Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Calfrac Well Services Limited Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Release and Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone keypad. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Michael Olinek, Chief Financial Officer. Sir, please begin.
Thank you, Howard. Good morning, welcome to our discussion of Calfrac Well Services' second quarter 2023 results. Joining me on the call today is Pat Powell, Calfrac's Chief Executive Officer. This morning's conference call will be conducted as follows: Pat will provide some opening commentary, after which I will summarize the financial position and performance of the company. Pat will provide an outlook for Calfrac's business and some closing remarks. After the completion of our prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions. In a release issued earlier today, Calfrac reported its second quarter 2023 results. Please note that all financial figures are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated. Some of our comments today will refer to non-IFRS measures. Please see our news release for additional disclosure on these financial measures. Our comments today will also include forward-looking statements regarding Calfrac's future results and prospects.
We caution you that these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from our expectations. Please see this morning's news release and Calfrac's SEDAR filings, including our 2022 Annual Information Form, for more information on forward-looking statements and these risk factors. Lastly, as we have disclosed previously, the company is committed to a plan to sell its Russian division and has designated these assets, liabilities, and operations in Russia as held for sale and discontinued operations in the financial statements. Calfrac is seeking to complete this transaction as soon as possible while complying with all applicable laws and sanctions. The focus on the remainder of this call will be on Calfrac's continuing operations, unless otherwise specified. Now, I will pass the call over to Pat.
Thanks, Mike. Good morning, thank you, everybody, for joining our call today. Before Mike provides the financial highlights of the second quarter, I will offer some opening remarks. First, I want to commend my operating teams in North America and Argentina for delivering on our brand promise and maintaining our stellar safety record, which translated into record second quarter EBITDA from continuing operations of $87.8 million, or 18.8% of revenue. I would like to also thank our long-term customers and new customers who continue to choose Calfrac to assist in bringing their wells into production. Our suppliers that enable us to provide our services in a safe and efficient manner. Calfrac is now showing significant financial improvement for the fourth consecutive quarter.
The performance during the second quarter is especially impressive, as the company achieved these results during a period of seasonal breakup in Western Canada and North Dakota, as well as through an extremely challenging wildfire season in Canada. Despite these strong operating and financial results, Calfrac remains focused on driving continued improvement on its return to shareholders through effective cost management and maximizing our fracturing fleet utilization. We continually analyze all aspects of our service offerings to create a best-in-class oil field service company. I believe that we have made steady progress toward that objective during the first six months of the year. I will now provide an update on Calfrac's capital program. Thus far in 2023, we have deployed the initial nine Tier 4 DGB pumping units into our North American division.
The performance of this new pumping equipment has met our expectations, with diesel displacement rates that have exceeded 80% in their initial usage in the field. Overall, the announced fleet investment plan remains on schedule, as we expect to deploy another four pumps in the next couple of weeks and the balance of the 50 Tier 4 units into North America by the end of the first quarter of 2024. This refurbishment will continue into the future as finances and the markets dictate. This program will play a significant role in Calfrac's ability to strengthen our balance sheet as we migrate to our operating fleets to next-generation pumping equipment to help meet our customers' expectations and our ESG commitments. I am very impressed with the strong execution of our operating teams at Calfrac during the first half of the year.
As the largest Canadian headquartered pressure pumping company, we expect to leverage on our geographical footprint and build on that performance through the remainder of 2023 by capitalizing on the strong markets that we are currently enjoying. Moving forward, we remain focused on our three strategic objectives. We do it safely, right, and profitably, not only for Calfrac, but for our shareholders, employees, customers, and suppliers. With that said, I'll now pass the call over to Mike, who will present an overview of our quarterly financial performance.
Thank you, Pat. Calfrac's revenue from continuing operations during the second quarter was $466.5 million, or 46% higher than the same period in 2022. Adjusted EBITDA during the second quarter of 2023 more than doubled to $87.8 million, versus $40.7 million in the comparable quarter in 2022. The results in the second quarter of 2023 included fluid end expense of approximately $10 million, as the company implemented a prospective change in accounting estimate for fluid ends at the beginning of the year to record those items as a component of R&M expense rather than as a capital expenditure. This significant improvement in financial performance was primarily due to higher fracturing fleet utilization and the addition of two large spreads operating in North America, combined with better overall pricing levels in Argentina.
Despite the year-over-year growth in utilization, the second quarter was hampered by wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta during April and May, which resulted in several lost operating days. Most of these delayed work programs were completed in June. Calfrac grew net income from continuing operations by $57.3 million during the second quarter to $50.5 million, compared to a net loss of $6.8 million in the comparable quarter of 2022. Calfrac incurred capital expenditures of $30.7 million during the second quarter, versus $15.2 million in the same period of 2022. The year-over-year increase in capital spending was primarily related to the company's previously announced Tier 4 fleet modernization program, which continues to progress in accordance with our planned deployment schedule.
