Subsea 7 S.A. Announces Second Quarter and Half Year 2024 Results

    Subsea 7 S.A. Announces Second Quarter and Half Year 2024 Results

Luxembourg – 25 July 2024 – Subsea 7 S.A. (Oslo Børs: SUBC, ADR: SUBCY, ISIN: LU0075646355, the Company) announced today results of Subsea7 Group (the Group, Subsea7) for the second quarter and first half of 2024 which ended 30 June 2024.

Second quarter highlights  

• Adjusted EBITDA of $292 million, up 80% on the prior year period, equating to a margin of 17%.
• Order intake of $4.0 billion, equivalent to a book-to-bill ratio of 2.3 times, resulted in a record backlog of $12.5 billion. Of this, $3.3 billion is due to be executed in the remainder of 2024, $4.9 billion in 2025 and $4.3 billion in 2026 and beyond.
• Full year 2024 guidance increased. Revenue expected to be in a range from $6.5 to $6.8 billion (from $6.0 to $6.5 billion) while Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $1,000 and $1,050 million (from $950 to $1,000 million).
• High tendering activity supports management’s confidence in the outlook for order intake and margin expansion. Full Year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be within an 18 to 20% range, continuing to improve, exceeding 20% in full year 2026.

	Second Quarter		Half Year
For the period (in $ millions, except Adjusted EBITDA margin and per share data)	Q2 2024 Unaudited	Q2 2023 Unaudited	1H 2024 Unaudited	1H 2023 Unaudited
Revenue	1,739	1,518	3,134	2,764
Adjusted EBITDA(a)	292	162	454	268
Adjusted EBITDA margin(a)	17%	11%	15%	10%
Net operating income/(loss)	137	1	157	(14)
Net income/(loss)	63	14	92	(15)
Earnings per share – in $ per share
Basic	0.20	0.06	0.29	(0.01)
Diluted(b)	0.20	0.06	0.29	(0.01)
At (in $ millions)			30 June 2024 Unaudited	31 Mar 2024 Unaudited
Backlog(a)			12,544	10,429
Book-to-bill ratio(a)			2.3x	0.9x
Cash and cash equivalents			290	604
Borrowings			(783)	(814)
Net debt excluding lease liabilities(a)			(494)	(211)
Net debt including lease liabilities(a)			(1,027)	(782)

(a) For explanations and reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Backlog, Book-to-bill ratio and Net debt refer to the ‘Alternative Performance Measures’ section of the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

(b) For the explanation and a reconciliation of diluted earnings per share refer to Note 7 ‘Earnings per share’ to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

John Evans, Chief Executive Officer, said:

Subsea7 achieved several milestones in the second quarter of 2024 that support management’s confidence in the outlook for the Group.

First, our confidence in the future is underpinned by the strength of our delivery in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA of $292 million – equating to a margin of 17% – was driven by operational performance from both our project teams executing major contracts, and by our offshore crews delivering high utilisation and efficiency of our global enabler vessels.

Second, our order intake continues to extend visibility for the coming years. A record intake of $4.0 billion in the second quarter increased our backlog to $12.5 billion, including the renewal of long-term contracts for four PLSVs in Brazil. We see good demand for capacity stretching to the end of the decade, with major new prospects continuing to replenish our bidding pipeline.

Finally, the quality of the backlog continued to improve in the second quarter, underpinning our outlook for Adjusted EBITDA margins within a range of 18 to 20% in 2025 and in excess of 20% in full year 2026. This improving embedded profitability gives us confidence in the outlook for strong cash generation and supports our commitment to shareholder returns of at least $1 billion in 2024 to 2027.

With the right teams and assets in place, we are confident that the Group’s differentiated, value accretive solutions and collaborative client relationships position us to deliver strong financial performance in the coming years.

Second quarter operational highlights

During the second quarter, good progress was made in Subsea and Conventional on our major projects. For Yggdrasil, we completed the rigid pipelay fabrication at the Vigra spoolbase in Norway, while fabrication of the pipeline bundles continued at the Wick spoolbase in Scotland. In Brazil, we commenced stalk fabrication for Mero 4 at the Ubu spoolbase, and at the Bintan spoolbase in Indonesia we completed the fabrication and loadout of pipeline for Barossa.

During the quarter utilisation of our subsea global enabler vessels was very high. Seven Borealis completed its pipelay scope for the Gas to Energy project in Guyana while, in Brazil, Seven Vega completed the main pipelay scope for Bacalhau before mobilising for Mero 3. In Australia, Seven Oceans completed its scope for Scarborough as well as, on 2 July, its second offshore campaign for Barossa. In Norway, Seven Navica completed offshore activities for the Northern Lights carbon capture project.

In Renewables, utilisation of our key installation vessels was high including Seaway Strashnov and Seaway Alfa Lift at Dogger Bank B, and Seaway Aimery at Moray West, both in the UK. Seaway Ventus completed its inaugural turbine installation scope for Gode Wind 3 in Germany and commenced Borkum Riffgrund 3 in the UK. Seaway Phoenix continued activities in Taiwan for Zhong Neng and Yunlin, and Seaway Moxie transited to Taiwan to support the Yunlin project.

