Good morning, and welcome to the fourth quarter and full year 2025 presentation of Solstad Maritime. This presentation will be held by Kjetil Ramstad, CFO, and myself, Lars Peder Solstad, CEO of the company. There will be a Q&A session after the presentation, and please use the QR code on the screen and ask question through that chat function that you will find there. If we take a quick look at the disclaimer before we move on to the business update for the quarter. Fourth quarter and full year of 2025 has been better than we communicated to the market back in October 2025.
Adjusted EBITDA came in at $303 million versus $290 million guided, and the main reason for that is a stronger anchor handling spot market in the North Sea, and also better utilization on some of the key CSVs that we have in our fleet. We have experienced an increased demand for our services, especially the last 4-5 months, and this seems also to continue into 2026. This goes for project related work, but it also goes for longer term opportunities.
In fourth quarter, we managed to have a much higher utilization on our, let's say, anchor handler spot North Sea fleet, where we had the Normand Sapphire on a medium-term contract in the Mediterranean in nearly the full quarter. That is also back again now in 2026. So we are back again on a medium-term contract outside the North Sea now as well, which is securing good utilization on healthy rates for that vessel. Also we have seen the two other vessels we have trading in the North Sea spot market has had very good utilization and strong rates in fourth quarter.
That has also continued into first quarter, and we see that especially the large anchor handling vessels that also has ROV on board has had the premium utilization and rates compared to the remaining fleet in the quarter. We have also seen that or we did a few small projects with our CSV fleet that had open market exposure in fourth quarter. And nearly all of them has had also nearly full utilization after year-end and into 2026. And we have also managed to secure important longer term contracts for the Normand Navigator and the Normand Sentinel.
That will secure utilization and good margins well into second half of 2027 for both vessels and potentially also beyond that. We have three CSVs with a relatively open contract structure for 2026. So we have a strong focus on securing new contracts for those. Those vessels are the Normand Cutter, presently operating in Brazil, and Normand Jarstein operating in the North Sea. We see strong interest in the market for that type of vessels, and that is on project-related work, but also on more longer-term work. In addition to those two, we also have a gap in the schedule for the vessel Normand Energy that is presently working in Angola.
We have a gap of about a year that we need to fill between present contract and a new five-year contract that Normand Energy will start on spring 2027. But as I said, we are bidding actively and are quite optimistic to secure work for the relevant periods for all these vessels. We also had four vessels preparing for long-term Petrobras contracts in fourth quarter, and the status as per today is that three of them are now on hire. They went on hire recently to Petrobras, while the fourth vessel will be on hire very soon.
These contracts were reported last year, and they all have a duration of four years, and they will contribute very nicely from the time of on hire and onwards, all four of them. We also sold one of our vessels in fourth quarter. Our second oldest CSV was sold. The present client had a purchase option on the vessel, and which they exercised, and the vessel will be delivered to new owner around first June, the Normand Clipper, and will have a positive cash effect to Solstad Maritime of around $18 million. As we announced before Christmas, we have also made an amend-and-extend arrangement to our loan facility....
Where maturity has been pushed out by two years to 2029. Annual installments are reduced with $40 million, and also interest rates are reduced. So Kjetil will come back to that later in the presentation. If we take a closer look at some of the key numbers for the quarter and the full year, we see that utilization of the fleet was lower than the year before. The mentioned vessels preparing for the new contracts in Brazil was an important factor in the quarter in that respect. But still, the Adjusted EBITDA is not far off what we achieved in 2024. $74 million in the quarter versus $78 million last year or 2024, the same quarter.
For the full year of 2025, we are better than the year before. We had $303 million in adjusted operational result versus $297 million the year before. The order intake has been solid in terms of contract value, but also, the contracts are done at solid margins. We have signed new contracts in fourth quarter for $272 million, which equals a book-to-bill factor of 1.9. And if we look at the year in total, we had a book-to-bill factor of 1.4, so a solid year when it comes to signing new contracts.
We also continue to pay quarterly dividends, and we are announcing $15 million in total for fourth quarter, equals to $0.032 per share dollars. Meaning that around $100 million will be distributed or has been distributed to shareholders for the financial year of 2025. So all in all, it has been a solid fourth quarter, where we have secured important contracts for some of our key vessels. We are reducing our financial cost as well as position ourselves with our fleet for a market that we believe looks better.
