Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Audio Conference Call of the First Quarter of 2025 Results for Constellation Oil Services. Thank you for standing by. All participants are in a listen-only mode. Please refer to the forward-looking statement sections in the company's earnings release for the matters that will be discussed in this conference call. They reflect Constellation's current views and assumptions with respect to future events, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. The Q&A session will be held at the end of the presentation, and questions can be made by the attendees by clicking on the Q&A icon in the bottom center of the screen. Now, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Rodrigo Ribeiro, Constellation's CEO. Please go ahead, sir.
Good morning to everyone. Welcome, and thank you for joining the call today. I have today with me, as usual, Mr. Daniel Rachman, the Constellation CFO. Our first quarter 2025 financial statements, earnings presentation, press release, covered financial results, and the updated fleet summary report are available on our IRA website. In my prepared remarks, I will cover the market landscape, our operational results, and the forward-looking overview of our business. I will hand the call over to Daniel to review our financial results for the first quarter of 2025. First and foremost, it is important to highlight that we had a strong start to the year, delivering another solid quarter with $44 million in adjusted EBITDA. In his remarks, Daniel will guide you through our financial results in detail.
Despite recent market volatility driven by these broad import tariffs introduced by the U.S. administration and short-term oil price fluctuations following OPEC Plus' announced production increase, we view this as short-term headwinds. While price volatility may persist in the near term, the underlying fundamentals of our industry remain strong, and the long-term need for sustained investment in the exploration and production is unchanged. We continue to see strong momentum in the new production licensing, particularly in Brazil, reflecting sustained optimism and a healthy global demand outlook. Last week, IBAMA, the Brazilian Environmental Board, announced the approval of the wildlife protection plan for the Equatorial Margin, which represents one very important stage in the environmental licensing process. This reinforces our confidence in the resilience and the strategic position of our business. At the same time, we remain vigilant and are navigating current market swings with discipline and caution.
We will continue to monitor the potential impacts of recent developments in our business. That said, we believe our current position equips us well to navigate a more volatile market environment. Since June 2024, we have secured a robust backlog of approximately $1.3 billion through six new contracts and extensions. These awards cover the majority of our fleet utilization for the coming years, placing us in a quite strong position with respect to contract coverage and cash flow visibility. As part of our commercial strategy, we remain focused on securing long-term contracts that support consistent fleet utilization. With recent contract extensions, our current contract coverage significantly reduces the risk of white spaces in 2025 and gives us the flexibility to be selective when allocating our rigs to new opportunities in Brazil and even abroad.
One fact remains clear: regardless of price volatility, Brazil and Petrobras must continue investing in the drilling of new wells, as well as in the enhancement of oil recovery, either through well interventions or decline rate management strategies. As highlighted by Petrobras management, exploration remains essential for the future of the oil sector. With 98% of Petrobras CapEx resilient, with crude oil at $45 and break-even level near to $28 per barrel, the current market pressures are reinforcing the company's focus on cost discipline and operational efficiency, further supporting the sustainability of its investment strategy. Petrobras' strong commitment to ongoing field development, combined with the continued execution of existing projects and a focus on reserve replacement, supports a stable investment outlook and underpins the strength of the domestic oil and gas supply chain. Petrobras recently announced discoveries in Santos and Campos Basin in the Aran and Brava North fields.
Their ongoing exploration and potential upcoming drilling activity in Pelotas and the significant gas discovery in Colombia all point to a robust and dynamic investment cycle ahead. We view the current landscape with a great deal of optimism. As we look ahead, the offshore market shows signs of continued demand. Over the coming months, we anticipate new tenders, primarily driven by Petrobras, but also supported by IOCs and other key players. These upcoming campaigns are expected to be fulfilled by incumbent rigs operating in Brazil. Petrobras recently launched a multi-rig tender for Búzios fields. The process calls for one or more high-spec DP floaters equipped with MPD for a four-year contract with a firm duration of two and a half years, commencing in Q4 2026. This tender confirms Petrobras' commitment to carry on its upstream development program on the pre-salt.