The announced $5 million increase to Calfrac's 2023 capital budget was entirely related to Argentina, mainly to bolster our fracturing operations in the Vaca Muerta Shale Play. These additional capital expenditures will be funded by the cash flow from operations generated in that country. As part of Calfrac's efforts to rightsize its business and maximize returns for shareholders, the company sold certain non-core assets located in North America for net proceeds of approximately $22 million, which were dedicated to the repayment of long-term debt. To summarize the balance sheet at the end of the second quarter, the company had working capital of $282.9 million from continuing operations.
During the second quarter, the company had used $3.4 million of its credit facilities for letters of credit and had $175 million of borrowings under its revolving term loan facility, leaving approximately $72 million in available credits. Calfrac exited the quarter with net debt to adjusted EBITDA of approximately 1x, as compared to 1.5x at year-end. This leverage ratio is the lowest in recent history, and the company expects to reduce long-term debt by approximately $80 million by the end of this year, as working capital is no longer expected to be a material use of its cash flow from operations. I will turn the call back to Pat to provide our outlook.
Thanks, Mike. I'll present an outlook on Calfrac's continuing operations across our geographic footprint. In North America, despite losing a normal number of operational days due to factors outside our control, wildfires, weather, customer delays, Calfrac managed to generate its best second quarter profitability in its history. We anticipate that the strong operational momentum in the first half will continue throughout the remainder of this year and enable us to maximize returns for our shareholders. In Argentina, Calfrac's operations generated strong financial results for another quarter and has now produced operating profits in excess of capital expenditures for 10 of the last 11 quarters. In addition to delivering consistent profits, Argentina has a manufacturer in-country with the capabilities to build or refurbish the existing equipment locally, using cash flow generated within Argentina.
This equipment could be used in-country or exported to North America. Two of the nine pumps that we have deployed this year were built in Argentina. Through the end of 2023, we expect solid utilization by a dedicated contract work across all service lines, which is expected to produce strong financial returns in Argentina. We've had a great start to the year, I think that we can accomplish even more as we continue to make progress on our 3 strategic priorities, which are maximizing consolidated net income and free cash flow through a disciplined, returns-focused approach. Number 2 is dedicating free cash flow to reducing the company's long-term debt. 3, investing in new technologies will enhance Calfrac's service and deliverability in the field. I will now turn the call back to Mike to begin the Q&A portion of the call.
Thanks, Pat. I would now like to turn the call back to Howard for the Q&A portion.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question or comment at this time, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. If your question has been answered or you wish to remove yourself from the queue, please press star one one again. Again, if you have a question or comment, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question or comment comes from the line of Cole Pereira from Stifel. Your line is open.
Hi, morning, everyone. Obviously, the, the North American business looked quite strong. Can you just talk about how we should be thinking about your US fleet utilization and economics into the second half relative to Q2?
We, we see. It's Pat here. We see, we see continued, steady, I would say, utilization going forward in the second half. We do have a little bit of white space, I would call now, but, you know, with the oil price and the gas price, stiffening up a bit, I think that we'll probably fill some of those holes on the spot market. We're looking for, I would just say, steady going forward.
Okay, great. Can you talk about what you've seen with pricing in the U.S. for your fleets? You know, did you have much spot exposure, or was it really kind of running on prior contracts?
I would say it's a little bit of both. We, you know, we have our long-term customers that we've worked for for a long time and will continue to work for. You know, we do always have some spot work. We like to have some spot work, just because of the way the work can get pushed. Then sometimes we'll have a fleet sitting that's just because of a well problem or something, and then we can fill it in with some spot work.
Got it. On the, on the balance sheet side, is there sort of a debt level that you're comfortable with? I mean, is it as a function of EBITDA? Is it, you know, working capital? Is it zero debt? How do you think about that?
Hi, Cole, it's Mike. I think where we're heading is, is certainly the direction that Pat and I are driving to have debt dramatically lower than we entered the year. As I talked to on my call notes, we're anticipating $80 million of debt reduction between now and the end of the year, and we continue to, to make strides in an absolute debt level that I would say is below $200 million. We know that that's gonna be a number of quarters away, but we think we're gonna make some good progress on that between now and year-end.
Okay, got it. That's all for me. Thanks. I'll turn it back.
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Keith Mackey from RBC Capital Markets. Mr. Mackey, your line is open.
Hi, thanks, and good morning. Hi, thanks, and good morning. Just wanted to start out with the DGB upgrade. Sounds like you've got a few pumps coming out in the next few weeks, which, I guess by my count, would leave you about 46 pumps to do between now and the end of Q1, which would be about seven months. It comes out to around six to seven pumps a month. Can you just speak to your confidence in, in, in your ability to deliver on that plan, and how much might depend on, you know, third-party lead times and, and things like that?
