I will now hand you over to your hosts.
Good day, everyone. Welcome to this fourth quarter and unaudited full year 2024 results presentation for Paratus Energy Services Limited. My name is Robert Jensen, and I am the CEO of Paratus. Joining me on the call today is Baton Haxhimehmedi, our CFO. Before we begin today's presentation, I would like to remind all participants that some of the statements on this call may involve forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information involves risks and uncertainties by nature that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such statements. I therefore refer you to our latest public filings. Now let's start with a summary of the key highlights for 2024, including the fourth quarter. As you know, 2024 was a transformative year for Paratus. Early 2024, we finalized the transition from Seadrill and established Paratus as a fully independent organization.
In June, we successfully completed a $500 million partial refinancing in the Nordic bond market, shifting the maturity of the vast majority of our debt to 2029. Later in the same month, we also began life as a public company following an IPO on the Euronext Growth Oslo. This initial listing was followed by an uplisting to the main list of the Oslo Stock Exchange towards the end of last year. We also initiated our shareholder return program and declared quarterly dividends of $0.22 per share for both the second and the third quarter. In total, we returned approximately 10% of our market capitalization to shareholders during the second half of 2024. Today, we announced another quarterly dividend, again at $0.22 per share, and launched a $20 million share buyback to be conducted as a reverse bookbuilding process.
The $20 million buyback marks the first step in utilizing part of the previously announced $100 million share repurchase program, which will further increase our return to shareholders. In Q4, we invested $12 million and participated with our pro-rata share in a private placement in Archer Limited to fund the acquisition of wellbore fishing and rental tools. Beyond growing into a highly attractive P&A market, the reasoning behind this investment was that it would strengthen the company and allow them to refinance at a lower cost of capital. Earlier this month, Archer successfully completed a $425 million bond refinancing. Yesterday, the company announced the initiation of a quarterly cash distribution to shareholders. Based on the public commentary from the company, we expect the direct annual cash yield on our shareholding to start at about 10%. As of yesterday, our shares in Archer were worth approximately $54 million.
In early February, we received full payment of approximately $209 million following a transaction with an international bank that allowed us to collect overdue invoices in Mexico at a cost well below 10%, which we deemed attractive in the context of the company's cost of capital and other considerations. While we exited Q4 with a cash balance of $99 million and $677 million in net debt, our cash balance, net debt, and net debt pro forma for this transaction stood at $294 million and $482 million as of year-end 2024. This transaction was strategically important to the company, first in the monetary sense, whereby we were able to materially strengthen our cash position. As of early February, our cash balance stood at $277 million. To put this into context, this represents more than 40% of our market capitalization.
Secondly, the transaction illustrates that there are ways to monetize the receivable balance outside of the ordinary collections from the client. We believe that there will be opportunities to pursue this type of structure again in the future should we wish to do so. This is important to keep in mind when considering that Fontis still maintains a receivable balance with the customer of about $155 million. Combined, our current cash at hand and the receivable balance corresponds to approximately two-thirds of the company's market capitalization. We remain focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet to support our operational priorities, while at the same time having a policy to provide shareholders with stable, long-term, and sustainable distributions.
As a result of this, and again to declaring a $0.22 per share quarterly dividend, as already mentioned, the company and the Board of Directors have decided to offer to repurchase shares for an amount of approximately $20 million. The buyback will be conducted by way of a reverse bookbuilding commencing today. The bookbuilding is expected to end on March 4th, which is Tuesday next week. Full details on how to participate in this buyback can be found in a separate press release that was released earlier today. Our two largest shareholders, Hammond and Lodberg, holding about 50% of the shares in the company, have informed us that they will not be selling shares in the buyback. However, we look forward to receiving tenders from any other shareholders wanting to sell shares to the company.
