Subsea 7 S.A. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results

Luxembourg – 2March2023 – Subsea 7 S.A. (Oslo Børs: SUBC, ADR: SUBCY, ISIN: LU0075646355, the Company) announced today results of Subsea7 Group (the Group, Subsea7) for the fourth quarter and full year which ended 31 December 2022. Unless otherwise stated the comparative period is the full year which ended 31 December 2021.

Full year highlights  

• Full year Adjusted EBITDA of $559 million resulting in a margin of 11%
• Highest order intake since 2013 at over $7 billion
• Backlog of $9.0 billion, of which $4.2 billion to be executed in 2023 and $3.0 billion in 2024
• Cash and cash equivalents of $646 million and net cash of $33 million including lease liabilities
• High tendering activity with continued momentum in pricing
• Recent awards and ongoing bids underpin management’s confidence in the outlook, including a return of Adjusted EBITDA margins to through-cycle levels of 15-20% over the coming four years
• Reflecting the Board’s confidence in the outlook for Subsea7, it will propose for approval by shareholders at April’s AGM a dividend of NOK 4.00 per share, including the NOK 1.00 per share regular dividend
  
  

	Fourth Quarter		Full Year
For the period (in $ millions, except Adjusted EBITDA margin and per share data)	Q4 2022 Unaudited	Q4 2021 Unaudited	2022 Audited	2021 Audited
Revenue	1,291	1,365	5,136	5,010
Adjusted EBITDA(a)	169	143	559	521
Adjusted EBITDA margin(a)	13%	10%	11%	10%
Net operating income	108	31	149	72
Net income	27	4	36	36
Earnings per share – in $ per share
Basic	0.10	(0.01)	0.20	0.11
Diluted(b)	0.09	(0.01)	0.19	0.11
At (in $ millions)			2022 31 Dec	2021 31 Dec
Backlog(a)			9,008	7,212
Book-to-bill ratio – full year(a)			1.4x	1.2x
Cash and cash equivalents			646	598
Borrowings			(356)	(422)
Net cash excluding lease liabilities(a)			290	176
Net cash/(debt) including lease liabilities(a)			33	(55)

(a) For explanations and reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Backlog, Book-to-bill ratio and Net cash/(debt) refer to the ‘Alternative Performance Measures’ section of the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

(b) For the explanation and a reconciliation of diluted earnings per share refer to Note 7 ‘Earnings per share’ to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

John Evans, Chief Executive Officer, said:

2022 was a year of strong momentum for Subsea7 as the recovery in our subsea market gathered pace. The cumulative impact of years of underinvestment by the oil and gas industry combined with a new urgency for energy security supported a resurgence in demand for our services. The increase in tendering and early engineering activity that we were experiencing twelve months ago translated into strong order intake over the course of 2022, driving a rapid tightening of vessel availability and an improvement in new project margins. Total order intake for the year was over $7 billion – the highest since 2013 – with a backlog of over $9 billion. This resulted in high revenue visibility for 2024 and beyond.

Our success in subsea in 2022 has been underpinned by our long-held strategy of early engagement, and collaboration and partnerships. In the fourth quarter we booked new orders in Norway totalling $1.8 billion as a result of our subsea alliance with Aker BP and Aker Solutions. This partnership enabled us to engage early in the field development process, optimising design solutions and enhancing field economics to unlock these developments. During 2022 we also reinforced our relationship with SLB with the agreement to invest in its new subsea hardware joint venture with Aker Solutions. The joint venture will become our new partner in Subsea Integration Alliance and our investment will strengthen this partnership as well as offering strong returns on a standalone basis.

Our energy transition strategy includes carbon capture, floating wind and hydrogen, and in 2022, we prepared for the pipelay on our first CCUS project at Northern Lights in Norway, and executed our third floating wind project at Hywind Tampen. We also successfully engaged Ørsted as a strategic investor in our Salamander floating wind project with Simply Blue Energy, and we joined a consortium of companies working on the design of the Gray Whale 3 floating wind project in South Korea. In hydrogen, we formed an alliance with OneSea to develop solutions for offshore green hydrogen and we advanced our evaluation of this potentially significant market.  