We expect a competitive process, given the anticipated number of bidders for this opportunity. Nevertheless, we see an advantage for incumbents and remain confident that the drilling contractors will act with a strategic focus while pursuing additional backlog. In addition to Búzios, over the coming months, we expect the launch of new tenders, primarily driven by Petrobras for Mero field s, Shell for Gato do Mato fields, and potentially a new pool tender from Petrobras aimed at sustaining its current rig capacity with a robust demand anticipated for cover and decommissioning activities in addition to drilling of new wells. We believe this pipeline of opportunities supports the underlying fundamentals of our industry.
While short-term volatility remains a part of the global environment, we believe commercial discipline and solid long-term drivers will continue to support a healthy and balanced rig market in Brazil, where our current fleet status leaves us very well positioned to navigate through these opportunities and deliver value to our stakeholders through operational excellence and capital efficiency. Benefiting from the current 100% utilization of our semi-submersible fleet, our commercial team remains focused on securing additional backlog, especially for Atlantic and Gold Star. Gold Star's current contract will end in the fourth quarter of this year as Petrobras exercised its extension rights, pushing forward the current contract for an additional 94-day period. Petrobras also exercised an additional 76-day extension in total for the contracts of Lone, Amaralina , and Laguna , which matures in 2025, prompting us to lift our 2025 EBITDA guidance, as Daniel will explain next.
Moving back to Gold Star for 2026 and ahead, we are already having conversations with potential clients. The rig has been actively marketed in Brazil and abroad. In addition to that, we still hold an option to extend the contract for an additional year with Petrobras until Q4 2026 under a mutual agreement. The rig has delivered a broad scope of services over the past three years to Petrobras, constantly within the first quartile of rig ranking, and offers outstanding efficiency under positive economic terms, perfectly fitting Petrobras' demands. Our commercial strategy remains focused on combining asset portfolio with a diversified contract mix, balancing long-term commitments and shorter cycle opportunities. This approach maximizes asset utilization and reinforces our ability to deliver outstanding results. On Atlantic Star, the current contract is set to run until the fourth quarter this year, as we extended the term by up to 11 months.
We also have ongoing discussions with potential clients to secure additional work for the rig in the coming year. Moving now to our operational results, our fleet delivered an outstanding uptime of 97% in Q1 2025, compared to 94% in Q1 2024. The fleet sustained the same fleet uptime for the full year of 2024. Such results allowed us to maintain the first position at Petrobras' offshore drilling supply ranking, the Sondagem. In the individual ranking of the rigs, we have four of our rigs in the first five positions of the Sondagem. Now moving to our third-party rigs, as disclosed in late March, Constellation was awarded a second contract with Petrobras, now to operate a jack-up. This new contract, which marks our strategic return to shallow water drilling, expands us into an extensive P&A campaign.
The ADMARINE 511 , a jack-up drilling rig owned by ADES Holding Company, will be used in the shallow waters of Sergipe, Alagoas, Ceará, and Potiguar basins here in Brazil. Based on Petrobras' recent disclosures, we expect demand in this market to remain strong well beyond the life of this contract. Moving over to tidal action, the rig is already on its way to Brazil and is expected to arrive by the end of June to initiate the Petrobras acceptance process. Afterwards, it will begin its mission in Brazilian waters under a two and a half year contract with Petrobras in the Roncador field in the Campos Basin. Moving to the sustainability agenda, our 2024 sustainability report was recently released, highlighting how environmental, social, and governance principles are embedded in every part of our business.
In 2024, we delivered a record high fleet uptime of 97%, which led to the avoidance of over 9,000 tons of CO2 emissions during our campaigns compared to 2023. Additionally, our rig performance index alone saved the equivalent of 15 drilling days, which represents 4,000 tons of emissions avoided. We also celebrated tangible results from our renewable energy investments. The solar system installed at our Rio das Ostras base generated clean electricity throughout 2024, resulting in a 70% reduction in the scope two emissions, equivalent to 27 tons of CO2. We are committed to further scaling this initiative in 2025. Our efforts on climate issues also earned us the gold seal from Brazil [GHG] protocol. We are proud to be the only company in Brazil's offshore drilling segment to achieve this distinction. On the social side, our employees volunteered more than 400 hours in community programs.
