Jacktel AS

Jacktel AS

5.90
NOK
0.00
(0.00%)
1.44EPS
3.75P/E
1.12BMarket Cap
Nov 20Next Earn

Q2 FY2026 · Earnings Call TranscriptAugust 25, 2026

Operator

With that, I leave the word to chairman Harald Thorstein.

Harald Thorstein

Thank you, Øyvind. The second quarter of 2026 was a strong quarter for Jacktel.

We had revenue of $19.6 million, EBITDA of $11.3 million, and a net profit of $4.7 million. We ended the quarter with $53 million in net interest-bearing debt.

It was an exciting quarter for the company. We finalized and finished our contract with Equinor end of May, and then we mobilized to Valhall to commence our contract with Aker BP.

It's extremely important that those kind of operations and mobilizations are well prepared and planned, and you have good cooperation with your clients. I'm pleased to see that we executed that very well.

Good, well planned by our manager, Macro Offshore, good cooperation with Equinor and Aker BP, and we also had nice weather. The mobilization went really well, and we managed to connect to Valhall and commenced the contract with Aker BP with just minimal amount of downtime.

Very pleased with that. Subsequent to the quarter, in July, we extended the contract with Aker BP.

We just commenced in June and announced the extension in July, extending the firm period of the contract from 15 months to 21 months. We are now firm until end of February 2028.

In addition, Aker BP has four months of options, extending the period until end of June 2028. This is important.

Backlog is extremely important for Jacktel, and it's important for our ability to pay dividends. We are pleased to announce that we, for the second quarter, are declaring a dividend of 3 cents per share.

All in all, a strong quarter, good operations, good to have some backlog, and well, this will be our key focus going forward as well. Keep the operations well, make sure our clients are happy, and make sure we also are able to keep building backlog.

That's what this business is about. If you can go to the next slide, Øyvind.

Dividends is a key priority for the board of Jacktel. We commenced our dividend payments following the third quarter in 2025, then we did a refinancing, and we were able to distribute 5 cents per share.

Then we announced and declared a dividend following Q4 '25 of 2 cents per share, and then following Q1 2026, 2.5 cents, and now we're up to 3 cents. Hopefully we should be able to keep building this track record of paying good quarterly dividends.

That's a key priority and something that we will prioritize. What is also important to mention here is that while we are paying these dividends on a quarterly basis, we are also reducing our debt.

We amortize now $10 million of debt on an annual basis. We think that's good.

Keep paying dividends, at the same time we are reducing and repaying our debt. I mentioned in the last quarter, I think when we get down to a debt level of approximately $50 million, I think we can start looking at the amortization profile.

We think $50 million in debt could be kind of a long-term sustainable debt level for the company. That's something we will keep evaluating and monitoring into the next year.

Øyvind? Then Daniel, operational update?

Daniel Samuelsen

Yes. My name is Daniel Samuelsen, I'm the CFO of Macro Offshore.

The startup of the contract with Aker BP has been successful, and we have maintained 100% uptime since we arrived at Valhall. Haven completed the contract at Draupner for Equinor late May and was towed directly to Valhall, and as such we got minimal downtime between the contract.

After we connected the gangway to the Valhall platform, we have also been connected to power from shore and only use electricity to run the rig. There were no high potential incidents and no LTIs in Q2 2026.

Harald Thorstein

I think what you mentioned there also, Daniel, that we run with electricity, land-based electricity from basically hydropower, I think is also a good feature and a good opportunity with our rig, Haven, that you can actually connect it to the grid. That means that we don't have to run our diesel generators, so, yeah, no emissions, basically.

Mm. Here you see our backlog.

Very pleased that we managed to cover 2027 already at this stage, and also building backlog into 2028. We will now be at the exact same location at Valhall with Aker BP, there are no kind of movements or mobilizations planned within the current scope of the Aker BP contract.

This should be steady, good operations with Aker BP. This is a project that is one of the kind of key projects that you will see Aker BP describe in their presentation material.

Here you see the backlog, EBITDA backlog, estimated EBITDA backlog per year. As I mentioned, happy to see now that 2027 is covered in dark blue.

That's great. We are working very hard to also make sure that we get the 2028 bar increased and also covered in dark blue.

We see good opportunities on the Norwegian continental shelf. We see the number of projects and opportunities that are planned in Norway will be significant, and, yeah, we are confident on the outlook for Haven on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Having that said, we also discuss opportunities for the rig outside the Norwegian continental shelf, and that includes the oil and gas industry in other parts of the North Sea where there are projects that need accommodation at suitable water depth for Haven. We also have discussions on opportunities within the offshore wind market, also that in Europe and not in Norway.