Within Renewables, Seaway7 did not perform as we had expected during 2022. The problems encountered originated from the combination with OHT ASA primarily linked to issues with the construction of Seaway Alfa Lift. Specifically, the design and fabrication of the mission equipment led to an overrun on the vessel construction schedule and budget with a knock-on impact on Dogger Bank A&B, for which a provision was taken in 2022. Among other factors, this development contributed to the Group being unable to realise its initial objective to increase the free float of Seaway7, and necessitated recapitalising Seaway7 through a combination of debt and equity rights issue.

Seaway7’s two leading-edge new build vessels are expected to be delivered towards the end of 2023 and will ensure that it remains a market leader in the high growth fixed offshore wind market. While order inflow was subdued in 2022, our pre-backlog of over $1 billion, combined with a tendering pipeline of over $7 billion, gives us confidence in the future for this important part of our energy transition strategy.

Overall, Subsea7 delivered a good financial and operational performance in 2022, while making important progress on several aspects of our strategy, and we are well-placed to deliver growth, both near and longer term.

Operational highlights – good progress on major projects

During 2022 the Subsea and Conventional business unit made good progress in engineering and procurement activities on several large projects including Mero 3 and Bacalhau in Brazil, Marjan 2 in Saudi Arabia, Sanha Lean Gas in Angola and Scarborough in Australia, while offshore activities continued on the major, fast-track Sakarya project in Turkey. Our global enabler vessels were active on several projects in the Gulf of Mexico including Jack St Malo, King’s Quay, Mad Dog 2, TOPR and Vito, as well as Jubilee in Ghana, Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 in Norway, Sangomar in Senegal and 28 Jackets in Saudi Arabia. The vessels also executed the Hywind Tampen floating wind development in Norway.

In the Renewables business unit, good progress was made on the Seagreen project in the UK, which neared completion. By year-end, a total of 93 foundation jackets had been installed and more than 50% of the associated inner-array cables. The challenging Formosa 2 project in Taiwan and monopile scope of the Hollandse Kust Zuid project in the Netherlands were completed. Installation activity at Dogger Bank A&B in the UK progressed as planned. We also successfully executed the inner-array cable lay scopes of Hornsea 2 in the UK and Hollandse Kust Zuid. In total we supported the installation of 2.9GW renewable energy during the year.

Fourth quarter financial review – a strong finish to the year

Revenue of $1.3 billion declined 5% compared to the prior year period reflecting modest growth of 3% in Subsea and Conventional, offset by a 33% decline in Renewables, due to the phasing of the Seagreen project. Adjusted EBITDA of $169 million equated to an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.1%, up from 10.5% in Q4 2021. After depreciation and amortisation charges of $117 million and net impairment reversals of $57 million, primarily related to property, plant and equipment, net operating income increased to $109 million. Net income for the quarter increased to $27 million from $4 million in the prior year, despite a $28 million net foreign currency loss and a $52 million taxation, which equates to an effective tax rate of 66%.

Net cash generated from operations was $143 million including a $36 million beneficial movement in net working capital. Net cash used in investing activities was $42 million while net cash generated by financing activities was $11 million which included the $55 million positive net impact of the equity rights issue of $200 million by Seaway 7 ASA. Overall, cash and cash equivalents increased by $113 million from 30 September 2022 to $646 million at year end.

Fourth quarter order intake was $3.0 billion comprising new awards of $2.3 billion, escalations of $0.6 billion, and a beneficial foreign exchange movement of approximately $0.2 billion, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 2.3x.

Full year financial review – solid overall performance

Revenue of $5.1 billion increased by 3% compared to the prior year reflecting 6% growth in Subsea and Conventional, offset by an 11% reduction in Renewables. Adjusted EBITDA of $559 million equates to an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.9%, slightly higher than 10.4% in 2021. After depreciation and amortisation charges of $468 million, net operating income increased to $149 million from $72 million in 2021. After a tax charge of $100 million, equating to an effective tax rate of 73%, net income was flat year-on-year at $36 million.

Net cash generated from operations was $486 million including a $28 million favourable movement in net working capital. Net cash used in investing activities was $220 million, including $231 million related to purchases of property, plant and equipment. Net cash used in financing activities was $211 million, which included $55 million positive net impact related to Seaway7’s equity rights issue. Overall, cash and cash equivalents increased by $48 million during the year with closing net cash of $33 million, including lease liabilities of $257 million.