More than 100 local residents from the surrounding communities from the outside of the drilling industry completed our professional training program, and our focus on the gender equity was recognized by the state of Rio de Janeiro through the award of the Women Friendly Company gold seal. Together, these achievements prove that operational excellence and sustainability go hand in hand and will continue to guide us to create lasting value for our company and its shareholders. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Daniel to go over our Q1 2025 financial results. Daniel, please.
Thank you, Rodrigo, and good morning to all participants. Now I'll go through Constellation's financial results for the quarter ended March 31st, 2025. Net operating revenues decreased 15% in Q1 2025 to $122 million in the comparison year-over-year .
The reduction was already expected due to a lower utilization of the fleet, mostly explained by the contract transition for Alfa Star and the program maintenance of Laguna Star. Effects also had a relevant impact in the quarter due to the BRL depreciation from 4.95 in Q1 2024 to 5.85 in Q1 2025, which negatively affected revenues by $7 million. However, fleet uptime improved from 94% in Q1 2024 to 97% in Q1 2025, slightly offsetting these negative effects. Our contract backlog remained stable at $2.1 billion compared to the last quarter. However, if we compare Q1 2024, it represents a 60% increase or about $800 million, which is quite a significant improvement. With our entire fleet already committed at least until fourth quarter 2025, we can focus on upcoming tenders and discussions with independent operators aiming to add additional backlog without the pressure of filling near-term gaps.
Contract drilling expenses were 18% lower year-over-year , reaching $71 million in the quarter, compared to $86 million in Q1 2024. The decrease was mainly driven by $8 million lower materials and $5 million reduction in payroll charges and benefits, mostly explained by the BRL depreciation. Our general and administrative expenses were up by 5% year-over-year at $7 million. The increase was mainly driven by one-off of $0.6 million uptake in contingencies, which have been partially offset by a $0.3 million decrease in payroll charges and benefits, mostly explained by the BRL depreciation. Our operating income decreased $3 million, or 34%, from $8 million in Q1 2024 to $5 million in Q1 2025. This decrease was mostly driven by a contractual penalty related to Alfa Star starting its new contract outside the agreed window, an event that was already anticipated in our guidance.
It is important to remember that our onerous contract provision has no cash impact, and as such, they are excluded from adjusted EBITDA. Moving to adjusted EBITDA, Constellation delivered $44 million in Q1 2025, compared to $52 million in Q1 2024. The primary drivers of this reduction were 86 fewer utilization days, mainly due to a 49-day contract transition for Alfa Star in 2025, 13 days of scheduled maintenance for Laguna Star, and the 14 days of operations for Linde Star in Q1 2024. This impact was partially offset by a favorable effect of $4.5 million resulting from the depreciation of the Brazilian Real. This positive effect is a consequence that the group currently has more costs and expenses in Brazilian Reals than revenues. Our ability to deliver another solid quarter was evidenced by a 36% adjusted EBITDA margin matching Q1 2024, despite lower fleet utilization in Q1 2025.
Net financial expenses came in at $14 million in Q1 2025, lower than the $15 million reported in Q1 2024, especially due to higher financial income on cash equivalents and short-term investments. Lastly, net loss for the period totaled $24 million, compared to $2 million loss in Q1 2024. The year-over-year variation is mainly attributed to an $8 million reduction in adjusted EBITDA, a $9 million increase in depreciation expenses, and a $4 million increase in income tax expenses. Cash flow provided by operating activities decreased by $22 million- $33 million in Q1 2025, compared to $55 million in Q1 2024, mainly due to the reduction of 86 days in the fleet utilization. Furthermore, cash flow in Q1 2024 was positively impacted by the cash in of [Brava] Star mobilization fee, which also explains the variance.
CapEx rose by $20 million from $26 million in Q1 2024 to $46 million in Q1 2025, mainly due to Alfa Star transition to a new contract with Petrobras. We will cash in the mobilization revenue of $24 million linked to the Alfa Star new contract in Q2 2025. There was no cash flow used in financing activities, considering the bonds issued in November 2024 have a six-month grace period, with first interest payments scheduled for May 2025. Cash position, which includes cash and cash equivalent and short-term investments, remained practically stable compared to December 31st, 2024, with $181 million as of March 31st, 2025. Total debt increased by $16 million due to the accrued interest over the bonds in the period to $658 million as of March 31st, 2025, compared to $642 million as of December 31st, 2024.
