Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Foraco International SA first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, note that all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and if at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star 0 for the operator. Also note that the call is being recorded Tuesday, April 30th, 2024, and I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Tim Bremner. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, Sylvie. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today on our Q1 2024 results conference call. I am Tim Bremner, CEO of Foraco International, and with me today is Fabien Sevestre, CFO. The news release of our results was issued this morning prior to the opening of the TSX through CNW Newswire. If for some reason you did not receive a copy of the release, please visit our website at www.foraco.com. After the review of the results and our comments on the quarter, we'll open the call for your questions, moderated by Sylvie. We're off to an excellent start for 2024 with Q1 revenue of $77 million and EBITDA of $17.6 million for a margin of 22.8%, making this the second-best Q1 of the past decade, exceeded only by Q1 of last year.
Q1 is traditionally one of the weakest quarters, and despite a slower restart in January than last year, business has recovered well, and our outlook remains positive as supported by the strong order book for 2024, which we reported on during our March earnings call. For the quarter, all regions delivered in terms of operational performance and health and safety. We've deployed one of our new-generation BF 800 water well rigs in Australia, which has been very well received and is truly a state-of-the-art rig in terms of technology and capability. I had the pleasure of visiting it last month. Two more are under construction here in France and will be delivered on schedule in Q3 2024, underpinning Foraco's commitment to the water services sector.
We can also confirm the approval of this year's dividend payment of CAD 0.06 per share, announced in Q1 and unanimously approved at the AGM on April 12th. The dividend, which will be paid July 18th of this year, is a result of the outstanding financial performance achieved in 2023 and marks the return of a dividend payment to our shareholders. I'll now turn the call over to Fabien for a review of the financial performance for Q1. Fabien?
Thank you, Tim, and good morning, everyone. First of all, and as a reminder, Foraco reports in full IFRS and in US dollars. The revenue for Q1 2024 was $77 million compared to $88 million for the same quarter last year and $68 million in Q1 2022. Several clients delayed issuing orders to remobilize long-term contracts. Q1 2024 revenue remains the second-best quarter of the last decade. By reporting segment, the mining segment represented 90% of revenue, and water represented 10%, which was the most impacted by the slow start of the quarter. By geographic region, North America revenue amounted to $27 million in Q1 2024 compared to $30 million in Q1 2023. Revenue in South America was $26 million compared to $31 million in Q1 2023. In Asia-Pacific, revenue was $15 million compared to $16 million for the same quarter last year.
The revenue in EMEA for the quarter was $10 million compared to $11 million in Q1 2023. In Q1 2024, the geographical activity split was: North America 35%, South America 33%, Asia-Pacific 19%, and EMEA 13%. During the quarter, the gross margin, including depreciation within cost of sale as per IFRS rules, was a profit of $17 million or 22% of revenue versus $21 million or 24% of revenue for the same quarter last year. The revenue decrease during the first part of the quarter led to some underabsorption of fixed costs. G&A decreased by 9% compared to the same quarter last year and was stable in percentage of revenue at 8%. The exit from Russia generated a $2.1 million profit with a related cash payment anticipated in Q2. The EBIT was $13 million versus $14 million in Q1 2023.
The EBITDA amounted to $18 million or 23% of revenue compared to $19 million or 22% of revenue in Q1 2023. Interest expenses were reduced by 50% following our recent debt refinancing. We achieved a notable net profit at 11% of revenue, and earnings per share surpassed last year's figures. In Q1 2024, the working capital requirement was $26.7 million compared to $10.5 million in the same period last year. The working capital requirement is the result of the seasonality of activity and the ramp-up of activity at quarter-end. During the period, CAPEX totaled $6.2 million in cash compared to $8.6 million in Q1 2023. Two large rigs were added to the fleet during the quarter and will start to work in Q2 2024. After the exit of Russia, the company operates now 290 drill rigs worldwide.
