Okay, thank you. Thank you to everyone who's joined the call and everybody who's listening to the call via webcast or on the telephone. This is the first time we're presenting via webcast, so hopefully we haven't had any hiccups. If you have had any issues, please do get in touch. As an introduction, my name is James Crothers, and I'm the investor relations officer for the company, and I'm joined today by Kjetil Gjersdal, Chief Executive Officer, Frode Syslak, Chief Financial Officer, and Håkon Klepsvik, Chief Technology Officer. Delighted that you joined us for today's call after another strong quarter, which as you can see from our already published results, we're very pleased with. Your attention is brought to the important information slide of our presentation, and we'd invite all participants to read this at your leisure.
Today's presentation will begin with Kjetil summarizing the key highlights of the quarter before moving on to discuss the company's operations and outlook during the period. Following this, Frode will go through our financial results for the quarter. Finally, Håkon will go through our upcoming programs as well as giving an update on our sustainability initiatives. With that, I'll pass over to Kjetil to summarize the quarter.
Thank you, James. A very good afternoon to everybody. As James described, this has been another strong quarter for our company, and combined with our performance throughout 2022, it adds up to a strong year. We can go to slide number 5, and looking at our operational highlights, first of all, we can see strong performance across the business during a year, which saw a steadily improving industry environment. During this period, we achieved strong utilization across our own fleet, achieving 97.9% financial utilization during the quarter, which equates to 98.1% financial utilization across our own fleet during the year in total. This is rock solid performance and is something that we are very proud of. Keeping our fleet and staff active up to date and challenge has been a focus of ours for years.
This is our position as well as our sector ramps up activity. This strategy has resulted in our five-year financial utilization averaging 97.8%. During this period, we saw several new contracts and option agreements being signed with existing customers like Equinor and Neptune Energy, but also with new clients, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies. I would also like to mention the five-year extension on the Semi Alliance agreement that we did with Aker BP and Halliburton. We are really proud of to be working with these majors, and we see it as a direct result of our strong operational reputation. Our backlog remains strong with around $1 billion of firm and optional orders. Finally, we are pleased to welcome the Hercules into our fleet during the period. That expands our fleet of sixth-generation rigs to a total of 8.
We can then go over to slide number 6 and our financial highlights. We maintained our focus on financial discipline and cost control and are pleased by the results. Looking at some of our key financial highlights, we are seeing continual improvements on most of our metrics. Our revenue during the period was $167 million, facilitating a total revenue of the year for $650 million. Our EBITDA during the period was $80 million, resulting in $308 million of EBITDA for the year. We have $157 million of cash and cash equivalents. Further, our leverage ratio as at the end of the quarter was 2.5, and our equity ratio was 54%.
Another key highlight I would like to flag for the period was the repurchase of the preference share from our customer. This repurchase explains the slight changes in the equity ratio and leverage ratio. This was the first planned step in the refinancing of the company, which we will revert to later. Turning to slide number 8, our fleet activity during the period. As you can see, the majority of our fleet was operating offshore Norway, and we're working with Equinor, Aker BP, and Neptune Energy. Notably, however, we are beginning to see the movement of rigs out of Norway, starting with the Deepsea Bollsta beginning operations offshore Namibia, and as discussed earlier, the Mira and Hercules going on to contracts in West Africa and Canada, respectively.
I think this clearly demonstrates the flexibility that we have in our fleet and our ability to utilize deepwater opportunities as they appear. This trend of increased activity for our fleets outside the Norwegian Continental Shelf is a positive one and reflects both on the increased interest in high-spec sixth-generation semisubs and also the value of our operational experience. While this map highlights the harsh and ultra-harsh environments, I would take a moment to remind stakeholders that our fleet is also very capable in operating in deepwater environments. We can then move to slide number 9, looking at our backlog. We are pleased to see that our continued high backlog of $1.9 billion, out of which $1.4 billion is firm.
In particular, we are pleased to see our external fleet beginning to restart operations and going back on contract. We do expect the continued demand for our fleet to remain strong, particularly on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, where the number of high-spec units is reducing in this basin. In particular, from 2024 and onwards, where much of our fleet's firm contracts begin to end, we expect to see an increased activity as new fields are commencing development. We can then move to slide number 10 and summarize the market outlook. We are, as you understand, very positive about the market. We are seeing continued high cash flow generation among E&Ps, and this is driving increased investments.