Therefore, net debt increased by $17 million in the period to $477 million as of March 31st, 2025. As last 12 months, adjusted EBITDA was 4% lower than previous quarter at $222 million. Leverage measured by net debt to adjusted EBITDA had a slight increase from two times in Q4 2024 to 2.1 times in Q1 2025. Overall, we close another solid quarter and remain laser-focused on hitting the 2025 targets. Looking ahead, we are pleased to revise our 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance upwards by $10 million, now ranging between $170 million-$190 million. This increase is primarily driven by recent contract extensions confirmed by Petrobras, which include continued well-in-progress activities and the full utilization of the existing contracts through their final available days.
As a result, some of the previously expected contract transitions will now shift to later in the year or into 2026, improving our fleet utilization for 2025 and providing greater visibility into our earning profile. This uplift not only enhances our earnings trajectory but also improves our outlook for 2025 and reinforces our expectation to remain cash positive even after significant investments in CapEx and execution of four contract transitions. We continue to view 2025 as a transitional year. Yet, with these recent developments, it is shaping up to be more resilient than initially expected, providing a solid foundation for the significant growth anticipated in 2026 under the new higher-rate contracts. As a subsequent event, in May, we entered into forward contracts to hedge the BRL denominated cost through December 2025. The hedge covers a notional amount of BRL 532 million, approximately $91 million.
This initiative secures cost predictability, protects USD margins, and supports the assumption in our 2025 financial plan. Alongside our FX hedging program, we remain disciplined on cost. While the entire fleet is contracted through the end of 2025, we are taking proactive steps to manage potential idle time for Atlantic Star and Gold Star in early 2026. As a mitigation measure, we are controlling operating costs during potential idle periods. On the CapEx front, we continue to optimize the timing of investments related to contract transitions. That said, we remain cautiously optimistic about securing new work for both rigs and maintaining high utilization into the next year. In conclusion, I'd like to update you about our agenda after the listing of our MDRs on Euronext Growth Oslo.
We recognize that today's trading volume isn't yet at the level that we aspire to, and we are already actively implementing initiatives to improve this. First and foremost, we are actively expanding Constellation Analysts coverage. With initiation reports already released by Clarkson, Arctic, and most recently [Fearnley], we remain focused on engaging with additional firms and supporting the publication of further research coverage. We have also proposed a 10-to-1 reverse split of Constellation common shares, which will be submitted for shareholders' approval at the extraordinary general meeting scheduled for June 19th. By raising the share price through the reverse split, we aim to reduce the impact of minor trades on percentage swings and to broaden access to institutional investors whose mandates require a minimum share price. At the same time, expanding analyst coverage helps provide investors with a clearer and more informed view of Constellation's story.
Together, this action supports improved market visibility and potential liquidity. That said, we will continue exploring additional alternatives to enhance trading activity over time. Ultimately, our focus remains on what we can control, executing our business plan, delivering strong operational and financial results, and acting prudently in the best interest of our shareholders. Liquidity is not something we can directly dictate, but it is something we continuously monitor, and we remain committed to taking responsible value-accretive actions as needed. Before I conclude, I'd like to provide a brief update on the commercial dispute regarding the penalty notice received from Petrobras in connection with the Legacy [SACI] Brazil matter. Constellation has been engaged in productive discussions with Petrobras and accepted the invitation to enter into an out-of-court mediation process, which formally paused any debt collection while the mediation takes place.
We anticipate that the process will be initiated in the near term. Importantly, Petrobras has not taken any unilateral actions, and the tone of the ongoing dialogue has been very constructive. Based on external legal counsel, we continue to assess the likelihood of any material liability as remote. With that, I conclude my prepared remarks. I'll now hand it back to the operator for the Q&A session.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Questions can be made by attendees by clicking on the Q&A icon at the bottom center of the screen. Moving on to the first question that will come from Joaquin Robert. The question is, in the upcoming tenders, would you say despite the lower Brent pricing, they will continue to stand at $350,000 a day for [Samsung] and $440,000 a day for drill ships?