As of March 31, 2024, the net debt, including operational lease obligation, amounted to $85 million compared to $65 million as of December 31, 2023. I will now return the call to Tim for his closing comments. Tim?
Thanks very much for your remarks, Fabien. We firmly believe that the fundamentals for our business remain strong, and this supports our strategy of providing a full scope of drilling services to Tier-one customers globally through long-term contracts. This is further supported by the ongoing strength of EV metals, especially copper and nickel. Even though global exploration spending for all non-ferrous metals fell by 3% last year, copper exploration actually increased by 12% in 2023, while nickel budgets rose by 19%. This truly supports our belief in the long-term sustainability of drilling activity related to these metals. We also believe the outlook for gold exploration will improve. While with lower grades in reduced annual production rates, the sector can anticipate a supply shortfall, which could result in a continued strengthening of the already record gold price.
All this leads us to believe that there's a great deal of potential upside for gold exploration in the near term. We continue to support and develop our water services business as it relates to the mining industry, but also for the provision of clean water for human consumption. As I mentioned, we will deploy two new rotary drills specifically developed for this market before year-end. Thank you very much, everyone, for listening. I'll now turn the call over to Sylvie, who will take the first question from our listening audience. Sylvie?
Thank you, Mr. Bremner. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your touch-tone phone. You will then hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request. If you would like to withdraw from the question queue, please press star followed by two. If you're using a speakerphone, we do ask that you please lift your handset before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press star one now if you have any questions. Your first question will be from Gordon Lawson at Paradigm Capital. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my question.
Hi, Gordon.
Tim, if you can, good morning. Can you provide some color on your dividend policy in terms of any targeted payout ratio versus special dividends?
Sorry, you cut out. Could you repeat that?
Sure. Just looking for some color on your dividend policy in terms of a targeted payout ratio versus special dividends.
Well, the payout ratio is determined by our dividend policy and based on a dividend payment of not more than 15% of earnings is the policy. I believe that this one is coming out closer around 4.4% or 5% of the earnings. And it is not a special dividend. Rather, it's a dividend that we felt needed to be paid to the long-term shareholders who have inquired about the return to a dividend payment for a number of years. And we felt that this was a responsible use of capital given that request and the superior financial performance of 2023. And going forward, future dividend payments will be evaluated on a standalone basis of the year's performance.
Okay. Thank you. And on that front, I mean, looking at the debt drawdown and working capital spend this quarter, what's a reasonable assumption to model for debt repayments this year while balancing the share of NCIB policy and the dividend policy?
Sorry, Gordon. I apologize. Your line is not good, and you're a bit muddled. I'm sorry. Maybe you could.
I have no problem. Is this any better?
That's better.
Okay. Okay. So with these dividends and you're just looking at the debt drawdown and working capital spend this quarter. So what's a reasonable assumption to model for total debt repayments this year while balancing these policies, including your share of NCIBs?
The assumption for debt repayment hasn't changed for what we discussed the last time. It is of our capital allocation policy, debt reduction remains a top priority and is going to continue to lead that. Then next to that is the capital equipment spend, which we don't see increasing significantly depending on where the market is. But our policy with respect to debt reduction, irrespective of the dividend that we have announced, is unchanged, and that still remains our top priority.
Okay. I mean, I've got $40 million modeled this year. Is that reasonable?
I don't think that's unreasonable.
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you do have any questions at this time, please press star followed by one on your touch-tone phone. Next will be Ahmad Shaath at Beacon Securities.
Hey, guys. Congrats on a solid quarter. Maybe a couple of, I guess, housekeeping items. First, just trying to understand the gain that you recorded on the income statement from the sale of Russian operation. Is that the EBITDA contribution from the Russian operation until the closing date, or is that a gain on sale?
So the EBITDA is including in the profit of the exit of Russia is including on the EBITDA as is by IFRS. It's operational. And in fact, it matches the very low margin that we generated during many years and including on the operational too. So the selling of this Russia is including on the EBITDA for your questions.