Second quarter financial review
Revenue of $1.7 billion increased 15% compared to the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA of $292 million equated to an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 17%, up from 11% in Q2 2023. This was driven by a strong performance in Subsea and Conventional, reflecting high utilisation of the global enabler vessels as well as good progress in engineering and procurement activities.

After depreciation and amortisation of $156 million, net operating income was $137 million, compared to net operating income of $1 million in the prior year period. Net finance costs of $24 million, a net foreign exchange loss of $8 million, and taxation of $41 million, resulted in net income for the quarter of $63 million compared with $14 million in the prior year period.

Net cash generated from operating activities in the second quarter was $187 million, including a modest $12 million increase in net working capital. Net cash used in investing activities was $202 million mainly comprising the final payment of $153 million relating to our investment in OneSubsea. Net cash used in financing activities was $213 million including dividend payments of $82 million, share repurchases of $19 million and lease payments of $55 million. Restricted cash increased by $83 million related to the purchase of a vessel, to be renamed Seven Merlin (formerly African Inspiration), which was completed in July 2024. Overall, cash and cash equivalents decreased by $314 million to $290 million at 30 June 2024. This resulted in net debt of $494 million excluding lease liabilities, or $1,027 million including lease liabilities of $533 million.

Second quarter order intake was $4.0 billion comprising new awards of $3.8 billion and escalations of $0.2 billion resulting in a
book-to-bill ratio of 2.3 times. Backlog at the end of June was $12.5 billion, of which $3.3 billion is expected to be executed in 2024, $4.9 billion in 2025 and $4.3 billion in 2026 and beyond.

Guidance

Revenue expected to be in a range from $6.5 to $6.8 billion (previously $6.0 to $6.5 billion) while Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $1,000 and $1,050 million (previously $950 to $1,000 million).

In full year 2025, as the mix of activity continues to shift to projects won in a more favourable environment, our Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be within an 18 to 20% range. We expect the margin to continue to improve, exceeding 20% in full year 2026.

Conference Call Information
Date: 25 July 2024
Time: 12:00 UK Time, 13:00 CET
Access the webcast at subsea7.com or https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/af8ir6ef/
Register for the conference call https://register.vevent.com/register/BI3b41ee08345f486b8d18c074b312bd5e

For further information, please contact:

Katherine Tonks
Head of Investor Relations
Email: [e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain ‘forward-looking statements’ (within the meaning of the safe harbour provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These statements relate to our current expectations, beliefs, intentions, assumptions or strategies regarding the future and are subject to known and unknown risks that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ‘estimate’, ‘expect’, ‘future’, ‘goal’, ‘intend’, ‘likely’ ‘may’, ‘plan’, ‘project’, ‘seek’, ‘should’, ‘strategy’ ‘will’, and similar expressions. The principal risks which could affect future operations of the Group are described in the ‘Risk Management’ section of the Group’s Annual Report. Factors that may cause actual and future results and trends to differ materially from our forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to): (i) our ability to deliver fixed price projects in accordance with client expectations and within the parameters of our bids, and to avoid cost overruns; (ii) our ability to collect receivables, negotiate variation orders and collect the related revenue; (iii) our ability to recover costs on significant projects; (iv) capital expenditure by oil and gas companies, which is affected by fluctuations in the price of, and demand for, crude oil and natural gas; (v) unanticipated delays or cancellation of projects included in our backlog; (vi) competition and price fluctuations in the markets and businesses in which we operate; (vii) the loss of, or deterioration in our relationship with, any significant clients; (viii) the outcome of legal proceedings or governmental inquiries; (ix) uncertainties inherent in operating internationally, including economic, political and social instability, boycotts or embargoes, labour unrest, changes in foreign governmental regulations, corruption and currency fluctuations; (x) the effects of a pandemic or epidemic or a natural disaster; (xi) liability to third parties for the failure of our joint venture partners to fulfil their obligations; (xii) changes in, or our failure to comply with, applicable laws and regulations (including regulatory measures addressing climate change); (xiii) operating hazards, including spills, environmental damage, personal or property damage and business interruptions caused by adverse weather; (xiv) equipment or mechanical failures, which could increase costs, impair revenue and result in penalties for failure to meet project completion requirements; (xv) the timely delivery of vessels on order and the timely completion of ship conversion programmes; (xvi) our ability to keep pace with technological changes and the impact of potential information technology, cyber security or data security breaches; (xvii) global availability at scale and commercially viability of suitable alternative vessel fuels; and, (xviii) the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this document. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

This stock exchange release was published by Katherine Tonks, Investor Relations, Subsea7, on 25 July 2024 08:00 CET.

Attachments

• SUBC 2Q24 Earnings Release
• SUBC 2Q24 Earnings Presentation