Hi, Joaquin. Good morning.
This is Rodrigo here, and thank you for joining and for the question. As you might expect, we cannot give you our forecast guidance for next tenders, but it's important to notice that, number one, Petrobras is maintaining their plan and coming to the market for a new tender as expected. It is in line with everything that we are reading here in terms of Petrobras demand. We expect that this will give continuation for the next tenders during the year. It is also, I think, worth to note that this is a contract that can reach up to four years in terms of operation. In that sense, the short-term volatility in the market is likely to impact less than what the analysts and everybody in the industry is expecting for the mid and long-term demand and rates for the rigs.
In that case, we see a consistent and steady demand for the rigs from 2006 and onward. We really believe that despite the high competitiveness, considering the number of rigs that will be available for this opportunity, the rationality and the financial discipline will see the logical outcome for this opportunity. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is also coming from Joaquin Robert, the sell-side analyst from Balance Capital. The question is, could you share a bit more color regarding the quarter-over-quarter decrease in utilization?
Hey, Joaquin, this is Daniel now. Thanks for the question. As indicated in the prepared remarks, I will just as well emphasize here so you can have a better explanation. The utilization impact and the lower utilization that we had year-over-year in the first quarter was mainly related to many of the planned and scheduled maintenance that we had.
The first one was on the Alfa transitioning into the new contract, right? So Alfa , if you remember, it was a rig that has been for some time outside of Petrobras and had to prepare and get all the upgrades needed for this new contract with Petrobras. In total, it was for 49 days in idle time in between contracts, right? This was the time that it was mobilizing and getting all the upgrades to get ready, which is now fully operational. The mobilization fee, as we explained, will be collected, has already been collected in April. It will be shown only in the second quarter report when we are having the earnings go in the next quarter.
We had as well the Laguna Star, which was another one that was already in our budget, was in the guidance, and has been a planned scheduled maintenance as well that we have done over the course of this first quarter. It was in total 13 days without revenue and has been a very successful event for us in which we will prevent those 13 days to repeat at the time that we are doing the contract transition later in the year. We anticipated that and has been scheduled and has been done exactly as we planned. Lastly, if you remember last year, Olinda Star was still operating at the beginning of the year. We had 14 days in total that Olinda operated in 2024. As we know, Olinda exited the fleet as it was sold to scrap in the second quarter last year.
When you compare year-over-year, you have also 14 days lower utilization because of that. In total, we had 86 days of lower utilization compared year-over-year.
Okay, thank you. The next question now comes from Sebastien Bourgeois, buy-side analyst from Caius Capital. The question is, does the Gold Star have MPD, and how much could it cost to install it? If not, otherwise, what tenders can she participate in?
Hi, Sebastien. Thank you for the question. No, Gold Star does not have the MPD installed, but in terms of investment, it would be first technically possible and similar to any other rig's preparation. We are not focusing Gold Star in this tender. Petrobras is maintaining the same criteria that they are using for many years. This is a high-spec tender.
Gold Star current contract, as you might know, will end in the fourth quarter of this year, now especially after the expansion of 94 days that Petrobras recently exercised for the rig. Number one, it's important to highlight that this is a great indication where we see the demand for Gold Star in Petrobras being clear and clear and more mature. Petrobras, by exercising this extension, is indicating in our view that there will be a solid demand for Gold Star in the areas where the rig is actuating. We are now targeting the start of a new contract for Gold Star in 2026. We continue quite confident that the rig will find the next contract. Our focus now is to privilege contracts that will give the smooth continuation after this current contract with Petrobras.
We are looking not only to Petrobras, but also local and international markets where IOCs and independent operators may be seeking for a rig with the capabilities of Gold Star. We are currently in multiple discussions with different potential clients. In addition to that, it's important to note that Petrobras still holds an option to extend the current contract of Gold Star for an additional one year, which would take us until Q4 2026. This would be subject to mutual agreement. We continue to work on this. Again, we are quite confident that Gold Star, considering the current rig conditions, the excellence in the performance of the current contract, will certainly find opportunities for the rigs to continue to work in 2026. Hopefully, the ones that are going to give us the shorter interval between the current contract and the next one.