Please note that any additional future share repurchases within the previously announced mandate to acquire shares for up to $100 million will be announced separately. Turning to the financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, we reported Q4 revenues of $109 million, largely in line with Q3 revenues of $110 million, which included $8 million of variable revenue previously not recognized in Mexico. Q4 adjusted EBITDA came in at $63 million, the same level as Q3 EBITDA. For the full year 2024, we reported revenues of $452 million compared to $430 million in 2023. 2024 EBITDA grew 8% year- over- year from $233 million in 2023 to $252 million for 2024. Now let's move over to quarterly review for each of our two operating entities.
We begin with Seagems, and please note that all numbers referred to on this slide are on a 100% basis, of which we own 50%. Seagems reported Q4 revenues of $109 million for the quarter and an EBITDA of $80 million, compared to $94 million and $50 million for Q3. The sequential increase in revenue was mainly driven by higher average day rates and few off-hire days during the quarter. The average contractual day rate was $206,000 per day in the quarter, compared to $186,000 per day in the previous quarter. Technical utilization came in at 97.7%, the same level as for Q3. OpEx for the quarter was $17 million, down from $34 million in the previous quarter, mainly due to a reclassification of certain expenditures from OpEx to CapEx, as well as reimbursement of an insurance claim for Esmeralda. G&A was $3 million, in line with the previous quarter.
For the full year 2024, Seagems generated revenues of $414 million and an EBITDA of $240 million. This compares to $450 million and $264 million for 2023. The overall decline year- over- year was mainly due to lower operating day rate for the Ônix, which operates under its Brava contract. For 2025, we expect both revenue and EBITDA to increase well above both 2024 and 2023 level, as the overall fleet rollover on new Petrobras contracts awarded last year. During Q4, Seagems secured $30 million CapEx funding from a local bank in Brazil to be repaid over three years. In light of the near-debt-free balance sheet in this company, we see this as an efficient way of funding extraordinary CapEx associated with the new Petrobras contracts. We will look at similar opportunities to fund some of the CapEx for this year.
For 2025, we expect about 85 days of downtime across the Seagems fleet, mainly as a result of an estimated 60 days for acceptance testing across the fleet related to the new Petrobras contracts. In addition, we expect about 25 days of off-hire for regular maintenance and annual activities related to extended dry docking. As a result of these ongoing inspections and maintenance activities, Seagems has pushed the dry docking intervals for the fleet from five to seven and a half years. For information, the first upcoming dry docking for the Seagems fleet is the Diamante in 2026 and the Topázio in 2027. In the last several months, the Esmeralda has continued to work on short-term projects at an average day rate of more than $300,000 per day. This signals the current attractive supply-demand dynamics of the PLSV market.
The vessel is currently expected to run out of its contract in April, but we expect the vessel to remain occupied on this type of work until early May, when she will commence her new three-year contract with Petrobras. In addition, the Ônix will remain with Brava about two months longer than previously anticipated due to a delay on the project for the vessel. This means that the vessel will finish her contract in late August and start her new Petrobras contract in early September. Let's move over to Fontis. Our wholly owned drilling company reported Q4 revenues of $54 million, which compares to $63 million in the previous quarter. However, in the third quarter, and as previously mentioned, we booked $8 million of unrecognized revenue, meaning that the sequential change to revenues was minimal.
Late last year, Fontis received notification from its client that the Courageous would temporarily cease operations for 45 days under an existing suspension clause in its contract. A couple of weeks later, the client exercised the same contractual right under the contract for the Intrepid. Combined, this resulted in 49 days of off-hire for these rigs in December. For comparison, the Courageous was off-hire for 58 days in Q3 to install a new crane and conduct a UWILD survey. As of today, all of Fontis' rigs are on contract with its client. As a reminder, these suspension clauses can only be used once per rig, and they are limited to 45 days in total, with any such suspension being added to the length of the contract at the end.
