Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Odfjell Drilling Q4 2024 and preliminary full year 2024 results presentation. My name is James Crothers, and I'm the Investor Relations Officer at the company, and I'm joined today by our Chief Executive Officer, Kjetil Gjersdal, and our Chief Financial Officer, Frode Syslak. Before we begin, your attention is brought to the important information slide of our presentation, which would encourage participants to read in full. Note that this presentation is only a summary of the quarter, and the quarterly report should be read separately. Both that report and today's presentation are available on our website, www.odfjelldrilling.com. Our call today will begin with a brief summary of the quarter, with Kjetil taking us through some of the key highlights. We'll then move on to discussing our operations during Q4 and move on to our financial review with Frode.
We'll then summarize the presentation and close the call. Following the presentation, we'll open a Q&A session and invite all participants to submit a question either by the telephone line or electronically via the webcast tools which are available. We'll endeavor to get through as many questions as we can as that part of the process, but if there aren't any other unanswered questions, we will fully try and get in touch with you afterwards as well. We have a lot to talk about today, so I won't delay any more, and I'll hand over to Kjetil, who will take us through the key highlights.
Thank you, James, and a very good afternoon to everybody. We are delighted to present our Q4 results, which indicate the direction our EBITDA is heading. Operationally, our fleet performed well despite what was a challenging and stormy winter season. We achieved a financial utilization of 96% when combined with our managed fleet delivered EBITDA of $92 million from a revenue of $204 million. Our revenue and EBITDA generation reflect new records for the business since we did the spin-off from Odfjell Technology in 2022. In addition, we have more than doubled our quarterly dividend for the quarter, increasing from $0.06 per share to $12.50 per share, resulting in a total dividend in Q4 of $30 million.
Later on, Frode will discuss our dividend in a bit more detail in this section, but what I would say at this point is that we remain very well positioned to further increase shareholder distributions in the quarters to come. Post-period, we also secured more backlog for our fleet, resulting in firm contract backlog at $1.9 billion, with $100 million of priced option in addition. This is a result of the extension of the existing contract we had with Equinor for the use of Deepsea Atlantic, and this contract extension was secured at a very healthy day rate of around $500,000 per day, which I think is a great data point for our sector these days.
During the period, we also worked with our lenders to secure an agreement which results in a reduction in quarterly installments on the Deepsea Nordkapp Term Loan facility, resulting in deferment of $34 million to Q1 2029. And finally, our balance sheet and liquidity remain strong, with the company now having a leverage ratio of 1.6 and an equity ratio of 63%. Moving on to our operations, as per previous quarters, the Deepsea Aberdeen, Deepsea Atlantic, and Deepsea Stavanger were all working with Equinor. The Deepsea Atlantic was working on various exploration projects, while the Deepsea Aberdeen remained on Breidablikk field. The Stavanger, in addition to working on exploration campaigns for Equinor, also commenced a carbon storage well towards the end of the period, reflecting the first time Odfjell Drilling has worked on such a well.
Carbon storage wells are drilled in a similar manner to commercial wells, and we see signs that there could be an incremental demand coming from carbon storage campaigns for our rigs in the future. In addition to the work done by Stavanger, the Deepsea Nordkapp also has a carbon storage well scheduled for Q1. Returning to our operations, the Deepsea Nordkapp remained working with Aker BP on various exploration projects, and the Deepsea Yantai was also in Norway, working with the Orlen Group. The Deepsea Mira and the Deepsea Bollsta were both operating offshore in Namibia for Total and Chevron, respectively, and the Deepsea Bollsta has since completed its work for Chevron and will begin mobilizations to Norway shortly, and finally, the Hercules was in the yard in Norway from mid-November last year.
Looking ahead, our fleet remains well secured for the next two years, with all units set to transition onto higher day rates in the first half of 2025. As you can see from the chart, you can see several day rate milestones happening soon, and already the Deepsea Aberdeen, for instance, will be moving from $345,000 per day to around $447,000, and the Deepsea Nordkapp will also be moving up from $343,000 to $416,000. Later in the year, we also see significant day rate increases on the Deepsea Atlantic and the Deepsea Stavanger. And as a reminder, rates shown on this slide reflect clean day rates and do not include any bonuses, fuel incentives, or any add-on sales, which in the past have been adding, I would say, meaningful to these rates.
