client backlog to cover these commitments. In summary, Solstad Offshore has a net interest-bearing debt of $467 million and adjusted for all leases from Solstad Maritime, the adjusted net interest-bearing debt is USD 49 million. Then if we move on to dividend. As mentioned by Lars Peder, there is an intention to increase the dividend in the first quarter to $0.1 per share, totaling $8 million. The dividend will be paid in NOK and the NOK amount will be announced prior to the dividend payment. And if we look at the key dates, there will be a general meeting in Solstad Offshore 13th of May. And then there will be Board approval 15th of May, last day to receive dividend 15th of May. The ex date will be 18th of May, record date 19th of May and then distribution date will be on or about 27th of May this year. So with this, I hand the word back over to you, Lars.

Thank you, Kjetil. And I will say a few words about the investment that Solstad Offshore has in other companies. And these investments represent a significant and growing contribution to our earnings and to our value creation. And if we start with Solstad Maritime, where Solstad Offshore is the second largest shareholder, holding 27.3%. This is by far Solstad Offshore's largest investment. And Solstad Maritime, as presented earlier today, they deliver strong and stable results. And for first quarter, Solstad Offshore's share of Solstad Maritime result is about USD 20 million. And Solstad Maritime distributes $40 million in -- to its shareholder, where Solstad Offshore share then is about $11 million. And if we look at Solstad Offshore's share of Solstad Maritime's market value, this is about $375 million. On the other 2 companies we are invested in, if we look at the NISA first, Norman Installer SA, that is a 50% joint venture between SBM Offshore and Solstad Offshore and the company owns the specialized CSV Norman Installer. The company is debt-free and benefits from a long-term frame agreement with SBM, securing a minimum annual utilization through 2030. The vessel is presently doing the mooring installation for the Raia project in Brazil and is more or less booked for the remainder of this year. And the Solstad Offshore's share of NISA's first quarter result is about USD 1.4 million. OmegaSubsea is owned 36% by Solstad Offshore is a specialized owner and operator of ROVs, tooling and survey services, where 12 ROVs currently are in operation and further deliveries are planned. And during this year, 8 more ROVs will be employed on Solstad vessels and on third-party vessels. And on -- for the first quarter, Solstad Offshore's share of the first quarter result for Omega Subsea is about USD 1 million. Turning then briefly to the market. In general, we see that the demand for offshore energy services continues to be positive. And if we look at the various segments we are in, we see that the -- in general, the anchor handling segment or the positivity environment is driven by a busy North Sea market, a global project market and also the fact that there has been a better balance between the regions where mainly Brazil has contributed with many long-term contracts for the anchor handling fleet given -- or giving a much better balance globally and thereby better commercial terms. For the anchor handlers in the Solstad offshore fleet, we have 3 and 2 of them are during first quarter continued on their term contracts in Brazil, while the third Normand Topazio is expected to start on a 4-year contract with Petrobras just within a few days from now. In the CSV segment, we see some long-term opportunities, but the demand is largely project-based. We managed to fix the Normand Tonjer to a contract in Asia Pacific during the quarter, and this contract will continue until fourth quarter this year. And when it comes to our largest vessel, the Normand Maximus, she has changed her geographical operational area from Brazil to Guyana. The present contract expires by the end of this year. But as we have announced this morning, there is a new contract in place that will start first quarter '27, 2 more years and also with options thereafter. So this will add significantly to our backlog and increase the visibility further going forward. If we look at the geography, we see -- still see the strongest demand from South America, from West Africa and from the North Sea. And that brings us to the backlog. And Brazil continued to be a key market for the company. All owned anchor handlers are operating in Brazil, and they are on firm contract through 2028 and beyond that, providing solid earnings visibility for the coming years. Solstad Offshore also has a substantial backlog with the Brazilian clients based on vessels on bareboat in from Solstad Maritime. And the available days in 2026 are very limited, especially when also we secured the contract for the Maximus that potentially could have expired in fourth quarter. And then for Normand Tonjer, there are a firm period, but also some options in the fourth quarter. Other than that, the vessels are on contract. So at the quarter end, we have a backlog of just over $300 million for the owned vessels in Solstad Offshore and $570 million more if we add on the Solstad Maritime vessels. That brings us to the guidance for the year. And the guidance on operational EBITDA has been -- or we have kept that unchanged since last quarter. And for the full year, we guide an operational adjusted EBITDA, excluding joint ventures and associated companies in the range of $50 million to $70 million. The outcome as earlier also communicated, will be influenced by the timing of the 10-year classing of the Norman Maximus that could be in fourth quarter or it could be in first quarter '27, and this is not -- has not been decided yet. We have a high proportion of fixed contracted base for the year, and this gives us a solid earnings visibility. While we are preserving -- also preserving cash for the Normand Maximus purchase option that is well known by the market, we still intend to distribute dividends to shareholders, and now we are increasing that to USD 0.1 per share, and that gives a total of $8 million for distribution to shareholders for the quarter. So to sum up, first quarter, a solid quarter, mainly driven by strong contributions from our joint ventures and associated companies. We have 2 vessels between contract that temporarily reduces our utilization, but the market activity in general remains high, and that goes for both anchor handling and for the CSV segment. It was very important for the company that we secured a new 2-year contract for the Normand Maximus. This will add significantly to our backlog, and it will increase the visibility for our earnings going forward. And as mentioned, we continue to distribute dividend to our shareholders. And this time, we increased from -- from around NOK 0.45 to around NOK 0.9 per share. So by that, this concludes our presentation, and we move over to Q&A.