Got it. Got it. I guess the follow-up would be on the margin-wise. Just, Tim, help us understand why the margin on the water business was a little bit lower than the targeted 25% rate for that segment. Is that just mobilization of the new big contract in Q1, or is there other things at play here?
So what's happened, Ahmad, in the water segment, is that's the portion of our business that was affected most by the later-than-anticipated start. It doesn't necessarily translate into a reduction in the margin. It just really affected the top line. And then some of the infrastructure and personnel that we had waiting for the restart. I mean, we don't want to let everybody go. So there's been actually no changes in any commercial terms, no changes in any operational performance as it relates to the water business. It was just some unexpected delays. So we're not forecasting any degradation in the water margins at all.
Got it. Got it. That's really helpful. So just less fixed cost absorption as you waited to start, I guess, is what it is. That's helpful. Maybe just stepping back and zooming out a little bit. I know gold prices have been strong, and we've seen some positive momentum in capital raises for that sector specifically in the juniors as well. Compared to your peers, you're a little bit underrepresented in your gold exposure. You touched on it a little bit in your open remarks. Can you give us a little bit of a lay of the land in terms of your conversations with potential customers in the gold space, and how do you feel about potential upside for you to grow that side of your business?
So I mean, it's still a very important part of our business. I think, as I've mentioned before, we're focused mainly on Tier-one customers, and that includes those in the gold sector. It's not part of our strategy to chase the junior gold market. That would be inconsistent with our long-term strategy. But there are senior gold companies that are desirous of some of our services that we are talking to. This includes deep-directional drilling, some very deep, which is very much within our capability and an area that we're able to differentiate from our peers in terms of service delivery and value. So I think we're very well positioned to make some gains in the gold sector through the Tier-one mining companies in 2024. We are actively in discussions with them now, and I hope to see a positive outcome before the end of the second quarter.
Got it. Got it. These conversations are commenced drilling this year, or we're talking more of 2025?
We're actively in the tender process now, soon to enter the negotiation stage, and hopeful, optimistic for an award and commencement of drilling before the end of Q2.
Okay. That's very helpful. And then maybe a follow-up on Gordon's question. Maybe I misheard, but you expect $40 million or $14 million of repaying debt for the year is not unreasonable?
In 2024, our obligation, the term, is $13 million in terms of debt, long-term debt.
Did I hear the number right? Was it $40 you potentially can repay up to that amount this year, or is that I misheard that?
No, we can. We are allowed to have an additional repayment, and this will be linked to our revisited capital allocation before year-end.
Understood. So I guess you're just looking at the working capital. It was a big spend this year, so expecting to recapture some working capital throughout the year given the increase in receivables in Q1?
Definitely. I mean, it was honestly just a timing issue with a pretty quiet January and then followed by a steep ramp-up to the end of March. It's really all working capital.
That's very helpful. That's pretty much it for my questions, I believe. I'll just step back in the queue. Thanks, guys, for answering my questions and congrats on a solid quarter.
Thanks, Ahmad.
Next question will be from Steve Kammermayer at Clarus Securities. Please go ahead.
Good morning, guys. Just wanted to touch on the utilization. I understand it was a little bit of a slow restart in January. Where did the utilization rates end up at the end of March, and how are we trending into Q2 here?
It's improving. As we see the utilization rates improving to 45%-46% shortly, certain parts of the business in Latin America were impacted. As we mentioned on the call, the water business was off to a very slow start, particularly in January. But it has recovered nicely, and we are ramping up rigs and putting people back to work at a pretty robust pace. We see that continuing.
Okay. Perfect. That's actually all I had. Thanks, guys.
Okay.
Thank you. At this time, Mr. Bremner, it appears we have no other questions. Please proceed.
Well, okay, Sylvie, if there's no other questions, thank you very much, everyone, for your time and attention this morning. We look forward to speaking to you again soon.
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending.