Petrofac Limited ( PFC)
PETROFAC LIMITEDRESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2023
Tareq Kawash, Petrofac's Group Chief Executive, commented:
“Whilst the first half of 2023 reflected the challenges of the legacy contract portfolio, it was also Petrofac’s strongest period for new awards in many years. Thanks to the efforts of our people around the Group, we secured US$4.3 billion of new orders in core markets and in new energies. This high-quality backlog, a growing talented team and a diverse pipeline of future opportunities provides Petrofac with a strong base from which to move forward.
“As I look ahead to the second half, my focus is on continuing to close out the legacy portfolio, improving our financial resilience and strengthening the balance sheet through the commercial settlements and advance payments due in the period, whilst delivering exemplary execution and selectively bidding to grow our high-quality backlog.
“After four months as CEO, I am encouraged by the energy and drive in the business. We have demonstrated the strength of our competitive position with a succession of significant contract wins, providing us with confidence and momentum to deliver further progress in the second half and beyond.”
DIVISIONAL HIGHLIGHTSEngineering & Construction (E&C)E&C nearly tripled its backlog in the first half, securing US$3.4 billion of new awards, in both our core markets, with long-standing clients, and in new energies.
In core markets, Petrofac won two major contracts, a gas compressor station for ADNOC in the UAE, and a petrochemical facility for Sonatrach in Algeria, broadening our portfolio within this sector in partnership with a petrochemicals technical specialist. In new energies, TenneT selected the Petrofac-Hitachi Energy partnership for a multi-year framework agreement covering six projects, worth approximately €13 billion, with the first contract already awarded and valued at over €2 billion, split between the partnership.
E&C financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2023(1)
The financial performance in the first half reflected low levels of activity on the legacy portfolio of contracts, with the new awards driving the growth in backlog but with minimal impact on other financial metrics in the period. Revenue in the first half reflected the lower levels of activity from the lower opening backlog compared with the prior period. The first half EBIT loss of US$122 million included approximately US$67 million of one-off write-downs on legacy contracts resulting from actions taken by management to protect full year cash flows. E&C results also continue to reflect the impact of onerous contracts with no margin recognition, adverse operating leverage due to low levels of activity and an element of additional cost overruns on legacy contracts.
We remain focused on closing out legacy contracts, with five of the remaining eight contracts expected to be completed(5) during the second half of the year or early in 2024. On the Thai Oil Clean Fuels contract, good progress is being made on the construction phases of the project. The execution plan remains in line with the update provided with the 2022 year-end results and operational and commercials discussions with the client are ongoing.
Bidding activity remains high with a total pipeline scheduled for award in the 16-months to December 2024 of approximately US$44 billion, of which US$8 billion is scheduled for award in 2023. Activity on new contracts is moving apace and we continue to build on our existing talent base through active recruitment across the project delivery disciplines.
Asset SolutionsAsset Solutions delivered a robust financial performance in the first half, with backlog growth resulting from the new order intake of US$0.9 billion in the period. It maintained its core 40% market share in the UK, and a renewal rate of over 80% for operations and maintenance contracts. In line with our strategy to leverage our UK centre of excellence and expand our geographic footprint into higher margin markets, in July, Petrofac was awarded a three-year multi-million pound integrated services contract for an FPSO(7) vessel by CNRI in Ivory Coast, growing our presence in Africa.
Asset Solutions financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2023(1)
Asset Solutions also delivered revenue growth in the first half, underpinned by the strong order intake in 2022 and the year to date. EBIT margin decreased to 2.1% (H1 2022: 6.5%), in line with expectations, due to contract mix across the service lines, with the completion of historic high margin contracts in the first half of 2022, and a higher contribution of pass-through revenue.
In new energies, we saw increased levels of activity in the first half, as we continued to secure further early-stage awards and strategic alliances with technology providers, including an exclusive partnership with OCI Global to deliver their gasification-based green methanol projects. We remain well positioned over the medium-term to secure engineering, procurement and construction scopes of work, as well as other execution phase project work, as projects reach final investment decision.
Integrated Energy Services (IES)IES delivered another period of strong financial performance in the first half, with higher revenue and higher production compared to the prior period.
IES financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2023(1)
CASH FLOW AND NET DEBTIn the first half, there was a free cash outflow of US$225 million, which resulted in a net debt of US$584 million at 30 June 2023 (31 December 2022: US$349 million). This movement reflects both the operating loss and a net working capital outflow. The net working capital outflow was principally in the E&C operating segment due to delays in the settlement resolutions required to secure cash collections. Progress on these resolutions was made in the first half however, with corresponding receipts expected during the second half. Alongside cash advances on the new contract wins, we expect that this will result in a broadly neutral free cash flow for the full year. Liquidity(8) was US$253 million at 30 June 2023 (31 December 2022: US$506 million).