Next slide, this chart shows what our backlog looks like in terms of yearly revenue, while also showing average secure day rate per rig and an indicative OPEX cost per rig. As you can see on the OPEX line, this is largely flat, with cost increases covered through our contracts. As is demonstrated, you can see a significantly increasing margin with increasing yearly revenue and a well-controlled OPEX. Our CAPEX expectations aren't changed from prior quarters. We have two SPSs still ahead of us with Deepsea Stavanger and Deepsea Aberdeen, anticipated to begin their SPS programs in Q2 2025 with a CAPEX cost of approximately $50 million each and two to four weeks of downtime. Detailed planning for the yard space is ongoing, with the majority of the SPS scope being completed while in operation. We feel we are ready and well prepared with both programs progressing as planned.
Following the completion of these SPS programs, however, we do not have any material CAPEX cost ahead of us until late 2028, and then we turn to the market. I would say that our market view remains largely unchanged from prior quarters. Demand from Norway remains well balanced between supply and demand, with tenders currently outstanding for future work. As many of you will be aware, we are seeing a clear trend from our clients that they are renewing their focus on oil and gas and presenting an interest in maintaining and also increasing their current production, and needless to say, this will require a lot of drilling in the years to come. We expect this trend to continue and result in increasing work for our sector.
Incremental demand we expect to come from new developers who are also seeking to grow in the basin, while demand from carbon storage, as mentioned, is unknown at this point but could create some further demand. Internationally, we do not see a stronger market as Norway, with a few shorter-term contracts potentially available in 2025. We expect longer-term contracts to increase as new exploration projects mature into development in the coming years. On the other side of the market, we now expect supply likely to reduce with some retirement of vessels in our sector expected and no new builds likely to happen. There are a few stranded or incomplete vessels in our sector also, which we do not believe is likely to create any meaningful competition in the near future.
Ultimately, with our own fleet largely coming off contract in 2027, we see good interest from clients to secure tier one assets in this period, and with that, I will now pass on to Frode to go through our financial review.
Thank you, Kjetil. As always, I will begin with a summary of the income statement. Operating revenue in Q4 2024 was $204 million compared to $192 million in Q4 2023. Operating revenue from the own fleet was $158 million, while the external fleet was $45 million. For the year, the revenue was $775 million and the EBITDA $345 million. We are starting to see the effects of higher day rates in Q4, with an EBITDA for the own fleet of $87 million, a margin of 55%. The EBITDA for the external fleet was $9 million, with a margin of 20%. Less corporate overhead and other adjustments, the group EBITDA was $93 million. In other words, a strong quarter, despite that we saw a slight cost increase in Q4 related to some downtime and minor repairs on Deepsea Nordkapp, as is also reflected in the lower financial utilization of that rig.
These are one-off effects. The company delivered a net profit of $15 million in Q4. As you can see, this is somewhat lower than the $24 million in net profit in Q4 2023, and there are two main reasons behind this. Number one, there was a positive tax impact from our relocation of the rig ownership to Malta in Q4 2023. And secondly, in Q4 2024, we have a one-off effect with a write-down of the value of the small BOP that we took off Deepsea Atlantic in relation to the BOP upgrade. For the full year, the net profit was $65 million. Moving to page 12 and the balance sheet, net debt is reduced further this quarter by $28 million to $504 million. The leverage ratio is at a very comfortable level of 1.6. Equity ratio is 63% based on total assets of around $2.2 billion.
The available liquidity is $217 million, including undrawn RCF of $99 million. We'll take a closer look at the cash flow for Q4 as we now move to the next slide. Q4 saw $108 million of cash generated from operations. Net interest paid was $22 million, including semi-annual interest payment on the bond. CAPEX for the quarter was $43 million. Net cash flow from financing activities and minor FX adjustments was minus $28 million. Of this, the net drawing on the RCF was $5 million for the period. Dividends paid in Q4 were $14 million related to Q3 results. And as said, we ended the quarter with a total available liquidity of $217 million. Moving then to page 14 for a quick look at our debt. As you can see, we have no final maturities until 2028.