All in all, we feel we are in a good position, pleased to see that we managed to already extend the Aker BP contract, and let's see what the future brings. Then for Daniel to take the details of the financial statements.

Yeah.

Daniel Samuelsen

In Q2, we had $15.8 million in revenue relating to charter hire and $3.8 million relating to other income, where most of it is related to mob and demob fees from Aker BP and Equinor. Operating expenses in total amounted to $8.2 million, and the increased vessel opex compared to Q2 2025 is mainly impacted by costs related to mob and demob and strengthening of US dollars compared to Norwegian krone.

The EBITDA amounted to $11.3 million, and the net profit was $4.7 million. Go to the next slide, please.

Statement of financial position, the property, plant, and equipment that we have in Jacktel relates to the company's only asset, Haven, currently booked at approximately $140 million. We have relatively high accounts receivable per end of Q2, which was reduced early July and converted to cash due to invoices from clients being paid early July instead of late June.

Current financing consists of a bond loan with remaining outstanding amount of $65 million, and the next installment of $5 million will be paid in October. Go to the cash flow.

Jacktel generated $6 million from operating activities. Regarding the negative change in working capital, refer to the comment on accounts receivables, we were paid invoices from clients early July instead of late June.

We paid interest and installment in April, as well as dividend payment, which in total amounted to $20 million under financing activities. Summarizing the total negative change in cash of $14 million, it brings the cash position to $12.3 million per end Q2 2026.

Changes in equity basically shows the dividend and the capital increase that we had earlier this year, and the total number of shares in Jacktel at the end of the quarter was 258,300,000.

Harald Thorstein

Thank you, Daniel. On the market, we have mentioned previously that we are confident in our position and the future opportunities for Haven first and foremost.

Also very pleased that we managed to extend the Aker BP contract and that the mobilization and startup there has gone well. The best marketing you can do of a rig is to make sure that you operate well according to plan, that you deliver on rig moves, demobs, mobilization, and that you are seen as a reliable partner.

That's why the project we now did with Equinor that went well and the demob and mob from Equinor to Aker BP has been extremely important for Jacktel, not only because of the reduced downtime and better earnings, but also to show our client that we deliver. Now they know that for the next project, that Jacktel, with Macro Offshore as operator, can be trusted.

We know what we do, and we are able to deliver good services. We show up on time and they get quality.

That's the most important marketing you can do of a rig like this. Make sure you operate with quality and deliver good service to the clients.

That puts us in a good position for further work on the Norwegian continental shelf and also outside Norway. Again, this will be extremely important for us going forward.

Obviously, backlog is the key for dividend payments. Again, we feel we are in a good position and that there are good opportunities for us going forward.

If I were to put a bet where do I believe we will operate for the next five years, I believe we will operate on the Norwegian continental shelf, even though we are discussing opportunities outside Norway, both within oil and gas and on offshore wind. Let's see.

We will be pragmatic and make sure we find the best solution, giving us visibility on earnings and maximizing the distribution potential to our shareholders. With that, that was a fairly short presentation, but we only have one rig to cover, I think 15, 20 minutes should be sufficient.

Any questions received, Øyvind?

Operator

Thank you. Yes, I would like to remind you that you can use the Q&A function to ask a question anonymously and I will read them up.

We have received some questions. We can start with, how should we think about opex going forward?

Are current level a fair run rate or should we expect it to be higher/lower under the Aker BP contract?

Daniel Samuelsen

I would say that the opex that we had in Q2 also includes some mob and demob elements, a comparable opex should be what we have operated on previous quarters with Equinor. We are still in Norway, the opex drivers are the same.

Harald Thorstein

Q2 was higher than what you should expect because of demob and mob, but compare with Q1. I think one a bit technical element-- but that's more like accounting treatment is that we have an incentive fee model with our manager, Macro, which that they get 10% incentive of EBITDA above $22 million.

Now when we start to get into the $22 million, we will start to accrue for that incentive fee from Q3 and in Q4. That's just how the accounting rules are.

We have to follow. I don't know, Daniel, if you want to add something on that, but--

Daniel Samuelsen

Yes.

Harald Thorstein

It's something that it's not driving any cash flow for us in Q3 and Q4, it's more like that will be for next year, but it's pure accounting treatment and how we accrue for it.

