Earnings Labs

GeoPark Limited (GPRK)

Q1 2019 Earnings Call· Fri, May 10, 2019

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the GeoPark Limited Conference Call following the Results Announcement for the First Quarter Ended March 31, 2019. After the speakers’ remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] If you do not have a copy of the press release, please call Sard Verbinnen & Co. in New York at 212-687-8080 and we will have one sent to you. Alternatively, you may obtain a copy of the release at the Investor Support section on the company’s corporate website at www.geo-park.com. A replay of today’s call may be accessed through this webcast in the Investor Support section of the GeoPark corporate website. Before we continue, please note that certain statements contained in the results’ press release and on this conference call are forward looking statements rather than historical facts and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. With respect to such forward looking statements, the company seeks protections afforded by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These risks include a variety of factors, including competitive developments and risk factors listed from time to time in the company’s SEC public reports and public releases. Those lists are intended to identify certain principal factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward looking statements, but are not intended to represent a complete list of the company’s business. All financial figures included herein were prepared in accordance with the IFRS and are stated in the U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Reserves figures correspond to PRMS standards. On the call today from GeoPark is James F. Park, Chief and Executive Officer; Augusto Zubillaga, Chief Operating Officer; Andres Ocampo, Chief Financial Officer; and Stacy Steimel, Shareholder Value Director. And now, I’ll turn the call over to Mr. James Park. Mr. Park, you may begin.

James Park

Analyst

Thank you, and welcome, everyone. We’re joining you this morning with our executive team from Bogotá, Colombia. We are pleased to report another record quarter of operational and financial performance. Oil and gas production up 23%, revenues up 21%, EBITDA up 46%, transportation and commercial costs down to $2 per barrel in Colombia, free cash flow of $44 million, net profit of $20 million, cash on hand of $147 million, continued returning value to our shareholders by investing $16 million in our buyback program, and now we have seven rigs operating across our Latin American asset base. Given the fundamental long-term nature of our business, it’s helpful to step back from the quarterly developments and also look at the bigger picture with our approach, our foundation and our sustained performance, which differentiate GeoPark from the pack. We started out with an ambitious long-term vision and plan, which we have consistently worked to build and execute. We agreed on the required skill sets to achieve this plan and have steadily invested in and built these capacity to create the strongest oil and gas team in the region. And we developed an ESG value system from the get go, which we call SPEED to ensure we are the employer of choice, the partner of choice and the neighbor of choice wherever we are operating. Our strongest metric validating with big price approach is GeoPark’s 16-year track record of consistent growth in production, reserves and net asset value, which has occurred regardless of whatever financial industry or political crisis has been thrown at us. Our oil fighting ability is demonstrated by a 70%-plus drilling success rate after drilling 300 wells, with over 350 million barrels discovered. We currently have over 180 million barrels of net certified 2P reserves valued at $2.7 billion. Our…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. The floor is now opened for questions. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Gavin Wylie of Scotiabank.

Gavin Wylie

Analyst

Yes, thanks. Just a couple of quick questions from me just on the – more or less on the CapEx side and free cash flow side. So we have kind of – Vasconia is running much better than expected, costs have become, I’d say in line maybe even a little bit better than expected. And when I think of Peru being delayed, that maybe frees up somewhere in the realm of about $100 million of CapEx that can then be pushed into other projects. And I know that at the presentation you’ve got the $80 case that shows $270 million of CapEx. So the two questions I have are, first is, what do you expect CapEx to be for 2019, given the fact that you have deferred some of that Peruvian expenditures? And two, where is that incremental capital going? And three, given the fact that you’re probably producing about $150 million of free cash flow this year, how are you prioritizing your sort of debt repayment and buybacks? Because you weren’t really super active on the buyback here in the first quarter. And just wondering if that’s going to kick up as we go through the balance of the year? Thanks.

James Park

Analyst

Thanks, Gavin, and good morning. Yes, as you pointed out with the deferral Peru barrel oil prices that we had anticipated in our budget, we are seeing more free cash flow. To your point about the coverage for, I mean, 2019, we’re estimating it’s going to be around $140 million to $150 million. The – our business units are continuously looking for different projects that they present and we are doing almost make an ongoing capital allocation methodology, where we are just looking for project and finding in our current portfolio opportunities for us to invest. All buyback programs needs one of those. And with the entire free cash coming from lower cost and higher oil prices and the return of the bulk of Peru coverage for next year, yes, you should expect more cash being allocated to our buyback program during the – at least during the second and third quarters of the year or probably the remaining of the year So far, we have invested $16 million and bought back 1.1 million shares more or less. So we should expect that to pick up probably in the months that are coming forward.

Gavin Wylie

Analyst

Just as a follow-up to that buyback question. Have you guys thought about or looking at doing an automated buyback that wouldn’t be subject to blackouts or are you just going to stay on the discretionary path?

James Park

Analyst

No, we do both. On growth periods we put it automatic and local periods we do it on manual basically. but we have been doing it that way. But the automatic order that the buybacks have been receiving was probably more conservative views in the last few months than it should be going forward.

Gavin Wylie

Analyst

Perfect. Thank you.

James Park

Analyst

Sure.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Jenny Xenos of Canaccord Genuity. Jenny, your line is open.

Jenny Xenos

Analyst

Good morning. Can you hear me?

Operator

Operator

Yes, we can hear you.

Jenny Xenos

Analyst

Great. Thank you very much. Good morning and congratulations on a great quarter. I have four questions, please. First, with regards to the commercial and transportation discounts, they have improved substantially in the first quarter of this year. What was behind this reduction? And is it sustainable for the remainder of the year and going forward? Second, when do you expect the Cuerva and Yamu disposition to close? Third, could you please give us an update on the EIA approval in Peru? And finally, with regards to the IFRS 16 adoption, you’ve had about a $1.3 million positive impact on your profit if I understand it correctly. How will you be reporting it going forward? Will it always be kind of below the EBITDA line or will it become part of your kind of operating with future reporting? Thank you.

James Park

Analyst

Great. Thank you, Jenny. With respect to the commercial discounts, just a couple of things. Well, the main item here is that the commercial and transportation discount this quarter has reported were reduced by $2 per barrel. We are expecting our flow line to be in operation before the end of the month. And with that, we expect for the second-half of the year, an extra dollar on top of the two that we have already achieved. And then, your second question was Yamu, Cuerva closing sorry, the – really that’s on the hands of the ANH, who are pending their approval to effective the transfer of the assets. Hopefully, somewhere in the second quarter, so before the end of the quarter it should happen. Unfortunately, it is a bit outside of our hand, but we shouldn’t expect any problems. This is an asset that had been transferred from qualified operator to another qualified operator. So we really expect no surprise in there. But unfortunately, sometimes these delays do happen. On – with respect to EIA in Peru, we – there were some delays, part of those were on our side. Our team took their time to really address every single item that was included in the feedback from all the stakeholders into the EIA. With that said, [indiscernible] was fine back to Peru to the [indiscernible], that now will be in the hands of them to process and come back with – to us with the final approval. We expect that to occur also before June, hopefully before June this quarter basically. With that, I think we mentioned this in the previous calls or with that timing, we would expect the first time to occur still in 2020, more towards the last quarter of the year than the first…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Sorry.

James Park

Analyst

I don’t know if that clears the question from Jenny, if there’s any follow up?

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call back over to Jim Park for any closing or additional comments.

James Park

Analyst

Thank you, everybody, for your interest in GeoPark and your continued support of the company. We encourage you to please visit us and our operations in each country and call us at anytime for more information. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. That does conclude today’s GeoPark Limited conference call. You may now disconnect.