Despite this though, there remains a significant lack of meaningful investment to arrest the production decline globally, which will further increase the demand. The COVID-19 tax incentives in Norway, as we know, resulted in multiple new PDOs being submitted at the end of 2022. Similarly, we saw significant interest in the U.K. 33rd licensing round. I think the focus on energy security, which was a massive topic during 2022 continues. We are seeing an increased trend of regions looking towards harsh environment rigs for work due to a tightening drillship market, both to their flexibility and proven performance. I will now pass on to my CFO, Frode, who will continue the presentation with the financial review.
Thank you for that. We'll start with the income statement on page 12. As Kjetil said, the operating revenue was $167 million in Q4. That is an increase from $143 million in Q4 2021. The operating revenue for the own fleet in the quarter was $139 million, while the external fleet generated $26 million. EBITDA was $80 million in Q4 2022. Of this, the EBITDA from the own fleet was $77 million, with all four units having more or less full financial utilization operating in Norway in the quarter. The EBITDA for the external fleet was $4 million, while corporate overhead and other adjustments were minus $1 million in the quarter. The net profit was $29 million.
For the preliminary full year figures, we report an EBITDA of $308 million compared to $258 million for 2021. Moving to page 13, on the balance sheet. For year-end, the net interest-bearing debt was $685 million, which is a slight increase from Q3 due to the repurchase of preference equity, which was funded primarily by debt. Company has a robust balance sheet. We have an equity ratio of 54%. That is based on total assets of approximately $2.2 billion. Cash position is sound with $157 million, per end of 2022.
It's also worth noting in our report, on note 12 regarding contingencies that Odfjell Offshore, which was a subsidiary of Odfjell Drilling until the spin-off of Odfjell Technology, received a tax ruling from the Norwegian tax authorities in December. Here, the tax loss on the realization of certain shares in 2017 was denied. The group will appeal that ruling, and is of the opinion that the most likely outcome of a court case is that the denial of the tax loss should be revoked. Despite this, Odfjell Offshore has made an upfront payment in Q1 2023 of $31 million in taxes and interest for the financial years 2017 through to 2021, which Odfjell Drilling have covered in accordance with the indemnity letter issued to Odfjell Technology in March 2022.
It's important to note that the company has reported this matter in previous years and quarters, and also that the contingency has been included in our long-term financial planning. Moving then to the cash flow from operations. That is on page 14. We see that we have a strong cash flow from operations in the quarter, with $58 million generated after capital expenses. Of the $20 million specified as CapEx in Q4, it's worth noting that the CapEx, of the CapEx, approximately $7 million are related to client-funded modifications, which has previously been reported as changes in working capital. Therefore, there is no net cash effect in Q4. Five million of the CapEx is Green Rig CapEx, which has or will be covered by the NOx Fund and contractual fuel incentives.
The rest, being $8 million, is maintenance CapEx and SPS CapEx, primarily related to long lead items. With that, it's fitting to leave the word to Håkon to add further color on our SPS program going forward.
Thank you, Frode. My name is Håkon Klepsvik, and I'm the Chief Technology Officer in Odfjell Drilling. I'm going to spend a few moments on presenting the company's SPS programs, but also briefly present the upcoming CapEx for the years and also update stakeholders on initiatives on the energy transition which we are progressing. If you move to slide 16. From this slide, you can see our upcoming special periodic surveys over the next 3 years across our own fleet. These are deadlines ranging from end or beginning of next year until mid-2025. It's important to note that this does not include our external fleet. With all rigs included, ODL would carry out 8 SPS programs in the next 3 to 4 years.
It's also worth mentioning that the slide illustrates the sequence of the SPS rather than the exact due date of this process. I will come on to later, and also I'll come on to, we see our SPS program not just as a short window where we invest and focus on the rigs, but rather a long-term day-to-day investment strategy. Looking at our own fleet, we specifically estimate that our average CapEx allocation is approximately $40 million per unit. We also expect that the off-hire time for each rig will be between two to four weeks. In addition to the SPS programs, we expect an annual maintenance CapEx of between $3 million and $5 million per rig. We also see some further potential contract-specific CapEx in addition to other value-enhancing investment.
This includes, but is not limited, installation of new technologies to increase efficiency and marketability of our rigs. If you turn to slide 17, we thought it might be valuable to define how Odfjell Drilling see our SPS programs. The key take, however, is that with 8 SPSs in the next 3-4 years, we saw it as important to standardize the way we perform these SPSs. To do this, we have implemented several mitigating measures, and this includes adhering to increased use of our offshore classification scheme, establishing a specific fit for purpose SPS organization, and deploying the value over of the expanded fleet. What do we mean by that? Beginning with the offshore classification scheme. At ODL, we adhere to a continuous maintenance scheme where we have incorporated SPS tasks during the 5-year period between each SPS.