Taking a closer look at the market and despite that, we have had a volatile oil price in the quarter and parts of last year, we don't experience any slowdown in activity from our clients. More the opposite. It seems to us like the record high backlog held by the subsea contractors now starts to give an increased positive effect to the shipowners. It is also a positive that there has been anchor handling vessels moved out of the North Sea and to other regions, which has then given a better supply-demand balance in the North Sea for the larger anchor handlers.
Which has also, as I already mentioned, resulted in higher utilization and higher rates, for that type of vessel. We also see that in addition to what the more... let's say, the more traditional, spot market for anchor handlers in the North Sea, we also see that the project markets seems to be quite active in 2026. Meaning that, a portion of the large, anchor handling fleet will probably be used on, on mooring projects, in, outside the North Sea, as well as on, projects also in the North Sea, which will again, give a better balance in the, more traditional spot market, which bodes well for the, utilization and the rates on those type of vessel, going, forward.
Brazil still very active. From the Solstad side, we now, and if we look at the combination of the fleet in Solstad Maritime and Solstad Offshore, we have about half the fleet is presently working in Brazil. Some are on long-term contracts, and some are more on project related work for a few months and then moving to other regions. But as I said, at the moment, we have about 20 vessels operating on the continental shelf of Brazil. And the present order book we have, and combined with the bidding activity that we see, indicate that we have a decent year ahead for our company.
Looking at the backlog, for the next 24 months, we have already booked about $500 million in EBITDA backlog, which is historically high. And in addition to that, we have about 40% available vessel days in 2026, and also or about 50% less available vessel days in 2027, in a market that looks pretty good. We have part of our fleet, as I've already been discussing a bit, but this is working in the spot slash project market, and we foresee that we will be involved in quite a few project with our anchor handlers going forward.
So that will secure more backlog and utilization on good rates for that part of the fleet we foresee. We see that there are opportunities for the vessels for the CSVs that is presently uncommitted in regions in Brazil, in the North Sea, and in other regions for shorter-term work, but also for contracts with longer duration. There will be delivered quite a few new vessels to the market mainly in 2027, 2028, which will give increased competition and may put pressure on margins some time ahead. On the other hand, these vessels are, have a high cost.
They have a high breakeven rate, and that breakeven rate represent a good profit margin for our vessels in the same class. So for vessels that we have that potentially could be available in 2027, 2028, we can be very competitive if we have to. We signed several new contracts in fourth quarter and also in 2025 in total, and the book-to-bill of 1.9 for the quarter and 1.4 for the year is strong. And even if part of 2025 was slower than we liked, we still see that the margins on the term contract we have signed are still held on a stable, healthy level.
Then, Kjetil, I will ask you to take us through some of the key numbers.
Thank you, Lars. If we start with the financial highlights, for the fourth quarter and full year 2025, the fleet had a utilization of 79%, in the fourth quarter, little bit lower than last year. For the full year of 2025, we had an overall utilization of 79%, down from 86% last year. The lower utilization is mainly driven by large regulatory docking program for the fleet, in combination with lower commercial utilization. Including several mobilization to Brazil from other regions, particularly in the fourth quarter. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $148 million, compared to $144 million same quarter last year.
For the full year of 2025, revenues have increased compared to last year. $590 million in 2025 versus $563 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $74 million compared to $78 million last year. For the full year of 2025, the adjusted EBITDA was also higher than last year, $303 million versus $297 million. The net result for the quarter was $89 million compared to $104 million in 2024. For the full year of 2025, we are delivering $213 million versus $240 million for last year.
Firm backlog of almost $1.1 billion, compared to $843 million last year, which is an increase of approximately 30%. The book, the booked equity at year-end was $880 million, up from $696 million last year. That reflects an increase of approximately $100 million, giving an equity ratio of 54%. Book equity has increased by the net result in the period, offset also by dividends paid to the shareholders. Cash position at quarter end was $78 million, versus $177 million last year. The main reason for the lower cash position is dividend paid for 2025.
As cash flow from operations in 2025 have been offset by a cash flow from investment and debt servicing. The adjusted net interest-bearing debt was $545 million at the year-end 2025, down from $589 million last year. And the main driver is debt repayments of approximately $140 million, offset by the lower cash position as mentioned. The company will distribute approximately $15 million of dividends to its shareholders in the fourth quarter. And for the year of 2025, it will distribute approximately $100 million to its shareholders.
If we take a look at the adjusted net interest-bearing debt overview in the right top corner, we see that the fleet loan amounts to $621 million. And if we adjust for accrued interest and cash, the adjusted net interest-bearing debt is $545 million. Then the net debt amounts to $571 million when we include leases, mainly ROV rental. And if you look then on the right-hand side, the graph below this shows the amortization overview on the fleet loan that was extended to with maturity to first quarter 2029.