Since two such options have been used and the Titania is nearing contract expiry, the client only has two remaining options for a total potential of two times 45 days. As we have indicated, this would have a total EBITDA impact of around $6 million through the end of the contract, if used. This illustrates that any further potential short-term suspensions under the contract period should be of limited risk to Fontis. In addition, beyond the Titania, all of our contracts have 12 months notice periods. Based on this, we feel contractually very well positioned in Mexico. Operating expenses were $26 million in the fourth quarter, up from $23 million in Q3, while G&A remained unchanged at $1 million. Q4 adjusted EBITDA was $28 million compared to $39 million in Q3, with a difference primarily due to the previously mentioned $8 million of unrecognized revenue in Q3.
For 2025, the planned downtime for our jack-ups is expected to be in the range of 65-70 days, of which 50-55 days will be unpaid. This relates to UWILD for the Defender and Intrepid. The Intrepid is expected to commence and complete its stay in Q2, while the Defender is expected to commence and complete its stay in Q3. The Titania is also due a UWILD this year, but this will depend on the contractual situation for the rig, as we will likely not immediately complete this if the rig is off-hire. For information, we do not have any special periodical surveys on our rigs until 2027. On the contracting side, we are very pleased to report that Fontis has agreed with its client to extend the contract for the Oberon by two and a half months at the existing day rate and terms.
This means that the contract for the Oberon is now firm until early January 2026. As for the contractual situation for the Titania, we are working on potential opportunities for this rig after the completion of the present contract, both inside and outside of Mexico. However, there is a risk that we may experience some off-hire on the rig immediately upon expiry of the existing contract. As we have stated before, we remain optimistic about the long-term demand for rigs in Mexico. The new administration recently reiterated their ambition to bring Mexican oil production up to 1.8 million barrels per day. This is in stark contrast to the current output level, which has dropped well below 1.7 million barrels per day, including the lowest crude output since the late 1970s.
We believe it is not possible to maintain current production levels without increasing the drilling activity from today's levels, and achieving the target production level will require even higher drilling activity over the longer term. We therefore remain optimistic that there will be opportunities for longer-term contracts for our rigs in the country. In the very near term, we think there is a risk that we could see continued adjustments to the rig activity levels as the new administration works out their long-term plans. While we have all five of our rigs working at the moment, about half of the client's fleet has stopped operations. We note that some of the announced suspensions we have seen in the market would not have been permissible under our contracts.
Although we do not have much clarity to offer at this stage, we are optimistic that there could be a strong rebound during the second half of the year, based on the reaffirmed commitments to both paying suppliers and increasing production. We suspect that the suspended rigs will gradually be brought back to the market during the year. In turn, this could also lead to new long-term contracts being signed in Mexico. Outside of Mexico, the general jack-up market is still facing headwind from the release of rigs in Saudi. On the positive side, we see that many of these rigs have already secured new commitments, reducing some of the overhang of available high-specification jack-up capacity. We're already seeing some positive signals of improved demand in the second half of the year and into 2026. We're actively looking at these opportunities and believe we are well- positioned.
In short, we think Fontis has a strong and long-standing relationship with its client in Mexico, which it remains focused on serving, as we believe there is a long-term demand for assets in the region. While we believe around half of the client's fleet has stopped operations, Fontis currently has no rig suspended, and we are pleased to see the Oberon contract get extended. Finally, we remain very focused on the next steps for Titania beyond the current contract that expires in May, as this is the only asset in the wider Paratus fleet that is not contracted into next year and beyond. I think with that, we will leave the word over to Baton to walk you through the financial results in some more detail.
Thank you, Robert.
As before, we present here our figures based on what we call and define as management reporting, meaning that the financial results reflect our 50% share of the Seagems results on a proportional basis. For further information reconciling between management reported figures and financial reporting under U.S. GAAP, I refer you to the appendix section in the end of this report. Okay, now let's start with a review of the Q4 results compared to the previous quarter. Paratus reported a net income after tax of $3 million. That is compared to a net loss of $15 million in Q3. That was mainly driven by the following items: increase in Seagems revenue due to higher day rates for Esmeralda and full uptime at the Jade, offset by lower variable revenues at Fontis, as mentioned by Robert.
