M. Kevin McEvoy
Analyst · Jon Donnel of Howard Weil
Good morning, and thanks for joining the call. I'm pleased to be here with you today to discuss our 2014 second quarter earnings results. Our record quarterly EPS of $1.02 was slightly above our guidance and was up 21% over the first quarter of this year, and up 12% compared to the second quarter of 2013. Year-over-year quarterly EPS increased on profit improvements by Subsea Products, ROVs and Subsea Projects. Sequentially, quarterly EPS rose on higher operating income, principally from Subsea Products and Subsea Projects. We achieved record quarterly operating income from Subsea Products, which was up 23% over the previous record set just 2 quarters ago in the fourth quarter of 2013. And for the first time, quarterly profit from Subsea Products exceeded that of ROVs. Our outlook for the second half of this year remains positive and unchanged overall from last quarter. We still believe we will achieve record results for the year and are narrowing our 2014 EPS guidance to a range of $3.95 to $4.05 from $3.90 to $4.10. Compared to 2013, we continue to forecast income growth for all of our oilfield operating segments in 2014. Compared to the first half of 2014, we expect to generate higher income during the second half from each of our operating segments, led by ROVs and Subsea Projects. ROV profits are expected to be up on an increase in days on hire and a slightly higher operating margin as we benefit from the additional days worked, a favorable change in geographic mix to more work off Africa and the Gulf of Mexico and improved execution on our new ROV startup operations. For Subsea Projects, we are forecasting a higher contribution, primarily from our deep water vessel service and diving operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. We also anticipate that Advanced Technologies will have considerably better results during the second half of 2014 due to expected better job execution and increased activity on work for the U.S. Navy and theme park activity. For 2014, we anticipate generating at least $855 million of EBITDA. Our balance sheet and projected cash flow provide us ample resources to continue to invest in Oceaneering's growth, and we intend to do so. Our focus in 2014 continues to be on earnings growth and investment opportunities, both organically and through acquisitions. I'd now like to review our second quarter segment results. Year-over-year second quarter Subsea Products' operating income improved 28% on a 27% increase in revenue due to a higher demand for all of our major product lines. Operating margin was flat. Sequentially, operating income rose 46% on the strength of higher revenue and increased profitability from fueling and Subsea Hardware, resulting in a 3% increase in operating margin. Our Subsea Products backlog in quarter end was $850 million compared to our March backlog of $894 million and $902 million 1 year ago. During the quarter, we announced one large umbilical contract for offshore Indonesia. Year-over-year and sequentially, the backlog decline was primarily attributable to umbilicals, the market for which, we continue to note, can be quite lumpy. Year-to-date, our Subsea Products operating margin has been 23%. And given our outlook for the second half of 2014, we are now forecasting that Subsea Products' operating margin for the year will likely be around 21%, the high end of our previous guidance range. Now turning to ROVs. Year-over-year, ROV operating income improved on higher demand to provide drill support and vessel-based services. Our ROV days on hire increased 10% to approximately 24,500 days. Sequentially, operating income was essentially flat as operating margins declined due to higher repair and maintenance expenses, unanticipated costs associated with placing new systems in service, and slightly lower fleet utilization. Revenue grew on increases in days on hire and revenue per day on hire. Our fleet utilization during the quarter was 84% compared to 86% sequentially, and 83% in the second quarter of 2013. Year-to-date, our fleet utilization has been 85%. And we are now projecting that our fleet utilization for the year will be around 84%, which takes into consideration our exposure on floating rigs rolling off contract during the remainder of this year. We still expect to achieve record ROV segment operating income for the 11th consecutive year. Operating margin during the quarter was 28% compared to 30% in the first quarter, and 29% a year ago. During the second half of this year, we should benefit from an increase in days on hire with a favorable geographic mix to more work off Africa and in the Gulf of Mexico. Compared to the second quarter, we anticipate quarterly operating margin will be slightly higher in the third and fourth quarters. During the quarter, we put 13 new ROVs into service and retired 4, for a net addition of 9 systems. At the end of June, we had 323 systems available for operations, up from 296 a year ago. 9 of the new ROVs went into vessel support service and 4 into drill support. At the end of the quarter, we had ROVs on 170, or 60%, of the 284 floating rigs under contract. Sequentially, the contracted rig count increased by 1, and the number of rigs we had ROVs on increased by 3. Year-over-year, the contracted rig count increased by 7, and the number of rigs we had ROVs on increased by 10. Our fleet mix during the quarter was 71% in drill support and 29% on vessel-based work. This compares to a 72-28 mix last quarter and a 73-27 mix in the second quarter of 2013. During the second half of this year, we expect to place at least 13 new ROVs into service; and we have contracts for all of these. When these new vehicles are placed into service depends upon the actual commencement dates of each new drilling rig and vessel project work. On a gross basis, we now anticipate adding 40 or more new systems to our ROV fleet in 2014. Looking at Subsea Projects. Segment operating income was higher year-over-year as a result of adding the Bourbon Evolution 803 to our Field Support Vessels Services contract with BP offshore Angola and the Normand Flower to our U.S. Gulf of Mexico fleet. The increase from operating these 2 vessels was partially offset by the fact that last year's second quarter results benefited from a subsea well stimulation service project offshore Ghana, utilizing a customer-provided vessel. Sequentially, Subsea Projects' operating income increased largely as a result of adding the Bourbon Evolution 803 and a higher profit contribution from the Ocean Alliance in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Ocean Alliance was out of service for much of the first quarter, undergoing a regulatory