Well, we spent quite a bit of time on this, Keith. The, I mean, Caterpillar assures us that the engine and transmissions won't be an issue. We have a number of pumps in. We're doing this rebuild in Louisiana, and we're pretty much their own sole customer down there with a, they have a production line where we have 8 or 9 pumps in production right now in different stages, plus these 4 that are gonna be out in the next couple of weeks. I mean, we're as confident as our suppliers are of telling us that we will have these 50 pumps in the field, by the first quarter of early in the first quarter of 2024. I'm fairly confident it's going to happen.
Got it. Got it. Thanks, Pat Powell. Just, Michael Olinek, on, on capital allocation again. $80 million of debt repayment through this year. What do you think about what to do next? Is it...
... further debt repayment? Is it incremental CapEx? Is it shareholder returns of some kind? And what type of shareholder returns do you think you'd look at first or how would you frame that?
I think from our side, our focus is, is on debt repayment at, at this time, Keith. As I mentioned, I think we're making great progress on that. Certainly, we're gonna see that here in the second half. You know, as, as we look into next year, I think our focus is a mixture of debt repayment, getting us sub CAD 200 million, as well as, you know, investing in our equipment as we've done here, in 2023.
Got it. Thanks very much. That's it for me.
Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Waqar Syed from ATB Capital Markets. Mr. Syed, your line is open.
Thank you for taking my question. Good morning. My question relates to the working capital build. Certainly, it was much larger than what we were expecting, and your days' receivable went up quite a bit. Could you maybe comment on that? Is it just a timing issue, and it's gonna come down, or, you know, those days receivable are likely to stay relatively steady? Is that, you know, geographically in North America, in international? Could you maybe comment on that?
Yeah, Waqar, I certainly can. Thanks for the question. The buildup in working capital is really a function of two factors. One is really the cadence of work activity in the second quarter in North America. We had a very strong second half of the second quarter. Just with our normal DSO, that's, and DPO levels that we have, that is pretty much on our run rate. Then the other aspect is Argentina had a very strong quarter as well. Their DSO is considerably longer than North America, and so as a function on a consolidated or a continuing operations basis, that also plays a significant role in the build. We certainly see that reversing here in the third quarter.
Certainly in between now and year-end, I think things will moderate quite well. Yeah, it's a function of really timing of work activity in the second quarter and where that work was actually taking place.
Do, do you expect working capital to be a source of cash in Q3 or just maybe neutral?
Yeah, I, I think the way we're looking at it, with steady activity in North America, as Pat outlined, we don't see the dramatic need to increase working capital. As I mentioned before, I think Argentina hit a high point in the second quarter for revenue, so we're, we're certainly gonna see that as gonna be an inflow of cash. By how much, it'll depend again on activity. I think the fourth quarter generally is a bit slower, so you'll see more of that recapture likely in the fourth quarter.
Yeah, great. Then just on the frac sand market, both in the U.S. and the Canadian market, you know, we've heard some comments about tightness in supply on the Canadian side and maybe loosening on the U.S. side. Could you maybe comment on the supply, sand supply dynamics?
Sand? You're talking sand, Waqar?
Yeah, frac sand.
Frac sand. Yeah, we, we've. In Canada, we, we have a bit of a unique situation, I believe, with our. We have our own sand transloads, and we have a good working relationship with our sand suppliers out of Wisconsin. We're not seeing-- Calfrac itself is not seeing too many issues on, on getting sand. The United States is, it can be a little bit tougher, but so far we've been managing quite well. I haven't, I haven't heard any urgency out of our supply chain people that, that they're, that they're expecting to have any issues that we can't handle with sand going forward. You know, the trucking and a few can be a bit of an issue, but we're, we're also pretty well supplied there.
I think we're okay as far as I can see with sand. I'm not overly concerned.
Okay. Now, one of your key, major customers, a major company in Canada, you know, there was some talk before about declines in activity, that they were shutting down in September, and they were, you know, a customer of yours from pumping perspective. Has there been any changes there? Or, you know, have you been able to find different jobs for those crews?
I would say that we still have some white space because of this. You know, with, with the oil and gas, prices stiffening as they have, I think we're gonna be okay. I would imagine we'll, we will, be a little bit lighter than we wanna be, but, not concerningly right now.
Okay. Well, thank you very much. Appreciate the color.
Thanks, Waqar.
Thank you. Again, ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question or comment at this time, please press star one one on your telephone keyboard. Our next question or comment comes from the line of James Gourlay from Peters and Company. Mr. Gourlay, your line is open. Mr. Gourlay, your line is open. I'd like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.
Thanks, Howard. Yes, we'd like to thank everyone for joining us for today's call, and we certainly look forward to presenting our third quarter results in early November. Thanks very much.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you.
Thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a wonderful day.