Good morning from a hot and humid Trinidad, cooler today just the 31º…
Touchstone Exploration
A very long day yesterday as the groups traversed the island seeing Touchstone’s operations in different areas. Fully suited and booted we had the usual HSE briefings including the warnings about snakes…
Into the boardroom for a presentation by several board meetings followed by the field tours which include Cascadura pads where the wells could be observed and the pads having space for further drilling. Finally we saw the Coho operation and where there is also scope for more wells including an exploration well. Dinner was taken on a boat in a mangrove swamp watching the majestic red Ibis’ flying home to roost.
Hunting
Hunting has announced its Q3 2024 Trading Update and the securing of $300 million of new borrowing facilities.
Q3 Summary
· Group EBITDA of c.$87 million in the year to 30 September – up 16% year-on-year.
· Group EBITDA margin of c.12% recorded.
· c.$652 million sales order book at 30 September 2024, supported by OCTG and Organic Oil Recovery (“OOR”) contracts, as previously announced.
· Total cash and bank / (borrowings)1 of c.$4.6 million at quarter-end reflects strong receivables collections in the period.
· Commencement of shipments of OCTG threaded with Hunting’s SEAL-LOCK™ premium connection technology to Kuwait Oil Company (“KOC”).
· OCTG, Advanced Manufacturing and Subsea product lines report an in-line performance.
· Ongoing subdued US onshore market and low natural gas pricing have led to trading within the Hunting Titan operating segment (Perforating Systems product group) being at break-even during the quarter. Cost cutting initiatives are being planned to further right-size the Titan business to prevailing market conditions.
Cash, Liquidity and New Borrowing Facilities
· Since Q2 2024, the Company has completed a process to refinance its borrowing facility, with a strategy to replace the Asset Based Lending (“ABL”) facility with an earnings-based facility to increase liquidity and flexibility to drive growth.
· This concluded on 16 October 2024 with $300 million of new committed borrowing facilities being agreed within an expanded lending group and comprises a $200 million revolving credit facility and a $100 million term loan. The $150 million ABL facility has been retired following conclusion of the refinancing.
· $30 million of receivables relating to the KOC order received on 1 October 2024.
· Total liquidity2 of c.$393 million, as of today’s date, now available to the Group to pursue acquisition focused growth.
Outlook and 2024 Outturn
· With the recent decline in the oil price and renewed falls in US natural gas pricing, sentiment has reduced in recent weeks in areas of the sector, which will likely lead to lower client activity within certain product groups throughout the remainder of the year, most notably within the short-cycle Perforating Systems product group, as highlighted above.
· While Hunting’s other product groups continue to perform well, based on this short-term market outlook, 2024 full-year Group-level EBITDA guidance is being prudently reduced to between c.$123-$126 million, a reduction of c.8% on previous guidance issued in July 2024.
· Year-end cash and bank / (borrowings) is, however, likely to increase significantly, and is now anticipated to be c.$60-$70 million. This improvement is driven by the acceleration of receivables in respect of the KOC contracts, which are currently underway within the Group’s Asia Pacific operating segment.
Jim Johnson, Chief Executive of Hunting, commented:
“Hunting has delivered a 16% year-on-year increase in its year-to-date EBITDA result, as positive increases in trading were recorded across most product groups. The Group’s revenue and earnings continue to pivot towards our OCTG and Subsea businesses, which reflect the wider market momentum but also Hunting’s diversified portfolio of products.
“We are delighted to have commenced shipments of OCTG to KOC in the period and we look forward to building a strong relationship with the company in the coming months as new opportunities arise. Thanks to the hard work of the dedicated team, we are ahead of the delivery schedule. The $60 million of OOR contracts secured in the period has also been another milestone. We have a high level of confidence that new orders from other major energy companies will be secured in the short- to medium- term, as the advantages of the technology are captured by our clients.
“Our balance sheet remains strong, coupled with a significantly improved year-end cash projection. We are pleased to have agreed new borrowing facilities in recent days. Accordingly, Hunting now has c.$393 million of liquidity available to pursue growth opportunities in the energy and non-oil and gas sectors. Management is also continuing to review high quality acquisition candidates, with our focus being on subsea and well completions.
“Our 2024 full year outturn had been predicated on a strong international market coupled with some improvement in our US onshore businesses. Whilst the outlook for the international and offshore subsectors of the industry continues to remain firm, the slower than anticipated improvement within the US onshore has led to a deterioration in our short-term trading expectations. As a result, we are reducing EBITDA guidance; however, we still expect to be broadly within the range guided at the start of the year.”
