Borr Drilling - Earnings Call - Q4 2020

Transcript

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

Good morning, and thank you for participating in the Q4 Earnings Call of Borr Drilling. I'm Patrick Schorn, the CEO, and on the call with me today is Magnus Vaaler, our CFO. Next slide. For good order, I would like to remind all participants that some of the statements will be forward-looking. These matters involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these statements. I therefore refer you to our latest public filings. Next slide. For the quarter, our results were as follows: total operating revenues of $60.2 million, with a net loss of $46.7 million, and an adjusted EBITDA of $6.6 million for the fourth quarter. We have raised $27.5 million in an equity raise in October, followed by a subsequent offering of $5.3 million.

We have divested of three of our older non-core rigs for total proceeds of $17.5 million. In January of this year, we have completed with our creditors a previously announced liquidity improvement plan, which included a further equity raise of $46 million also in January of this year. Since the start of the fourth quarter to the date of this report, we have been progressing with our customers on four new projects and have also received contract extensions on another four rigs. Let me hand it over to Magnus, who will discuss the financials.

Magnus Vaaler (CFO)

Thank you very much, Patrick. Turning to slide four. The fourth quarter revenues were $60.2 million, a $1 million increase from Q3 2020. The full year revenues were $307 million, and were impacted by the decreasing number of rigs operating in the second half of 2020. COVID-19 led to contract cancellations and a downturn in the market, with fewer new contracts available to our rigs compared to the second half of 2019. Gain on disposals in the quarter was $5.9 million and relates to the sale of the calls by Craig Aptnar. Rig operating and maintenance expenses for Q4 decreased by $9.5 million from the previous quarter, and G&A was down $2.2 million from Q3 to Q4. G&A for the full year versus 2019 was flat. However, the underlying normalized run rates for admin expenses is lower in 2020 than in 2019.

2020 was highly impacted by one-off costs associated with the credit renegotiations we had to extend our liquidity runway throughout the year. At the last revenue quarter on quarter, we have managed costs well and improved our margins. Total operating expenses have improved quarter on quarter and are down around 12% from Q3, with similar revenue. Also, on an annualized basis, the operating margin has improved for 2020 due to strict control on costs, even in a year where we have incurred significant COVID-related costs and other one-offs. Net stock for the quarter ended at $46.7 million, which is a $15.2 million improvement from the third quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $6.6 million, also improving from the third quarter by $17.5 million. For the full year, the adjusted EBITDA was $20 million versus a loss of $2.6 million in 2019. Our cash position at year-end was $19.2 million.

This increased from the third quarter by $6.7 million and was mainly driven by new equity of $32.8 million and sale of assets and other investment activities of $13.7 million. This was partly offset by cash used in operations of $38.1 million. Cash used in operations in the quarter was impacted by movements in working capital, and in particular for the startup of three rigs in the quarter. The rigs have costs associated with mobilization and OPEX from day one. However, revenues paid in arrears after work has been carried out and in accordance with contractual invoicing terms. Now, turning to slide five. During 2020 and in January 2021, we have shown the ability to reach agreements with strong support from most of our creditors.

As shown in this slide, the amendments to the agreements we reached have included extension of debt securities and amortization of debt until 2023 or later, deferral to CapEx and legal commitments until 2023, significant deferral of cash interest payments until 2023, and using our confidence. In return for these amendments, we have raised new equity in three steps, totaling just about $100 million. Combined, these raises have contributed to improvements in our agreements to an estimate of more than $1 billion until 2023. With this, I'll turn the call back over to Patrick.

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

Thank you, Magnus. Over the last months, we have worked closely with our customers to increase the number of active rigs and increase our market share from the low Q3 numbers. As mentioned previously, we've been successful between contracts, letters of intent, letters of awards, and extensions in increasing the backlog by a total of eight additional work scopes. Graphically, you can see this best on our fleet chart, where we show the rigs versus time. In May 2020, much impacted by the uncertainties of the COVID pandemic, we had little visibility into 2021 and beyond. Moving to show you the current fleet chart. Next slide, please. You see here the results of the marketing efforts and customer engagements through which we have been able to add significant volumes of work and even start to see options reaching into 2023.

We will continue to increase our market share, and we have an overall positive view on the activity backed by an oil price currently in the $60 to $65 range. Next slide. In particular, we are building on the strength of our asset fleet, which is the largest fleet of new assets in the industry. These modern units bring a variety of benefits and capabilities that increase the operational efficiency of the modern rigs versus the older ones. As a result, we have witnessed over the last few years modern rigs being increasingly preferentially deployed, as you can see on the graph on the left-hand side. Considering the overall supply-demand picture, there will be a significantly larger number of rigs that will need to be scrapped for reasons of excessive cost to reactivate and capabilities that do not meet market demand any longer.