Also worth noting here is that annual repayments are reduced significantly in the years to come when compared to 2024, particularly so for 2025 and 2026, following the agreement we did in Q4 to defer installments totaling $34 million until first quarter of 2029. Together with increasing day rates and reduced CAPEX commitments, this agreement further adds to the strong distribution capacity of the company. Our balance sheet is robust with a very comfortable debt level today, which will continue to decrease going forward. With our first call date on our bond being in November 2025, we, of course, will evaluate what is the best timing to extend debt maturities, lower interest costs, and flatten the repayment profile more, and with that to further increase the free cash available to equity holders.
That said, it's important to bear in mind that our distribution capacity increases significantly also without any near or medium-term adjustments to the debt profile. Moving then to the dividend section. As we promised, we have increased our dividend compared to previous levels and are happy to announce a cash dividend of $30 million or $12.50 per share, being the first step in increasing our dividend. This substantial increase highlights our strong financial performance and visibility of future cash flow. With the SPS program nearing completion and our rigs continuing going on to higher contracted day rates, we're in a strong financial position to return more capital to our shareholders going forward. We're being asked today whether further dividend increases will depend on completion of the SPSs on Deepsea Stavanger and Deepsea Aberdeen, which are currently scheduled for April and May.
To answer that question, I can confirm that there is both capacity and ambition to declare a further dividend increase when we announce our Q1 results in May. And with that, I'll pass the word back to Kjetil to sum up the presentation.
Thank you, Frode. And yeah, to summarize, I think these are a rock-solid set of results for our company. We have achieved a record EBITDA and revenue since we did the spin-off with OTL, driven primarily by higher day rates and good operational performance despite the challenging weather conditions that we have had here in Norway in the last couple of months. We have more than doubled our dividend and are very well placed to further increase shareholder distributions going forward. We have a well-secured backlog at increasing day rates with our most recent picture in the 500s. And finally, our balance sheet remains very strong. And we really feel that our forward outlook is quite exceptional with increasing cash generation, de-leveraging, and shareholder return well secured.
As I said, this is a rock-solid set of results, but it's really just the start for us, and we are very excited about what we have ahead of us.
Great. Thank you, Kjetil and Frode. As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, you can do so either via the telephone line controls or via the webcast tools. Our operator, Sergei, can you please open the Q&A session whenever you're ready?
Certainly. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question over the phone, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. And please make sure the function on your phone is switched off to allow your signal to reach our equipment. Again, it is star one to ask a question. And we will now take our first question from Fredrik Stene from Clarksons Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Kjetil and team. A positive surprise, I think, on the dividend side today. So congratulations to all shareholders, I guess. But with that out of the way, I would like to touch a bit more on the market. I think the commentary that you gave, Kjetil, around the outlook, particularly in the Norwegian sector, was promising. It seems like there's been somewhat an attitude change maybe towards further exploration and making sure that NCS has a long life ahead. With that as a backdrop, you have already contracted full-owned fleets for the next two years. Do you think it's possible that we can get meaningful contract announcements for work in 2027 and beyond already this year? I get the impression that there could be quite meaningful discussions ongoing already. So any thinking commentary around that would be helpful.
Also, if you have any thinking about day rate development beyond what you have already fixed for 2025 and 2026?
Yeah. Now, what I can say, Fredrik, is I sort of agree on your sort of summary for sort of the focus that we experience from our key clients. They are very clear on their ambitions to at least uphold or increase production going forward. And we know with the production decline set to happen if we don't do anything, I think it kind of supports that story. I'm not going to promise any contracts extensions from 2027 and onwards this year, but what I can say is that we have meaningful interest from clients looking to secure tier one assets from 2027 and further on. And although those are early talks, we see that as supportive to our story. And we think with pressure now internationally on 2025, we are very happy and glad that we have the backlog that we have taking us through 2025 and 2026.
We think that to have capacity available in 2027 is a good place to be, actually. On the day rates, I think we're not to expect any further day rates increase in 2025. I think that's sort of a takeaway from the whole market. I think once we enter 2026 and we start to see interest picking up and more tenders coming, I won't rule out that we can start to roll upwards again.
Okay. No, that's very helpful. And finally, just on the contracting side, before I'll leave it to the next one, when you're exploring new opportunities, obviously, with Stavanger, you contracted for five years, so that was a very long contract. How do you think about contract length and staggering the roll-offs of your different rigs as you're looking into those 2027 plus opportunities? Any preferred contract length, or would you chase rates instead, or be kind of happy with a longer contract at the rate that's fair for longer-term work?
