Chris Wright
Analyst · JPMorgan. Please go ahead
Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us. We are pleased to discuss with you today our first quarter 2019 results. Despite facing a challenging market, we are proud to have delivered a sequential 13% increase in revenue to $535 million and adjusted EBITDA increase of 18% to $85 million and a net income before income taxes increase of 27% to $41 million after adjusting for gain loss on disposal of assets. In the quarter, our fully diluted earnings per share, was $0.26. We were able to execute this financial performance due to the excellence of our operations and supply chain teams. Even with some significant winter weather, our fleets performed at summer-like efficiencies and we pumped a record volume of profit in the quarter. These strong financial results enabled us to continue the organic growth of our asset base while returning $24 million of cash to shareholders in the form of quarterly dividends, distributions and the repurchase of 1% of our total outstanding shares. With our focus on long-term success, we continue our commitment to achieve superior returns on invested capital, maintain a strong balance sheet and invest for the future. We delivered a pre-tax return on capital employed for the 12 months ended March 31, 2019, of 33% while generating significant free cash flow and returning cash to shareholders. Our first quarter 2019 results reflect a rebound in our activity from the fleet utilization challenges experienced in the fourth quarter of 2018. We have balanced the demand for Liberty’s differentiated services with market pricing dynamics to produce acceptable returns on our fully utilized frac fleet. Based on visibility with our customer activity pipeline for the year, demand for Liberty fleets remains high. And at the end of the first quarter, we activated our new Tier 4 frac fleet, taking the active fleet count to 23 at quarter end. This additional fleet was deployed to the long-term customer that it was projected to work for when it was ordered in 2018. Pricing of a like-for-like frac job is down meaningfully in 2019 from the average price in 2018. A significant portion of this decline to the operator is structural due to the significant growth of regional sand supply and the consequential reduction in market price of both Northern White and regional sand. This, in conjunction with the move to more pad development in the Permian and the inherent efficiencies that this delivers, has driven a structural decline in pricing that helps our customers without hurting us. However, another part of the price decline was not structural but cyclical in nature and relates to service pricing. Entering the fourth quarter of 2018, there was an oversupply of staffed frac fleets in the market which, combined with the additional reduction in customer activity, led to a rapid reduction of pricing for frac services. These reductions worked their way through our fleet re-pricing negotiations in the fourth quarter 2018 through to the middle of the first quarter of 2019. While there continues to be an oversupply of frac fleet to the market, we believe that roughly 20% of the frac fleets that were active in the summer of 2018 are now either idle or in the process of being idled. As supply of active frac equipment balances with demand, we expect pricing to potentially improve later this year. Working in concert with customers, Liberty continues to drive innovation and operational efficiency across our entire fleet. This performance translates to strong demand for Liberty’s high efficiency fleets that deliver differential frac services. We are focused on generating strong returns on capital and free cash flow in 2019 while continuing to invest in technology and growing our competitive advantages. We are taking delivery of the final equipment for fleet 24 in the current quarter, but it will not be deployed without the correct combination of strategic customer demand and market dynamics. Q1 was a strong start to the year. While there remains more total demand for Liberty fleets than we have supply, challenges aligning schedules may lead to some inefficiencies. Together with some price reductions rolling through for a full quarter in Q2, we expect flat to slightly down results in the near term. However, results have the potential to strengthen later in the year. Premium service quality, coupled with basin and customer diversity, provides the company the opportunity to continue generating strong returns on capital employed. On the technology front, we continue to focus on opportunities to improve safety and drive efficiency. This is a long-term commitment that has been a key part of Liberty’s DNA from day 1. These investments range from software and big data investments to help our customers design more productive wells; natural gas-fueled and quiet fleets to be responsive to the communities where we work; and investments to improve throughput and reduce the cost of operations of our fleets that improve both Liberty’s and our customers’ economics. These are ongoing multiyear investments in innovation and will continue to drive our efficiencies and returns wherever we are in the cycle. Liberty’s financial results, favorable long-term outlook and strong balance sheet support our balanced strategy of disciplined growth and returning capital to our stockholders. Liberty is committed to compounding shareholder value by reinvesting cash flow at high rates of return and returning cash to shareholders as appropriate. We are excited by the growth opportunities in front of us and the positive long-term outlook for the shale revolution and the benefit that this brings to our industry and the country as a whole. I will now hand the call over to Michael Stock, our CFO, to discuss our financial results.