This means that between SPS programs, we regularly inspect, update, and invest in our rigs to keep a continually high maintenance level. Up to approximately two years ahead of the SPS being due, we perform conditional assessments and implement corrective measures to comply with the SPS code in due time before the certificate expiry date. The objective of these measures are to avoid uncertainty, surprises, and costly project expediting. Another benefit of having the offshore class scheme in place is reducing the remaining scope and resulting in a minimum of off days or days off-hire. In addition, we took the measure to establish a specific and fit for purpose SPS organization which is responsible for all the upcoming SPSs.
This organization was set up with the aim of implementing and managing this offshore class scheme and also to define execution plans, identifying lead times, and settle replacement strategy on critical equipment. This organization has strongly drawn on the experience from previous SPS organizations and experienced people in our organization. Further, with these eight upcoming SPSs, we are able to draw on the value of the increasing economies of scale. This has meant that our buying power has expanded such that ODL has made agreements with the major suppliers to ensure capacity and competence for the upcoming SPSs. We can also deploy a system of rotation of critical equipment between the rigs. The SPS program, that's the key focus of ours in the years ahead.
If you have any questions about how we see the SPS program evolving, I'll be delighted to answer any questions in the upcoming Q&A. If you flip to slide 18. Before we finish, we also want to highlight what we are doing on the energy transition. As you can see from the video on this slide, one of the most exciting developments we have completed during the period, has been installation of several tailored hybrid power system containing flywheel and battery technology. All of our own units now have installed this system which has the potential of reducing emissions between 10% to 15% on top of other energy savings initiatives.
Further, the development of this unique hybrid power system and corresponding direct current grid system has been designed with the future use of zero emission power sources in mind, such as if shore power or fuel cell technology are available. Finally, the Deepsea Nordkapp have also been outfitted with an exhaust cleaning system that limits CO2 emissions. Flipping to the next part of this slide, we are very proud of what we have achieved so far and the resulting efficiencies created. We see our ESG and zero emission drilling strategy as simply good business. We look forward to updating you on further development on our fleet going forward. With that, I would like to pass back to you, Kjetil.
Very good, Håkon. Thank you. A summary of our presentation and summary of the quarter. We are very pleased with our achievements. We maintained our strong financial performance and discipline and earning an EBITDA of $80 million during the quarter. Our operational performance and backlog remains strong with our client number and contract variability increasing. We do see a continually more positive market developing for our company in both deep water and harsh environment segments, and we are beginning to see this being realized in higher day rates. Our backlog remains solid and position us well for the coming year. With that, I will now pass back to the operator and open up for the Q&A session.
As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question or make a contribution on today's call, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star 2. Please ensure your lines are unmuted locally as you will be advised when to ask your question. The first question comes from the line of Fredrik Stene from Clarksons Securities. Please go ahead.
Hey, guys, congratulations on a strong quarter. I have two questions for you today. First, let's start with the market. The North Sea dynamic, I think, has been a recurring theme lately. It's been a market where we didn't necessarily see the traction that we expected in 2023 for short-term work, but we've still seen quite a few good data points for pictures starting in 2024 and 2025, and some of that comes from you guys. I guess my question is this, on the back of a kind of call it weaker short-term North Sea dynamic and the moving of or some assets out of this region, how have you noticed any change in behavior with the E&Ps?
Are they starting to get truly worried about not having enough supply in 2024 and maybe even 2025, 2026 and onwards? When you were talking about higher day rates, and I think you were quite explicit about that also in the report, what do you think we'll end up seeing here? We've seen the 400 mark in some harsh environment regions. Sorry, harsh environment fixtures. We've seen the 400 plus mark in some ultra deep water regions. What's next?
Yeah. I'll answer that, Fredrik. Yeah. No, you know, I'm pretty sure our clients are aware of the supply picture and whether or not they're really worried, I'm not gonna comment on that, but I'm pretty sure they are very informed. I do think that, you know, especially for these big development programs that are coming up, they have a clear preference for the tier one rigs, and I'm sure they have a good overview of that. You know, as we get the more correlated picture between supply and demand, you're right, we do expect the day rates to go up.
We're not gonna speculate, you know, too much on that, but I think we've been clear earlier that we expect from 2024 onwards that we for sure see the $400. I know there's been a lot of speculations way higher than that as well, but I think we're gonna stick with that for now.