Yes. We have received some questions. With the new contract on Normand Maximus, can you comment on the purchase option that Solstad Offshore has? And is it more likely now after the new contract than we have with the visibility that these contracts give?

I would say given the purchase option price, I would say that it has always been likely that we will exercise that option. But of course, to have secured more time charter earning is, of course, even more positive. So yes.

And there is a lot of interest in Maximus. So -- and next question is -- is there a plan for the upcoming docking of Normand Maximus? Will it happen before the new contract starts?

I think I mentioned that in the presentation that it can still be either end of this year or beginning of next, and that is not yet decided. So I guess we will have a better overview of the timing when we come to next quarterly presentation.

And then Normand Installer, you mentioned it the vessel is -- or the company is debt free. Do you -- what is the plan for this going forward? Do you plan to do a refinancing? Or what is the plan going forward?

I think the main plan is to -- I mean, -- the vessel is -- will likely continue with a high utilization going forward, which is then should be a good dividend contributor to Solstad Offshore going forward. So it's more likely that it's -- that we will receive dividend than that we -- sort of that we will refinance the company.

Thank you. And then we have a question on Normand Tonjer. Did Normand Tonjer contribute on a meaningful EBITDA? Or is mobilization for Q1 just cost coverage? I can answer that if you want to. The way Normand Tonjer mobilization is reflected in the first quarter numbers is that it's not reflected at all. So there is no EBITDA contribution for Tonjer in the first quarter. So the way it is, is that when the mobilization has been complete, the mobilization fee will be distributed over the operational days of the contract. So in Q1, no EBITDA contribution that will come later.

Even if we have -- in reality, we have a significant mobilization fee.

Yes. And then can you provide some more color on the Normand Maximus contract? It seems it will not use its full capabilities in '27. And can you say what kind of areas it will operate within for '27 and '28?

Well, I think we can go more into the details when the final contract is signed. But what I can say is that the -- it's a 2-year contract where the earnings are higher in year 2 than in year 1. But on average, it's a very nice contract, but we have to come back to more of the details there when the final contract has been signed.

With the new contract announcement, is the plan for continued dividends for Solstad Offshore more likely now? Or -- and will it increase going forward?

We have -- I mean, we increased significantly this quarter. And of course, our ambition is to continue to, let's say, to have a nice quarterly dividend to shareholders. Of course, with the more we do on the contracts, the better visibility we have, the more likely it is to continue to pay quarterly dividends on a stable and increasing level. That is, of course, the ambitions.

With that, that was the last question.

Okay. So thanks a lot for listening in, and have a nice day ahead. Thank you.

Thank you.