Well, where we will repay approximately $90 million annually, compared to 131 previously. The interest margin was also amended in this exercise. Then if we go to the updated outlook and guidance for 2026. The new guidance for 2026 will be as follows: The full year 2026 adjusted EBITDA will be in the range of $330 million-$380 million. The tax payable is expected to be around $5 million-$15 million. The CapEx will be between 55 and 75 million dollars, substantially down from last year's level.
Net interest is expected around $35 million-$45 million. And lastly, the scheduled debt repayments and amortization of $90 million. Then the company intends to continue to distribute quarterly dividends corresponding to the majority of the annual free cash flow to equity. Based on this, our ambition is to increase the dividends going forward. Then if we go to the next slide, the dividends of the fourth quarter. As mentioned, we will distribute approximately $15 million to the shareholders, equaling $0.032 per share.
The dividend will be paid in NOK, and then the NOK amount will be announced prior to the payment. Then the key dates, the last day to receive dividend is the February 20, 2026. The ex-date, February 23, The record date will be the February 24, and the distribution date will be on or about the February 26, 2026. And with that, I will leave the word back to you, Lars, to summarize.
Yeah. Thank you. And as already stated, we have had a fourth quarter that ended better than we guided back in October, with an adjusted EBITDA of $303 million versus $290 guided. It was a solid quarter, where we experienced market improvements. This was also reflected in the order intake, where we signed new contracts for more than $270 million for the quarter, and those are all done at good EBITDA margins. The positive trend has continued into 2026, and we already have signed substantial contracts and we are also tendering actively on interesting projects for our available vessels.
We continue our shareholder-friendly approach to and continue to distribute dividends on a quarterly basis. And based on the activity level we see, our markets looks pretty good going forward. So by that, we say thank you, and we move over to Q&As.
Okay, we have a few questions incoming. So the first question: Can you please give an update on Australis and Baltic in APAC? Are they... What is the status on the charter side for-
Yeah
... for those vessels?
Yeah, I can. The Normand Australis and the Normand Baltic are our smaller CSVs are working in both the oil and gas and in the renewable energy markets in Asia. They are. The Normand Australis is presently on a contract in Indonesia, and we are bidding actively for work there after in both within oil and gas and renewable energy. There are quite a few opportunities. When it comes to the Normand Baltic, that vessel has been working through the winter on a project in Taiwan. We are still there for still a couple of more months, and again, we are discussing further work with present client and also bidding alternative work.
So there are work for those vessels in the region, as we have historically also had.
Thank you, Lars. And then next question, how do you view the market for anchor handlers in the Australian market, taking into account the rig activity in the area? Do you expect to make any changes to the vessel composition?
Well, we have. Last year, we had, as some of you will remember, we had four anchor handlers trading in the Australian markets. We have reduced that from four to three by moving the Normand Sirius to a long-term contract in Brazil. Of the three remaining vessels we have in Australia, two of them are fixed for the majority of this year to one of the main oil companies in the region. And the third one is trading the spot market. The rig activity itself is not very high at the moment, but it's more or less compensated by a more active, let's say, project market.
At the moment, the third vessel is working in, let's say, more on the project market. But we foresee that we will still be able to have good utilization on that vessel, and the plan is to keep the three vessels in the region.
Next question is: How do you see the North Sea anchor handling market for 2026?
It has definitely started very well. It has been a tight market, especially for the vessels, the anchor handlers with ROVs, with premium rates. And, as I mentioned also in the presentation, we see that there are quite a few projects that will require that type of vessels in 2026. So as it looks, it could be a fairly tight anchor handling market in the North Sea in 2026. But as always, there will be periods with high rates and other periods where we will see probably vessels alongside in Bergen normally. But in average, I will foresee that the market will be better than we have seen the previous years.
And then the next question is: How do you foresee the project market in the Atlantic Basin for 2026 for anchor handlers? Previously, we have
Mm
... you have done, we have done quite some work in the project market-
Mm
... with anchor handlers. How, how do you see that market developing in 2026?
There are quite a few projects. We are in negotiations on a few of them. There will be a substantial portion of the, let's say, the spot fleet will probably be occupied on projects. So it's a busier project market this year than we have seen the last couple of years. So that looks pretty good.
Mm.
That goes for projects in the North Sea, it goes for other places in Europe, and also outside the European waters.
Thank you. That concludes the Q&A.
Okay. Thanks for listening in, everyone, and have a nice day ahead.