Q3 reported earnings were also impacted by a one-time non-cash accounting expense of $34 million, related to a partial redemption of the 2026 notes, as disclosed in our notes. Finally, true-up of our tax calculations in Q4, mainly at Fontis. Excluding for these items, the net income is more or less the same level as Q3. Now I will provide a high-level review on the full year 2024 results with comparison to last year. For 2024, we reported a net income after tax of $32 million. That is compared to a net loss of $23 million last year, representing an increase of $54 million. This is despite the management one-time accounting charge relating to the partial redemption of 2026 notes in Q3.
The main drivers for the increase in profit for 2024 were primarily due to a $39 million increase in revenue at Fontis, primarily driven by strong operational performance, combined with achievement of additional invoicing of previously unrecognized revenue of $23 million, and increase in market index day rates during the year. Partially offset by $80 million, lower reported revenues from Seagems, our share, mainly driven by fewer operation days due to off-hire periods between contracts for the Ônix and the Jade vessels, as well as the Ônix operating under spot contracts at lower day rates. The other factors which contribute to the improved net income were mainly due to lower depreciation and amortization of favorable contracts of about $4 million, lower than compared to last year.
Lower net financial expenses of $3 million compared to 2023, which was mainly driven by currency effects and translations and other, partly offset by the management amortized cost expense from the partial redemption in July 2024. Finally, changes in other non-cash or non-recurring accounting transactions, as we have commented in our Q4 report. Now moving on to page six to look at our cash movement for Q4. At Paratus consolidated level, we exited Q4 with a cash balance of $86 million compared to $150 million in Q3. The movement in cash during the quarter was mainly impacted by the following items: account receivable build-up in Mexico, which explains the operating cash of minus $16 million. As press released in January and also mentioned by Robert, the company managed to end with all of the year-end 2024 billed receivables of $209 million. CapEx spending of $4 million was related to Fontis.
cash distribution from Seagems JV amounted to $38 million, up from the quarter up from Q3 of $22 million. We also made a $12 million investment in Archer, as mentioned by Robert, to support strategic acquisition in November. Net interest payment of $29 million during the quarter, which included payment of a semi-annual interest for the $500 million bonds with maturity in 2029. Finally, we paid $37 million to sharehold during the quarter, following which we ended the quarter with a cash balance of $86 million. On the top of this, the company's share of the cash in Seagems joint venture was $12 million as of Q4, taking the group cash balance to $99 million. Moving over to page seven to talk about our capital structure and select balance sheet items to the right. In Q3, Seagems secured a three-year $30 million CapEx facility with a local bank.
The loan will be amortized over three years, reflecting the duration of the contract for which the upgrade is funded. As already mentioned by Robert, we will look at similar opportunities to potentially fund some of the CapEx for the company this year, 2025. As for the 2026 notes, which materialize in July 2026, we continue our discussions with various capital providers with respect to refinance the remaining $250 million. These will not become current in our balance sheet until the Q3 2025 report, meaning that we will still maintain flexibility on how we pursue refinancing. Some comments on the selected balance sheet items to the chart to the right here. We exited Q4 with a group cash balance of $99 million and $677 million in net debt.
The pro forma for the receivables monetization agreement in January, cash and net debt were $294 million and $482 million as of Q4, which also brings our net leverage below two times. Our accounts receivable balance in Mexico increased to $347 million from $283 million in Q3. However, pro forma for the receivables monetization agreement in January, the receivable balance was $138 million, representing the year-end 2024 portion of the unbilled receivables. With that, I will hand the word back to Robert.
Thank you, Baton. We'd like to provide some initial financial guidance for 2025. For the full year 2025, we expect to generate revenues in the range of $420-$450 million, with an EBITDA in the range of $220-$240 million. CapEx is expected to fall in the range of $45-$65 million.