Thank you.
The following question also comes from Sebastian. The question is, what prospects do you see for Atlantic beyond 2025?
Sebastian, thank you for your question again. Atlantic, as we keep mentioning, is fully dedicated to the very solid P&A campaign with Petrobras. The current contract we expect will be running until the end of this year. We are currently in active discussions with potential clients to secure additional backlog for the rig. Petrobras only recently declared that between shallow and deep water, they have around 450 wells in terms of decommissioning and P&A work scope. Atlantic is still the only moored rig operating in Brazil and will continue to be one of the few capable to operate in water depths from 100 meters - 600 meters.
The rig condition is, as I mentioned, in very high level in terms of integrity and fully capable to continue to have the approvals and license to operate in this environment in a very highly regulated place like Brazil. Our priority is indeed to identify and secure opportunities that will enable a smooth transition from the current contract and minimizing idle time as well. We see a very solid rationale to maintain a rig as Atlantic in our fleet portfolio. We are definitely not considering any other alternative at this time. Atlantic is in the right place, in the right conditions to benefit and continue to contribute in terms of cash generation for this company for the next years in our business plan. The decommissioning market in Brazil is expected to grow significantly. As we know, the offshore infrastructure in Brazil is getting old.
Petrobras' previous divestments to other players as well will generate more and more visibility for this work scope. We also see opportunities on their own Petrobras efforts to retire old fields as well. That is why I have to contribute with the Atlantic scenario.
Thank you. We are holding the Q&A session. Questions can be made by attendees by clicking the Q&A icon in the bottom center of the screen. The following question comes from Juliana Rocha, journalist from REDD. The question is, could you comment on the timing of the tenders?
Hi, Juliana. This is Thiago Schimmelpfennig here, the Chief Commercial Officer for Constellation. Related to the upcoming tenders, we have the opportunity for Búzios, which is expected to be priced mid-June. This is currently the only ongoing process with Petrobras.
Certainly, there is expectation that an additional tender for the Meadowfield is going to come. We cannot or we do not have precise information about when this is going to happen. Definitely, if we consider the fact that Petrobras has been stating that they will sustain the level of rigs that they currently have in the country, we also see that additional tenders may be needed towards the end of the year or eventually early 2026. This is still to come. As of today, what we have firm is the Búzios tender, as I just mentioned.
Thank you. The following question will come from Craig Gilbert, buy-side analyst from Linden Advisors. The question is, when do you think you will hear from Petrobras if they want to extend Gold Star by one year?
Craig, thank you for the question. This is Rodrigo again.
I think more than giving you a guidance in terms of timing is to share that we see clear demand visibility growing as we monitor the demand and the pace of the activities that we are currently engaged with the rig. Again, we are optimistic from this side. As you know, we monitor very closely the way that Petrobras communicates to the market, the way that they are investing on the revitalization of the mature fields, especially in Campos Basin. Of course, the execution risks of our current contracts. We have a huge backlog of visibility here in terms of wells, but also we had our own database in terms of the last two years of executing this contract. Putting all together, we are very confident that the demand is there. We are constantly discussing with Petrobras and also other clients.
Today, what I can share with you is that we are confident and optimistic that the logic and the rationale is here for us to secure additional work for this rig in 2026.
Thank you. This concludes today's questions and answers session. I would like to invite Mr. Rodrigo Ribeiro to proceed with his closing statements. Please go ahead, sir.
I am very pleased with how 2025 has started. We delivered 97% uptime, matching last year's performance and demonstrating another strong operational result. I want to just take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to achieving the higher guidance that we have just outlined. Once again, also to congratulate the entire Constellation great team for delivering another great result in this quarter. Thank you very much for your interest and supporting Constellation.
We look forward to talking to you in the half of the year of 2025 earnings release. Have a great day. Thank you.
That does conclude Constellation Oil Service audio conference for today. Thank you very much for your participation and have a good day.