Perfect. Thank you. Second question, refinancing. You mentioned that word briefly in the introduction. You have some debt coming up in late 2023 and 2024. A majority of your debts you are paying down or have paid down a lot of debt over the last years, reduced your NIBD. I'm sure there, you know, even with $400,000 per day, you're probably not going to have enough cash to take out all that debt at maturity without doing some sort of refinancing exercise. Are you able to, you know, share any thoughts, comments, et cetera, on the process there going forward?
Yeah.
For the, that is an ongoing process. You are correct, in that we have some debt, a small portion of our debt maturing in December 2023, and the rest maturing, or majority of the rest maturing in the Q2 of 2024. Of course, given the low leverage we have, the strong contract backlog we have, and the strong bank relationship we have with longstanding lenders, we're in a good position to do that refinancing, and that is currently work in progress. All right.
Thank you so much. That's it from me.
Thank you.
The second question comes from the line of Tommy Johannessen from Fearnley Securities. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good afternoon. Fredrik talked about this in his first question, but just on the demand side, can you elaborate a little bit about how the dialogue with E&P companies have been now recently, you know, following increased E&P budgets, seismic spending is increasing? Have you seen any change in behavior and requests in the very short term from your clients?
I think, you know, we have a very good overview of the sort of decision made projects that's coming up and we are in close dialogue on several of those. Whether or not we see a change in behavior, I don't know. You know, I think we will discuss the market. They are aware of the position as we are. I think there's a shared view that we are that there will be a more as I said, correlated supply demand picture going forward and they are also taking that into their plans.
Yeah. Thank you. Rigs leaving Norway, do you expect more rigs to leave either of your own or from your competitors going forward?
I can't speak for them, but I wouldn't for sure not rule it out. I know there's interesting opportunities out there. We see that on several tenders coming up. I for sure would not rule out that more rigs would leave Norway for a period or even permanently.
Okay. Thank you. Lastly, on dividends, you talked a lot about your intention to pay dividends at the Q three presentation, which you didn't do now. Can you just elaborate a little bit around that and your plans for dividends?
Yeah. No, it is high on our agenda. We need to complete the refinancing process first. As Frode said, we have started that, and that's gonna be, we are looking at several opportunities on how to execute that. We made ourselves a plan and we expect that to be done in the H2 of 2023. Once that done, we should have the flexibility to both look at a dividend and other opportunities that might arise. Yes, dividend is for sure high on the agenda and it is part of the plan with the refinancing to get that flexibility.
Thank you. Welcome back.
Another reminder that if you would like to ask a question or make a contribution on the call, please press star one on your telephone keypad. I currently have no questions on the line. I'll hand the call to you, James, for questions coming through the website.
Thank you. Yeah, we have a similar question to one that's been come up before, but it's from Stig Erik. The Mira, Bollsta, Hercules are moving into West Africa and Canada. Do you see other floaters from the North Sea exiting the region in the next 12-month period? How do you see E&P companies reacting to this trend of capacity moving out of the region?
I think we have already some touch upon that. You know, I can just repeating myself, but if you speak of our fleet, you know, we are considering all opportunities also internationally. Although we don't have any firm plans yet to exit more rigs from our own fleet, we are constantly considering that. What our competitors are doing, it's not for me to comment, but I will not rule out that they are considering it too. And further to the E&P's reaction on this, you know, as I said, I'm quite sure they have a good picture of the supply picture that's in the industry.
Thanks. We've had another question from Russell, from Upstream. You've mentioned a lack of supply and interest in new builds. What do you think is needed for someone to make that commitment to investing in a new build?
interesting question. We don't see any new builds happening in the near future and in the immediate term future. That is purely due to the reason that there is currently not day rates or a market that support this. There is not lengthy contracts. You will need quite a lengthy contract with a substantial higher day rate than we see in the market today. And further, we know that yards that traditionally have been into building rigs, they have shifted their focus.
They have turned to other, yeah, sectors and so I, you know, even if you could get the yards to start the new build process, I think we're looking at prices close to $1 billion for a rig and I'm sure with totally different payment schemes that the industry has been seen before. At the moment it's very difficult to consider any new builds.
Great. Thank you. Thank you, everyone, and thank you everyone for your questions. Thank you for joining the call and for your continued interest in the company. We'll close the Q&A for now. I hope I've answered all your questions you might have had, and we'll look forward to keeping in touch and speaking again at our Q1 results call on the 11th of May. If you have any questions in the meantime, please do get in touch via regular channels, our website, or contact myself directly. My contact details are at the back of this presentation or on the website. With that, I think we'll close the call. Thank you, operators.