This guidance reflects that we have 10 out of our 11 assets contracted into next year or beyond. However, the Titania is scheduled to roll off its contract in Q2. There are some uncertainties around this rig. This has been fully reflected in the guidance. Please note that this guidance is also fully incorporating the scheduled off-hire periods mentioned earlier on the call, as well as our expectations that Fontis, as client in Mexico, may utilize contractual suspension rights. Before we turn to Q&A, we would also like to highlight that we have uploaded a new investor presentation to our website today. In this presentation, we have tried to illustrate the financial contribution from our PLSV business, which will increase in importance into 2025 with the new Petrobras contracts.
Hopefully, this can also provide more clarity on the dependency on the jack-up business, which probably is much less than what the market is currently appreciating. Though in summary, we believe 2024 was a very strong year for Paratus, and we will continue to build on this through 2025. As stated, our current cash at hand, combined with the outstanding receivables in Mexico, corresponds to about two-thirds of our market capitalization. Together with the backlog in Seagems, this could provide a lot of support for capital return policies for several years to come, even in an extreme scenario with limited future earnings from the jack-up business. As mentioned, we currently have all of our 11 assets on contract, of which 10 are contracted into next year and with several contracted into 2028.
The vast majority of our backlog sits with the PLSV segment, which we think continues to exhibit very healthy market conditions. We believe all of this allows Paratus flexibility in maintaining a longer-term perspective on operations and strategy, and we look forward to updating the market further in our upcoming calls. I think with that, we open up for Q&A.
Operator, can you please announce how to deal with Q&A?
To use the Q&A functionality, please press the button Q&A on the lower right bottom of the player. You can put in your questions via text there.
Thank you, [Jan]. Let us start with the first questions. Question number one and two. Is Fontis looking to move some rigs to other countries, which is almost the same as with contracts expiring and rigs suspended? Are there plans to diversify Fontis' client base beyond Pemex?
I think this is back to what we've said previously as well and what we said in our prepared remarks. I think outside of Mexico, the general jack-up market is still facing headwinds from the release of rigs in Saudi. On the positive side, we are seeing, as we said, that a lot of these rigs have already found new commitments. So the overhang of available high-specification jack-up rigs is somewhat decreasing. We are seeing some positive signals on the demand side as well. Second half of this year and into 2026, we are already looking at these opportunities and seeing how we can position us best for any of these jobs. I think we need to be mindful that given where we are geographically with our rigs, we obviously face some of our—or we would not be looking at shorter-term opportunities.
We will be focusing on long-term opportunities because moving a rig across the Atlantic and setting up operations in a new jurisdiction for a couple of months of work will probably be challenging. If we can find a contract with potential for more work in the same region, then we'll evaluate this and see if it ultimately makes sense to us. I think we certainly appreciate that we are much exposed to one client. At the same time, history shows it's been a successful business in Mexico. We have always been able to have stable and resilient earnings. For now, we have all our five rigs working, and we're obviously doing what we can to make sure that we maximize or minimize off-hire across the fleet going forward.
Okay. Question number two.
To what extent are Fontis and Seagems able to borrow on a secured basis, thus creating charges in priority to the claims of bondholders at the holding company level?
There are no restrictions under our bond indenture to take up secured debt, but we have restrictions in terms of leverage ratios that we need to live within, starting at three and a half times, stepping down to two and a half over the duration of the 2029 notes. Fontis' secured debt would have to be used dollar for dollar to redeem the 2026 notes at first until they are completely taken out. For Seagems, there are no such restrictions and no restrictions on the size that we can incur, given that it's a JV.
For bondholders, there's obviously a fixed charge coverage ratio and other restrictions to make sure that we cannot just leverage up and let the money go out of the security box.
Moving on, what is your contract assumption for Titania in your 2025 guidance?
For the lower end of that range, we essentially assume that the rig is idle. As we said, we have baked in fairly conservative assumptions in this. We think what we have as of today, if you look at our guidance, this is where we think the most likely or the most realistic scenario is today, and that's that range that we have provided, incorporating the uncertainties that we do face with Titania. I think we've made a habit of being very transparent, and we want investors to know what they're buying into.