Full year order intake was $7.1 billion comprising new awards of $5.3 billion, escalations of $1.8 billion, and adverse foreign exchange movements of $0.2 billion, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 1.4x. Backlog at the end of December was $9.0 billion, of which $4.2 billion is expected to be executed in 2023 and $3.0 billion in 2024.

Continued commitment to return capital to shareholders

The Board will propose a NOK 4.00 per share dividend, equivalent to approximately $110 million, at the AGM on 18 April 2023. At arriving at this proposal, the Board took into consideration the financial performance and prospects of the Group, the NOK 1.00 regular dividend policy commitment and the status of the 2022 share repurchase programme.

Outlook – continued backlog growth and improving project margins

We expect revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in 2023 to be higher than 2022, with a weighting towards the second half of the year.

The outlook for both traditional and new energy is robust supported by a vast portfolio of potential developments in both subsea and offshore wind with attractive economics, all of which will be necessary if the industry is to meet the demand for global energy and provide energy security in Europe. Subsea7 is well positioned to address both markets, with a large and capable fleet of modern vessels. Availability of installation capacity for subsea and offshore fixed wind markets continues to tighten for 2024 and 2025, and we are now tendering projects for 2026 and beyond. Pricing and contract terms improved during 2022 and recent awards, as well as ongoing tenders, support our view that long-term Adjusted EBITDA margins should trend back to a through-cycle range of 15-20% over the long term.

Conference Call Information
Date: 2 March 2023

Time: 12:00 UK Time

Access the webcast at subsea7.com or https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/unwkh4rt

Register for the conferencecall at https://register.vevent.com/register/BI168b055453614ec7809c9f72edb6876c

For further information, please contact:

Katherine Tonks
Head of Investor Relations
Email: ir@subsea7.com
Telephone: +44 20 8210 5568

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this announcement may contain ‘forward-looking statements’ (within the meaning of the safe harbour provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These statements relate to our current expectations, beliefs, intentions, assumptions or strategies regarding the future and are subject to known and unknown risks that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ‘estimate’, ‘expect’, ‘future’, ‘goal’, ‘intend’, ‘likely’ ‘may’, ‘plan’, ‘project’, ‘seek’, ‘should’, ‘strategy’ ‘will’,and similar expressions. The principal risks which could affect future operations of the Group are describedin the ‘Risk Management’ section of the Group’s Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements. Factors that may cause actual and future results and trends to differ materially from our forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to): (i) our ability to deliver fixed price projects in accordance with client expectations and within the parameters of our bids, and to avoid cost overruns; (ii) our ability to collect receivables, negotiate variation orders and collect the related revenue; (iii) our ability to recover costs on significant projects; (iv) capital expenditure by oil and gas companies, which is affected by fluctuations in the price of, and demand for, crude oil and natural gas; (v) unanticipated delays or cancellation of projects included in our backlog; (vi) competition and price fluctuations in the markets and businesses in which we operate; (vii) the loss of, or deterioration in our relationship with, any significant clients; (viii) the outcome of legal proceedings or governmental inquiries; (ix) uncertainties inherent in operating internationally, including economic, political and social instability, boycotts or embargoes, labour unrest, changes in foreign governmental regulations, corruption and currency fluctuations; (x) the effects of a pandemic or epidemic or a natural disaster; (xi) liability to third parties for the failure of our joint venture partners to fulfil their obligations; (xii) changes in, or our failure to comply with, applicable laws and regulations (including regulatory measures addressing climate change); (xiii) operating hazards, including spills, environmental damage, personal or property damage and business interruptions caused by adverse weather; (xiv) equipment or mechanical failures, which could increase costs, impair revenue and result in penalties for failure to meet project completion requirements; (xv) the timely delivery of vessels on order and the timely completion of ship conversion programmes; (xvi) our ability to keep pace with technological changes and the impact of potential information technology, cyber security or data security breaches; and (xvii) the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Attachments

• SUBC 4Q22 Earnings Release
• SUBC 4Q22 Presentation

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