Considering that approximately 90 rigs are in excess of 20 years old, of which many call stack, we could see the market coming back into balance relatively soon, even with modest activity increases. Apart from the supply-demand driving day rates and in turn our top line, we have also worked to optimize our cost structure and financial obligations, with as a result that we have a tremendous untapped cash flow opportunity once we have all rigs activated at normalized rate. Magnus, please go ahead.

Magnus Vaaler (CFO)

Thank you, Patrick. We're now on slide nine. Following the amendments we have recently completed with our creditors, the company has an attractive cash cost structure. This illustrative slide shows various net cash flow levels in various scenarios of day rates, given various numbers of rigs operating. We currently have 14 rigs on contract or to commence contract within the first half of 2021. The run rates, once these rigs are fully operating, show the cash rate given day rate level between $70,000 and $80,000 per day. This is taking into account the anticipated cash cost for a company in the year. Most importantly, this slide shows that the operation that we currently have requires minimum to no additional cash at those levels and also shows the upside potential of various levels. Turning back to Patrick.

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

Thank you, Magnus. A different way you might look at the same, which is one of the most valuable aspects of Borr Drilling, is the ability to start generating large amounts of cash once we get all of our fleet working. In the graph, you see that at $100,000 per day, a rig will generate around $17 million of EBITDA per year, which jumps immediately to $30 million per year at the 15-year historic average rate of $140,000 per day. Clearly, this type of potential is quite exciting in combination with the way we see the market developing itself at the moment. Next slide. In conclusion, I would like to remind you of the key attributes of Borr Drilling. Equity raises in 2020 and earlier this year have been the catalyst for liquidity improvements in excess of $1 billion until 2023.

The current oil price in excess of $60 per barrel is driving activity, with the resulting increased utilization impacting day rates positively going forward. The market preference for modern units is getting stronger, and secondly, the stacking and reactivation of all the units is becoming uneconomical, both of these being a positive for our fleet. We will continue to focus on increasing our market share with contracts providing our investors with the appropriate return. Lastly, I hope you agree that the current market environment, in combination with a strong operational team and modern assets, provides us with an exciting opportunity going forward. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. We will now go to the Q&A.

Operator (participant)

Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd like to ask a question, please press Star, followed by One on your telephone keypad now. If you're dialing in online, you can register a question with the flag icon. We ask people to limit themselves to one question each. Our first question comes from Fredrik Stene of Clarksons Platou Securities. Fredrik, please go ahead.

Fredrik Stene (Head of Research)

Hey, Patrick, Magnus. First of all, congratulations on the deal with all stakeholders here earlier this year. My question is the following. I see in your report today that you mentioned that you think in 2021 that there are further possibilities to improve your capital structure and liquidity. The way I read it is at least that what's happening in Mexico and potentially also this factoring agreement that you've entered into will be a part of that. I was wondering if you could maybe give some more color if there are other possibilities to improve the liquidity and also on the magnitude that you think these measures can kind of help you with in the end. Thanks.

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

All right. Let me first give you some answer to that, and then we can have Magnus jump in at the end of that. You're absolutely right. Clearly, cash is of the utmost importance for us continuing in 2021 as well. We are indeed pursuing a variety of options in improving our financing structure. Mexico is part of that solution, and there are clearly things that we intend to do to that respect. It's not the only thing. There are some other actions that we intend to take. As you have seen, we have been engaging with our creditors extensively in the fourth quarter and also during January. We believe that there are some additional things that we can do that are going to be beneficial to our creditors as well as to the company. We will pursue that.

In combination with that, it will also be strongly supported from the improvements in Mexico that we would be expecting from the opportunities to properly factor it. Magnus, would you want to add anything to that?

Magnus Vaaler (CFO)

No, I think it's, like you said, the factoring possibilities we're looking into in Mexico and also have agreed terms on. On the factoring agreement, we'll definitely have the potential to release more funds coming out from the JVs. I mean, I've been open to look at selling assets. As we've seen, we have now sold all of the non-core assets and standardized assets in our fleet. Anything to kind of give more cushion or better liquidity, we can look into several opportunities there.

Fredrik Stene (Head of Research)

Thanks. I'll get back to you too.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Dom Nagli of Federal. Dom, please go ahead.

Dom Nagli (Cybersecurity Researcher)

Hi, Patrick and Magnus. Thanks very much for your presentation. Could you please give us a bit of color on the day rates that you are seeing in the tenders in which you're participating, as well as broad day rates context for fixtures like the most recent longer-term contract in Thailand? Thank you.

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

Sure, Dom. I can give you a little bit of color. Obviously, there is quite a bit of commercial sensitivity in that, so I'll try to speak a little bit in generalities. It is clear that the market has been quite a bit under pressure from the lower utilization, and that is something that you see. Do not forget that a lot of the contracts that we are discussing now with customers have also been tendered quite a while ago. I would say that some of those are at more suppressed levels. What we do see now, and where there is a significant change, is that work that we tender right now, we are definitely looking to increase price.