In the short term, the Group is reliant on a small number of relatively high value collections in respect of the conclusion of historical contracts, settlements and new awards. The expected timing and realisation of these collections reflect management’s assessment of the most likely outcome. However, the resolution of these matters is not wholly within Petrofac’s control and, consequently, there remains a level of uncertainty which is disclosed within note 2.4 to the interim condensed consolidated financial statements.
ORDER BACKLOGThe Group's backlog(6) increased substantially to US$6.6 billion at 30 June 2023 (31 December 2022: US$3.4 billion), reflecting significant order intake in E&C (US$3.4 billion) and in Asset Solutions (US$0.9 billion), with three major EPC project awards in the first half of the year, which also included a six-project €13 billion framework agreement expected to provide an additional five future 2GW HVDC projects, with the first contract awarded in March 2023 and valued at over €2 billion, split between the partnership.
OUTLOOKThe outlook for new awards in E&C is robust, with a total pipeline scheduled for award by December 2024 of approximately US$44 billion, of which US$8 billion is scheduled for award in 2023. Bidding activity also remains high, with US$6 billion of bids submitted.
E&C has secured revenue of US$0.5 billion for the second half of 2023, approximately a third of which from contracts with no future margin contribution. Due to the small portfolio of active contracts, and an adverse operating leverage, we expect an EBIT loss of approximately 10% in E&C for the full year, before the impact of the US$67 million of write-downs.
Asset Solutions has a strong pipeline of opportunities with US$16 billion scheduled for award by December 2024, of which US$7 billion is scheduled for award in 2023.
Asset Solutions has secured revenue of US$0.7 billion for the second half of 2023. The business is expected to continue to perform well, with revenue growth driven by focused geographic expansion and new order intake in Well Engineering & Decommissioning. We expect EBIT to be second half weighted, with a healthy full year EBIT in 2023, albeit lower than 2022, reflecting the roll-off of certain high margin contracts and a higher proportion of pass-through revenue.
IES is expected to deliver another robust production performance in 2023, with production marginally lower than 2022. At US$85/bbl oil price, EBITDA is expected to be in the range of US$65 million to US$75 million, taking into account hedging.
At Group level, we expect cash flow to be broadly neutral in 2023. In the second half, we expect a positive tailwind from cash advances collected from new E&C awards won in the first half, coupled with an unwind of working capital.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTSClick on, or paste the following link into your browser, to view the Group’s interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the six months ended 30 June 2023: https://www.petrofac.com/media/i4khgz50/petrofac-half-year-2023-results-financial-statements.pdf
PRESENTATIONOur half year results presentation and equity analysts call will be held at 8:30am today and will be webcast live via: https://broadcaster-audience.mediaplatform.com/#/event/64bf64ce1c86d434a61289d6/registration
NOTES
ENDS
Disclaimer: This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to the business, financial performance and results of Petrofac and the industry in which Petrofac operates. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect", "believe", "estimate", "plan", "target", or "forecast" and similar expressions, or by their context. These statements are made on the basis of current knowledge and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. Various factors could cause actual future results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed in these statements and neither Petrofac nor any other person accepts any responsibility for the accuracy of the opinions expressed in this presentation or the underlying assumptions. No obligation is assumed to update any forward-looking statements.
For further information contact: Petrofac Limited +44 (0) 207 811 4900
James Boothroyd, Head of Investor Relations
Sophie Reid, Group Head of Communications
Teneo (for Petrofac) +44 (0) 207 353 4200 petrofac@teneo.com Martin Robinson
NOTES TO EDITORS
Petrofac
Petrofac is a leading international service provider to the energy industry, with a diverse client portfolio including many of the world's leading energy companies.
Petrofac designs, builds, manages and maintains oil, gas, refining, petrochemicals and renewable energy infrastructure. Our purpose is to enable our clients to meet the world's evolving energy needs. Our four values - driven, agile, respectful and open - are at the heart of everything we do.
Petrofac's core markets are in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the UK North Sea, where we have built a long and successful track record of safe, reliable and innovative execution, underpinned by a cost effective and local delivery model with a strong focus on in-country value. We operate in several other significant markets, including India, South East Asia and the United States. We have 7,950 employees based across 31 offices globally.
Petrofac is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PFC).
For additional information, please refer to the Petrofac website at www.petrofac.com
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ISIN: | GB00B0H2K534 |
Category Code: | IR |
TIDM: | PFC |
LEI Code: | 2138004624W8CKCSJ177 |
Sequence No.: | 263566 |
EQS News ID: | 1700213 |
End of Announcement | EQS News Service |
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