I suppose that at some stage there would have to be a reduction in guidance from Hunting, after all hydrocarbon prices have been under a little pressure and in particular in onshore USA. However, even with an 8% reduction in guidance the ytd EBITDA is still up a more than decent 16% and has a substantial order book and a powerful balance sheet to be able to use when M&A opportunities present themselves.
As always with flash blogs from a tour there will be more later, when I return I will hope to chat to Jim or Bruce to see just how things are, probably not as bad as today’s price fall would indicate but it has very slightly taken the gloss of a favourite stock, probably for a short period of time.
Q3 Trading Update
Hunting’s trading performance during Q3 2024 was in-line with management’s expectations across most product groups.
The Group’s Asia Pacific operating segment has commenced shipments of OCTG, threaded with Hunting’s SEAL-LOCKTM premium connection technology, to KOC, with the first tranche of revenue being recognised towards the end of the quarter, with future deliveries remaining on track.
The Subsea Technologies operating segment also continued to deliver good results throughout the quarter as orders for ExxonMobil Guyana, in respect of the Group’s titanium stress joints, are progressed.
Trading within the North America operating segment was broadly in-line with expectations. The segment suffered a number of lost trading days as a result of Hurricanes Beryl and Francine; however, all facilities are completing extra shifts to meet their year-end targets.
The Hunting Titan operating segment continued to report trading headwinds as the subdued US onshore completions market persists and in Q3 2024 reported an EBITDA break-even result. The underlying US onshore market continues to be depressed and is likely to persist for some months leading to the lower trading guidance noted above despite decisive cost cutting actions implemented in Q2 2024, which has eliminated c.$6-$7 million of annualised costs.
Year-to-date EBITDA of c.$87 million reflects strengthening results from the Group’s Asia Pacific and Subsea Technologies operating segments, offset by lower results from the Hunting Titan operating segment.
Group EBITDA margin of c.12% has been achieved in the year-to-date, as product mix, higher margin contracts and improved utilisation of facilities increased the profit drop-through.
During Q3 2024, cash generation improved as management focused on receivables collections. On 30 September 2024, total cash and bank / (borrowings) was c.$4.6 million, compared to $(9.7) million at 30 June 2024, an inflow of c$14.3 million. Following collection of receivables in relation to the KOC order, total cash and bank / (borrowings) on 11 October 2024 was c.$31 million.
The Group’s balance sheet remains strong, with net assets on 30 September 2024 of c.$988 million. Working capital has remained broadly unchanged since the Half Year at c.$454 million.
The 2024 interim dividend of 5.5 cents per share will be paid on Friday 25 October 2024, which will absorb c.$8.7 million. Capital expenditure for the full year is now anticipated to be c.$40 million, comprising tangible and intangible expenditure.
The Group continues to report a strong tender pipeline across most product groups. New, large tenders are being assessed by management for the Group’s OCTG product group, with a positive outlook for Subsea orders, as new tenders are anticipated to be issued during 2025.
Management continues to evaluate several acquisition opportunities, with the focus mainly on subsea and well completion targets.
Outlook and 2024 Outturn
The reduced trading outlook for the remainder of the year has been driven by the macro-economic sentiment across the industry and lower oil and gas prices. As noted above, the trading expectations within the Hunting Titan operating segment (Perforating Systems product group) for the remainder of the year is likely to be impacted by this reduced sentiment, coupled with some orders across other product groups being pushed into 2025.
EBITDA guidance for the full year 2024 is now projected to be in the range of c.$123-$126 million.
Cash collections are projected to increase throughout the balance of the year, which will improve the Group’s year-end cash and bank / (borrowings) position. Management estimates that the outturn will be c.$60-$70 million as proceeds are collected from KOC, in addition to other anticipated working capital improvements.
The trading outlook for Hunting Titan will likely lead to an adjustment to the carrying value of the business currently held on the Group’s consolidated balance sheet, subject to agreement with the Company’s external auditor. Further, strategic changes to the business’ operations have been implemented to focus on returning the division to improved profitability for 2025 and beyond.
An update to 2025 guidance will be issued in the next trading statement; with the outlook supported by the Group’s strong order book, robust tender pipeline and acquisition opportunities being reviewed by management.