Is there a possibility that we could exceed this guidance if activity picks up or if we find alternative solutions for the Titania? Yes. What we have provided today is what we think is the most realistic outcome, and that includes some idle time on Titania. If that changes, we'll obviously update the market accordingly.
A question about the recent receivable monetization agreement. Can you continue to sell accounts receivable to the bank that recently paid $209 million to you, or was that a one-off deal?
As we said in the prepared remarks, we don't necessarily view it as a one-off transaction. We do think there will be opportunities to do this type of transaction again should we wish to do so. It's not solely dependent on us.
It's obviously a transaction involving more parties, but we have seen these types of transactions on more occasions than just in the recent weeks. We do believe that there will be opportunities for us to do so if we wish to. Timing-wise, it is probably unlikely that we will do anything near-term given the liquidity that we have, and we feel that we have an appropriate receivable balance and look forward to seeing what's going to happen with the new plan for our client in Mexico. It is a showcase of what can be done. I think that's also important to bear in mind that it is not just a one-off transaction. We did this type of transaction in the start of this year. A couple of years back, we also did another form of creative transaction to unwind part of our receivable balance.
I think we would like the market to appreciate that there are opportunities outside direct payment if and when we need to do so. It ultimately depends on the cost of capital and how we view the near and medium-term liquidity of the business.
There's a question about Sapura, the other shareholder of the Seagems JV. Sapura seems to finally near a solution on its restructuring. Could you clarify if this would have any material impact on your JV with Sapura?
I'm not going to speculate into the restructuring itself. I mean, we have a very good relationship with Sapura, and they've been in the restructuring phase for a while from public commentaries. You can probably read about the restructuring itself. I'd like to clarify if it has any impact on the JV itself. The answer is no.
The fact that they've been in restructuring has not had any impact. Our predecessor was also in restructuring for a while. Seagems is operating 100% independently from the two shareholders. The shareholders are involved in strategic and commercial decisions, but the operational aspect of the business is 100% done by the separate management team running that business.
There's another question regarding contracts in Mexico. Do Fontis have a dialogue with Pemex about the new contract with the rig that expires in Q2?
As I said, right now, we have all our five rigs working. We obviously have constant dialogue with the client. We are in discussions with them. Ultimately, I think if you look at what's been going on in recent months, I think it's been quite clear that the rig activity level has been adjusted down in Mexico.
We're very comfortable with our contractual rights for the fleet, and there is a reason why we have five rigs working. Whether or not we will be able to do something with the Titania with the existing client remains to be seen. I think for now, we're in discussions. As we've communicated, we do think there is a chance that there will be some off-hire for that rig following the expiry of the contract. That's not necessarily because of or something that reflects the long-term demand. We think it is more about the changes that are still ongoing with our client. If you look at the overall commentary around the market, at least based on what we see, there needs to be an increase in activity. I think we've said this before.
We would not be surprised if over the long run, there would be more demand for more rigs than what is currently in Mexico. Certainly, there needs to be more activity than what is currently going on in Mexico.
Another question on our 2025 guidance. Does the high end of your guidance assume a close to full utilization of the Titania rig contracts?
I would say there are more moving parts in the guidance than just the Titania. As I said a couple of minutes ago, I think the guidance reflects what we think is the most realistic scenario today. It's a fairly straightforward business model with day rates. I think if you just look at what the Titania would contribute during a year, you could see that then the range would probably be somewhat higher.
I think from our perspective, it is important that we are transparent. We want to provide a range that is realistic. I would say that the range incorporates more than Titania. We are not going to go into sort of full details on how many days we would bake in there. I think the guidance provided is what we think as of today is the most realistic full-year expectation for Paratus.
A question about the markets outside of where we operate in the region. Could Guinea offer new opportunities in the region?
I think Guinea is primarily a deep water market, so it is not likely to be jack-ups. I think if you look at the markets that are most active these days, you have West Africa, you have Southeast Asia. I think on the jack-up side are probably the two regions with most activity.