We see that there is a lot of appetite of customers to conclude deals at this moment, in which we are, I must say, very careful that we pick the ones that make sense for us from a strategic perspective or a particular area in which we feel that we need to be present or have a larger operating footprint than what we currently have. I would say that in the fourth quarter, rates were not great. I would certainly say that with the discussions that we have now with customers going forward is one of more elevated rates. We certainly see that people are kind of trying to conclude deals as they are still having somewhat an access to suppressed rates. I think that clearly that is driven by the oil price that we see now.

I think more and more people are getting convinced that the reactivation of some of the cold stack and older equipment actually is much more expensive than anticipated and therefore holding back some of the assets that were previously thought to come into the market. I would say that the environment is definitely getting better going forward and what we already see in our tenders that we are submitting at this moment. It is fair to say that the trough was probably somewhere at the end of Q3, Q4. That is really all that I would want to say directionally around the day rates. I think that any more is probably giving away too much of where commercially we are going to be heading here over the next few months.

I can tell you that we are going to be looking actively at continuing to increase our market share on profitable contracts. For what we see at this moment, there is plenty of opportunity to do that going forward. I hope that that helps you.

Dom Nagli (Cybersecurity Researcher)

Yes, thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Mike Choi, a private investor. Mike, please go ahead.

Mike Choi (Managing Director)

Thank you. Thank you, Patrick. It was a pretty good presentation for us to watch. There are two questions from me. The first one is, as you know, there is a tension. There is news coming today that there is a tension between the United States and the Middle East. What was it? Sorry. Also, it is not stable. The price of shale oil in America is not stable about the leagues as well. Is there any best solution or is there any best solution or breakthrough in this situation? The other one is, I work in Jakarta, Indonesia. The reality is the need of oil is increasing right now, tremendously. You have five more leagues in Singapore available. Is there any upcoming plan for that one? Thank you.

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

All right, Mike, let me try to address those questions. I think that the first of your question is more around the general supply and demand. I think that in general, what we see is that maybe not so much of tension, but because of the investment reductions in North America, we do indeed expect that the production coming out of North America is of a lesser impact into the supply demand on a worldwide basis. Therefore, creating a very interesting environment for many of the larger players, national oil companies in particular, to increase, again, their activities to deal with the increase in demand that is most likely to come also as a result of the world being able to deal better with COVID.

I would say that the activity going forward and the increases in it we see are going to be at the low-cost producers and people that are having significant opportunities on the shallow offshore. Therefore, we feel that we are very well placed and certainly expect the current upturn in the market to be particularly beneficial to companies like us. That's to your first question. Secondly, it is true that we have some rigs that are at the moment non-active, and some of them are non-active and completed. We have some rigs that are in the shipyard, as you mentioned. We see this as probably some of our biggest value that we have. Currently, if you think about what we do, it is having active only half of our rigs.

With the rates coming up and the opportunity of striking extra contracts at a more preferential rate, clearly there's a tremendous opportunity of generating significant amounts of cash. That is what we very closely try to balance. We are trying to make sure that we're placed at the right markets where the right rates are going to be for us going forward, knowing that we have a large volume of not utilized rigs at this moment that provide us a fantastic upside. From that perspective, we are looking at the opportunities in Indonesia, as you were mentioning you were there. There are clearly opportunities there going forward. I think it is true that particularly in Asia, there is a continued increase in demand for hydrocarbons.

We certainly hope that because of that, there will be additional activity in the region that we can play a role in. I hope that that helps.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Fredrik Stene of Clarksons Platou Securities. Frederic, please go ahead.

Fredrik Stene (Head of Research)

Hey, again, guys. Frederic here. Two follow-ups. Firstly, just from a modeling perspective, is it fair to assume that what you've done now with PEMEX is kind of similar in economic nature as what has been the case before? Also on the market in general, and I know you talked a bit about it, but in addition to Southeast Asia, which appears to me seem to be quite an active region right now with many of the NOCs actually keeping their budgets pretty much unchanged from pre-COVID levels. Are there any other regions where that lags or have been boosted now just recently, maybe in particular in relation to the oil price? Are you, for example, seeing West Africa waking up again or any other region that you would like to highlight as often coming?

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

Yeah, let me first talk a little bit about some of the opportunity. Regarding the economics in Mexico, we'll address that secondly. Clearly, there has been some additional work for us coming out of the North Sea, and we see continued interest to start projects there. Africa, I would say, particularly West Africa has been muted. Nigeria has gone down somewhat in activity, and I think the region has been quite stale, although we see interest to change that around and actually towards the second half and later on see additional activity. We do see opportunities in Africa again coming. For us, there is going to the east. In the Middle East, there are opportunities. There is a variety of opportunities. One thing that we haven't spoken about is the potential sell rigs.