$300 million of New Committed Borrowing Facilities
In October 2024, the Group entered into $300 million of new committed borrowing facilities to finance the ongoing working capital requirements of the existing business and to support Hunting’s stated organic and inorganic growth strategy. The new funding arrangements comprise a $200 million revolving credit facility (“RCF”) and a $100 million term loan. These facilities will refinance and replace our existing $150 million Asset Based Lending (“ABL”) facility, increasing our access to committed liquidity and extending the maturity of our bank borrowing facilities. The new facilities are provided by a four-bank syndicate, expanding the number of banks participating in our core funding arrangements. Wells Fargo and HSBC (who participated in our prior facilities and have acted as joint coordinators in these new facilities) will be joined by First Abu Dhabi Bank and Emirates NBD. The Company is pleased to welcome these new banks into our lending group. The new, upsized facilities and expanded bank group provides Hunting with committed liquidity and headroom that will enable us to pursue Hunting’s stated growth ambition, as outlined in the Hunting 2030 Strategy at the Capital Markets Day in September 2023.
A conventional earnings-based covenant regime is attached to the facilities and includes a leverage test (being the ratio of total net debt3 to adjusted EBITDA4 not exceeding 3.0:1) and an interest cover test (being the ratio of consolidated EBITDA5 to consolidated net finance charges6 not being less than 4.0:1). The RCF has been arranged with an initial tenor of four years, expiring on 16 October 2028, with an option that allows the company to extend the contracted maturity date by an additional twelve-month term.
The $100 million term loan has been arranged with a three-year tenor and, pursuant to the conditions of the facility agreement, was fully drawn on signing of the facilities. After an initial twelve-month period, the term loan amortises with eight quarterly repayments of $9.375 million required (the first such payment due on 30 September 2025) and a final $25 million repayment on 30 September 2027.
On signing of the new facilities, the Group’s $150 million ABL facility was repaid and cancelled, with drawings under the new term loan used in part for this purpose.
Petro Matad
Petro Matad has provided the following update on the planned start of oil production in its Block XX Production Sharing Contract area in eastern Mongolia.
Highlights
· Construction and equipment installation activities at the Heron-1 well pad have been completed and commissioning of the site is ongoing. Start of production from the well is planned on or before 25 October 2024.
· The Company will host a delegation headed by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources for a production startup ceremony at site on 25 October.
· The Cooperation Agreement with PetroChina Daqing Tamsag for use of the Block XIX production facilities and export infrastructure is in near final form.
Heron-1 production startup
Site construction and equipment installation activities on the Heron-1 well pad have been completed. The beam pump, generator and storage tanks are now being commissioned and will be ready for production startup on or before 25 October 2024. Petro Matad’s in-field operations team is at site and all logistical preparations are being made to be ready to start the transportation of produced fluids to PetroChina’s facilities some 20 km to the north in Block XIX.
The Company will be honoured to host a delegation headed by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources at a startup ceremony at the well site on 25 October. The delegation will include senior representatives of the Ministry, senior officials of industry regulator the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (MRPAM), and invitees also include the Provincial and District Governors and their respective senior officials as well as representatives of PetroChina.
The Cooperation Agreement with neighbouring operator, PetroChina Daqing Tamsag, is in near final form. It includes provision for the offloading, measurement, processing, export and sale of the Block XX production. All fees to be levied are in line with expectations and the only item remaining to be agreed is the administration fee to be paid to PetroChina. Whilst PetroChina has advised that it will likely take some time for the agreement to be signed by its Headquarters, Petro Matad, PetroChina and MRPAM have all agreed to get Block XX production operations started ahead of the operational winter shut down in late November. Production, processing and export activities continue through the winter months, so it is important to get these started in advance.
Mike Buck, CEO of Petro Matad, said:
“We have waited a long time to get the Heron-1 well into production and we are pleased to have reached this important milestone. We very much appreciate the support of the Ministry and MRPAM and the cooperation that PetroChina is providing. We are also very grateful for the hard work and enthusiasm of our dedicated team and for the patience and continued support of our shareholders.”
Further operational updates will be provided in due course.
It takes someone like Mike Buck to say that ‘we have waited a long time to get Heron-1 into production’ and so it seems. Younger analysts and sector followers know more about Genghis Khan than oil from Mongolia but all that is about to change. All I can say is many congratulations to Mike and his team for getting over the line, it couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.
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