To some extent, there are some lights in the Middle East. I think realistically, there are not that many adjacent markets to Mexico, which again, back to what I said about moving a rig, it would likely be for a longer-term contract, not short-term contracts. We are obviously exploring all avenues. If there are regions close by that could provide some opportunities, we will certainly be looking at them.
A question about capital allocation. How does management plan to allocate the cash on hand between debt servicing, CapEx, and shareholder distributions?
I think we've been quite clear during the roadshow, during the IPO process, that we are looking to maintain a stable distribution to our shareholders. At the same time, I think it's very important for this company to maintain a healthy and flexible balance sheet.
History shows that we have been able to successfully deleverage our assets. In Brazil, for the Seagems, we have repaid more than $1 billion of debt. The jack-ups had more than $600 million of debt back in 2015. Today, both of those two entities are essentially debt-free. Now, we do have the debt at the Paratus level, but when you look at the leverage ratio of 1.9 times pro forma for the monetization that we did in Mexico, I think we do have a very healthy balance sheet as of today. Obviously, looking ahead and looking at cash flow generation, that's more important, right? We are looking at what we think we will generate going forward.
I think we have the flexibility to adjust if we see that the business is not generating as much cash as we were expecting some months ago, but we're not there at this stage. I think we do believe that the backlog that we have is very supportive of the capital structure that we have. I think, as I said, we maintain a view that we need to have a healthy balance sheet. We will obviously plan and allocate accordingly. As of today, I think we are in a position where we can continue to distribute attractive returns to shareholders while at the same time keep our balance sheet in a very good position.
A last question here regarding CapEx. What was CapEx in 2024 that is comparable to the $45-$65 million range guidance for 2025?
I think, Robert, the CapEx for 2024 was in total about $30 million our share.
Yeah. I think if you look at the guidance that we provided this year between $45 million and $65 million, this year is somewhat CapEx-heavy on the Seagems side. As we've said previously, when we bid for the new Petrobras contracts, we knew there would be quite a bit of CapEx associated with some upgrades and modifications to the vessels prior to being accepted and at the start of the new contracts. That was about $50 million. Some of that slipped last year into this year because there were long lead items and some of the, or at least two of the vessels have had delayed startup on those contracts.
I would say that we are more CapEx-heavy this year than last year, but it's also a reflection of starting the business on starting up on new contracts that are at much higher day rates. It's an investment into those new Petrobras contracts.
There's a question about taxes. Can you comment on tax and how you would expect to evolve going forward? I think it's a difficult question. We are constantly reviewing our organization legal structure in different jurisdictions. We'll continue to monitor any changes in legislation. For now, we have disclosed our tax exposure in our reports and reporting quarter reports if you want to read it in more details. There's a question about whether we have thought about listing Paratus in the U.S.
Yes, we've received this question a couple of times before.
I think, as we said back then, we did review the listing venue before listing here in Oslo. We are looking at potential listing in the U.S. at some stage. I think what we've said is that the company is probably a little bit subscale to attract significant attention in the U.S.. As you know, Oslo has been a good starting point for a lot of businesses similar to ours and then growing in size and moving into the U.S. I think we are obviously seeing that Borr and Seadrill and some other companies are delisting in Oslo and moving to the U.S. for regulatory purposes and less red tape compared to what we are seeing here in Europe. It is something that we will continue to monitor and decide if that is something that we would want to pursue.
As a reminder, if you want to place your questions, please use the Q&A button on the bottom right corner of your player. Thank you, everyone, for listening in to the Paratus Energy Q4 2024 earnings call. I will now hand you back over to your host for closing remarks.
Okay. Thanks, everyone, for listening in. As I said, we are very excited about 2025, continuing to build on what we delivered in 2024. As I said, we have 11 of our assets on contract, 10 of which are contracted into next year and with several contracted into 2028. I think the way we look at the company with a very healthy balance sheet, strong backlog, we will continue to develop this and look forward to updating you on future calls. Thank you.
Thank you.