We would love a very long contract with a very high day rate, but I think we have some key clients that we are working with, but we also see interest from other potential clients. We like long-term relationships, I have to admit, because we see historically that if we do a good job, they will return for more. I think we will keep an open mind on that one and just follow closely what's out there, but I mean, to jump around from sort of two wells to one well to three wells is not the preferred manner for us. We like to have, I would say, sort of a minimum length of at least a year at a time. Preferably be longer if the day rates is okay as well.
Super. Thank you very much. That's it from me. Have a good day.
Have a good day, Fredrik. Thank you.
Thank you. As a final reminder, if you wish to ask a question over the phone, please signal by pressing star one. We'll pause just a moment to allow you to signal. It appears there are currently no further questions over the phone. So over to you, James, for any webcast questions.
Yeah, thank you very much, Sergei. So we have a few questions coming in. Really appreciate that. Thank you very much for your interest. So first question comes in, what are your thoughts around timing of further dividend hikes? Do you expect to stay here in 2025 or increase further when cash flow increases after the SPS are finished in Q2? I think we answered that, but Frode maybe would want to reiterate that question.
Yeah, you're right. I think we talked about on the dividend slide. There is ample room to increase and ambition to increase again when we report our Q1 results in May.
Great. Thank you very much. I suppose in a similar vein, what's the capital allocation priorities of the company? The investor here suggests, I assume dividend is the main priority, but is there any appetite for increased owned or external fleet?
Yeah, I can answer that. I think we've been pretty steady in our comms there earlier, and we will stick to that message. We need something that supports our story. What I can say, we won't do anything to speculate on any deal that sort of might create the revenue or something. It would have to be something that's supportive to our dividend story. We are following the opportunities that are out there. And if sort of it ticks the right boxes, that being price of asset, contract length, day rate, and so on, we are absolutely into looking for that. But we will stay disciplined. It's hard to, it's not easy to find those opportunities, but it's not impossible either. So we are constantly looking at that. And if it's the right deal to make, we'll definitely follow up on that.
Thank you very much. We have another question in here saying, what is the impairment in Q4 amount to? Frode, maybe you want to take that question.
Yeah, that question relates to the one-off write-down we did in Q4. That's related to the small BOP that we took off Deepsea Atlantic as part of the BOP upgrade. We did an evaluation in Q4 of the second-hand value of that small BOP and did a write-down of approximately $10 million, and the book value of that small BOP is now around $5 million.
Great. Thank you. We've had a few questions in regards to the difference from the board's perspective between dividends and share buybacks. Is there anything that perhaps we might want to add to that?
Yeah, we do discuss that with the board. And it's not like that we firmly rule out buybacks. But for now, we have agreed that cash dividend is the preferred way at this time. But we are constantly evaluating that. And it might be that at some stage we will introduce buybacks as well, or probably a combination with buybacks and cash dividends. But we, for now, are concentrating on cash dividends.
Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. We've had a few questions, I suppose, more generally about how we see the Norwegian market. We spoke a bit about that already, Kjetil, but again, perhaps you might sort of give another sort of high-level view as to how you see the Norwegian sort of market going forward.
No, I can just return to what I said, that we see a client portfolio who is very ambitious on the targets, both on their production targets and in both upholding current production and also increasing it. And to do that, they're going to be in need of our services and our well services. So that's the main reason that we are quite optimistic. I don't think you will see a boom coming out of this, that you sort of will increase the rig fleet in Norway with five plus rigs or something like that. But I think it supports a very solid, balanced market with a good balance between supply and demand going forward. So yeah, that's the reason that we stay quite optimistic about the Norwegian sector.
Great. Thank you very much. I'm very conscious of time, so I've got a few more questions that have come through, but perhaps I'll take them offline and answer them directly. And I think we'll probably just leave the Q&A session for now just because we are running a little bit longer than normal. So I'll wrap up the call now. Thank you all for joining and for your interest in the company. Our next conference call and results will be on the 14th of May. And as always, though, if you would like to speak about anything to add a bit more color on today's results, or if you have any further questions, please do just get in touch with me directly. My contact details are on the website and the back of the presentation. Thank you very much, operators. You can now close the call.