There have been in the regions historically opportunities, which even though some sales of rigs have happened in the area, there is still more to be sold. Therefore, we see that there is still some opportunity there, but we're also very actively tendering. I think in particular, there is some work coming up where we have our rigs very well placed to at least a certain portion of that work scope. I would say, even though the Middle East might not be a tremendous increase, if you see overall things that are happening in Qatar, clearly that is impacting all of us. Therefore, there are opportunities plenty there. Asia for us has been good. As you say, even though budgets are flat, a lot of customers are looking to get the right fleet of equipment available to them.

What we are able to provide in Asia with some of our offline capabilities is creating a benefit and efficiency that is today appreciated by many of the operators. That is a little bit, call it the world in a snapshot. Coming to Mexico, on the economics, it is fair to say that it is by and large along the same lines. Clearly, there is in Mexico what is of key importance and what should also be understood. It's not only the day rates in which you are which is affecting your profitability. It is very much on how effective you can manage the time in between wells. Clearly, that is not something that we fully have in our own hands. There is also a role for the operator to play, and there is more benefit to be had.

These type of benefits, at the end of the day, do not cost anybody any money. This type of efficiency gain would help us as well as ultimately PEMEX. We are very much focusing on that and trying to further optimize what we can get out of Mexico in efficiency. They are going to give you a general idea of where those rates are and where the activity is on a worldwide basis.

Fredrik Stene (Head of Research)

Thank you. Just a final follow-up on PEMEX there. You've extended three rigs until the end of the year. The discussions that you've had at the moment, have those been isolated to those three rigs, or do you think that there's still possibilities to keep the kind of the full fleet of rigs that you have there rolling into 2022 as well? I talked to see that the February contracts were most severe in a way to be fixed. Do you have any cause impression from PEMEX as to what they would like to do in the more longer term?

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

I think that if you look longer term, are rigs going to be required in Mexico? Absolutely. Is this type of contracting of providing integrated well services working well in Mexico? I would say absolutely. It's definitely working very well. In order for us to look at what longer term our engagement in Mexico is, it is something that is going to go hand in hand with the ability to extract the cash out of the business. I would say there is needs. There is definitely good business results that are being made and production results that are generated. What we need to make sure is that it for all parties remains equitable. For us, what becomes key is having a stronger handle on the ability to take cash out of Mexico.

Anything that we would be doing going forward and the interest and likelihood to take large volumes of work would be related to that. I think that if you look at the success that Pemex has had and the requirement to continue through a fairly intensive drilling program, increased production, I think that remains the same.

Fredrik Stene (Head of Research)

Perfect. Thank you so much.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Greg Lewis of BTIG. Greg, please go ahead.

Greg Lewis (Managing Director)

Yes, thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. I just had a kind of a more general question. Clearly, Patrick, you've been around, seen lots of cycles. The market seems to be starting to gain a little bit of momentum. Things are falling. We've seen some IOCs and NOCs, yeah, some IOCs and some of the larger oil companies starting to kind of sell off acreage. It looks like now we're starting to see the small companies kind of start to plant their flags and get on the start to buy. When we think about that, is there any way to think about the timing of when post these transactions, when these companies start to get to work and buy rigs to go? Is there any kind of time frame as we're kind of tracking these transactions to see when that actually turns into incremental demand?

Patrick Schorn (CEO)

No, that's a fair question. I think in general, whenever we see certain transactions take place and assets change hands, normally it results in some type of a delay in activity. I think what is very different in this case is that the changing of hands of assets is not necessarily happening in a downturn market. It actually happens in an upturn market. We see that certain assets don't fit with certain companies anymore. Therefore, the ones that are taking on the assets are actually more motivated to do something with the asset than maybe the previous owner. I actually think that it is a bit of a catalyst and an incentive to quicker pickup activity and start projects sooner.

We have discussions with some of the smaller and newer companies in this space that are trying to do this relatively quickly, but also are interested to do this with more interesting business models. Here you could think particularly about the things that we are doing in Mexico, where there is indeed an opportunity for a rig owner to be somewhat benefiting from an increase in efficiency that you can generate. I would say that I think that some of the assets that are being handed over from the bigger players that maybe did not necessarily have a plan with that asset now to smaller ones that are keen to do something where in many cases it is their only asset, I actually think is very positive. All of this obviously is driven by an oil price.

As long as we have the oil price strengthening a little bit further than where we are now, then I think we are in for a very positive environment when it comes to the jack-up drilling.

Greg Lewis (Managing Director)

Perfect. We agree. Thank you very much for the time. Have a great day.