drydock inspection. Our overall Gulf of Mexico results did not seasonally improve as we benefited from Subsea Hardware installation work during the first quarter of 2014, which was an unusual occurrence for that time of year. We have not yet received an official contract extension from BP on our Field Support Vessel Services contract. Discussions to extend this contract should conclude during August, and we continue to expect a favorable outcome. As for our remaining business operations for the second quarter, Asset Integrity operating income declined year-over-year on a lower level of work in Africa. Sequentially, operating income improved slightly due to a seasonal increase in activity in Europe and the Caspian Sea area. Advanced Technologies' operating income was lower, both sequentially and year-over-year. Sequentially, the decline was attributable to execution issues, including slow progress on scheduled navy submarine work and industrial project engineering design problems that caused increased costs associated with rework and schedule delays. In addition to these execution issues, the decline year-over-year was attributable to decreased activity on theme park projects, the U.S. Navy submarine repairs and engineering services. Furthermore, operating income in the second quarter of 2013 included an incentive bonus from meeting theme park schedule completion dates. In summary, our second quarter results were slightly above our expectations, and we were pleased with our cash flow generation of $217 million of EBITDA during the quarter. Capital expenditures for the quarter totaled about $157 million, of which $60 million was invested in ROVs; $29 million was spent on Subsea Projects; $26 million on Subsea Products; and $40 million in the announced acquisitions of AIRSIS, to enhance the asset tracking service we offer on offshore drilling rigs and vessels engaged in subsea activities; and Spectrum Sales & Service, to add subsea pipeline inspection capability based on the use of Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer technology. AIRSIS' financial results are included in our Subsea Projects segment and Spectrum's in our Asset Integrity segment. Moving on to our third quarter outlook. We are projecting EPS in the range of $1.10 to $1.15. Sequentially, we anticipate quarterly income improvements from all of our operating segments, led by ROVs. We are also expecting year-over-year third quarter profit increases for each of our business operations, led by Subsea Products. On a macro basis, we remain convinced that our strategy to focus on providing services and products to facilitate deepwater exploration and production remains sound. We believe the oil and gas industry will continue its investment in deepwater as it remains one of the best frontiers for adding large hydrocarbon reserves with high production flow rates at relatively low finding and development costs. We anticipate that demand for our deepwater services and products will continue to rise and believe our business prospects for the next several years remain promising. At the end of June 2014, 119 of the 165 existing high spec drillships and 56 generation semis were contracted to operators other than Petrobras in Brazil. We had ROV contracts on 95 of these for a market share of 80%. There were a total of 97 new floating rigs on order. And we expect 68 of these will go to work for operators other than Petrobras in Brazil. Of these, 21 ROV contracts have been led, and we have won 19 of them. 42 of the remaining 47 contracting opportunities do not have announced drilling contracts. Looking forward, we see no reason why we will not continue to be the dominant provider of ROV services on high spec rigs working for operators other than Petrobras in Brazil. We are, however, anticipating that some of these new rigs will likely be used to displace existing, less technically capable rigs, and that this will partially offset the gains we achieve on the newer rigs. The outlook for floating rigs demand in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico remains encouraging. There were 49 rigs under contract in this area at the end of the second quarter, up 9 from a year ago and up 1 from last quarter. We had the ROV work on 43 of them. Furthermore, there are 5 additional floaters scheduled to commence working in the area during the rest of the year, and we have the ROV work on all of them. So even with the possible release of some of the rigs currently under contract, there should be a good level of rig activity for the balance of this year. At the end of 2013, there were more than 500 discoveries in deepwater that have not yet been developed. We expect that many of these will eventually be put into production, and consequently, it is likely that orders for Subsea Hardware will grow to levels not previously experienced. And demand for ROVs to support vessel-based activities should follow. Quest Offshore's latest Subsea Hardware forecast for the period 2014 to '18 includes an increase in tree orders of about 55% and a 44% increase in umbilical orders over the previous 5 years. While subsea tree orders are a leading indicator of future field development activity, it is subsea tree installations and trees in service outside of Brazil that matter most to Oceaneering. Based on their subsea tree order forecast, Quest Offshore is projecting average annual subsea tree installations of 365 outside of Brazil over the 5-year period 2014 through 2018, an increase of approximately 60% over the previous 5 years. The number of subsea completions in service compared to 2013 is projected to increase by around 1,000 trees, more than 30% by the end of 2018, in spite of the fact that about 800 wells are forecast to be removed from service. The projected rise in tree installations and the growing number of subsea completions in service should lead to umbilical and connection hardware sales, demand for IWOCS services and vessel-based ROV and tooling demand. Furthermore, industry and regulatory emphasis on safe and reliable operations is providing additional opportunities for us to demonstrate our capabilities. We are well positioned to supply a wide range of the services and products required to safely support the deepwater efforts of our customers. We believe Oceaneering's business prospects for the long term remain promising. Our commanding, competitive position, technology leadership, and strong balance sheet and cash flow enable us to continue to grow the company, and we intend to do so. In conclusion, we are anticipating that we will achieve another record year of EPS performance in 2014. We appreciate everyone's interest in Oceaneering. I will now be happy to take any questions you may have.