Daniel Samuelsen

That will be specified as SG&A in the quarterly reports. You will see a slight increase in SG&A.

Harald Thorstein

We had exactly the same last year, but we got some questions, so that's why we just want to make people aware for this year.

Operator

Thank you. A follow-up question, is there any material capex requirements during the contract?

Harald Thorstein

No. Daniel, want to specify?

Daniel Samuelsen

No, we do not have that right now. We have completed the-- the main part of the SPS was completed in 2024.

We have done the second part now in 2026 at a minimal cost, we do not have any large investments planned.

Harald Thorstein

That's the SPS on our topside equipment, because we did the SPS on our legs and everything back in-- when was this, 2023, wasn't it? We had some capex related to Aker BP, but that capex was taken in 2023 because then we decided we had the rig at the yard in Norway and we did the necessary capex for to be ready for the Equinor contract and Aker BP contract.

We were able to mobilize directly between Equinor and Aker BP. Because that was what we hoped for and the plan was that we wanted the Equinor contract to be extended and hopefully go directly to the Aker BP contract.

That was kind of the best case, and we wanted to then make sure that the rig was ready. We were lucky, and that happened, and the rig was ready, we could just go directly to Aker BP.

Some luck and good planning, I would say.

Operator

Thank you. Could you say something about replacement value of Haven and also the expected lifespan of the unit?

Harald Thorstein

It's a very good question. We have not gone to a yard to try to find a quote for a comparable rig.

If we were to go, the cost of Haven, the capex for Haven was approximately $600 million. Is it possible to build a new Haven at a lower price today?

Yes, it is. Is it below 300?

I don't think so. It's, yeah, I don't know.

We have not gone to a yard. Are there any rigs you can buy in the market that are comparable, that have the same accommodation capacity?

Not really. I don't know, Daniel, if you have anything to add.

Daniel Samuelsen

I think that the rig was built in 2011, and we say at least 30 years lifespan on the rig. If you look at other rigs, there are plenty of rigs from the 1980s jackups still working today.

Of course, it will depend on how well it is maintained, but at least 30 years.

Harald Thorstein

I think this rig can also last for 50 years, but then obviously you have to put more capital into the rig at some stage. I guess the beds and accommodation will be a bit dated after 40 years, I presume.

This is also a rig, as I refer to, it's a big piece of steel. It's very solid and well built.

There's not that many movable parts on the rig. It's there statically at the seabed, it's limited wear and tear on the unit.

It's not like we jack it up and down and using the jacking system all the time. Now we did it in June, and next time, well, it's maybe in 2028 or something.

Now we don't even use the diesel generators because we are connected to the grid.

Operator

Thank you. I think you mentioned it on the operational slide as well, but can you say something about the feedback you get from customers with respect to Haven?

Daniel Samuelsen

We know that people are satisfied living at Haven. You have spacious cabins.

We have capacity for 450 people to live in single cabins. We have a 100% gangway connection, and the rig, as Harald said, doesn't move, there's no seasickness to think about.

We have all sorts of facilities for people to feel comfortable in the sense that you can work out, cinema, sauna, nice canteen facilities, and so on. We know that people are happy living at our rig, and we get solid feedback from our clients.

There are quizzes and so on for them to fill out and report back to us. I think and

Harald Thorstein

that's the feedback that I receive as well is that our clients are happy and they get good feedback from people living on the rig. One of the issues you have to be aware of on a rig is is it quiet and another issue potentially could be exhaust.

You are there, now that will not be an issue because we are not running the diesel generators, but we have spent some capex over the years on new kind of piping system to make sure that we can get the exhaust from our diesel generators out in the right direction depending on where the wind blows. You make sure that there is absolutely no smell or anything, no exhaust that people can smell on board.

We have focused on when we get feedback and we have received feedback historically, we have made small adjustments to make sure that we improve. I think we get very, very good feedback from our clients.

That's important. It's, as I said, that's the best marketing you can do, make sure you have happy clients.

Operator

Thank you. Do you see the current dividend level as sustainable going forward assuming no unforeseen events?

Harald Thorstein

Yeah. The main factor determining and deciding the dividend going forward will be the backlog.

That's really the most important element when it comes to our dividend. You can say that the dividend we pay now following Q2 is high compared to the cash flow generated in the second quarter, but the cash flow is also impacted by some payments that happen in July and not in June.

Let's see. We evaluate the dividend from quarter to quarter, and we have a deep, detailed cash forecast on a monthly basis, so, yeah.

Let's see. What can be kind of an incremental factor that potentially could increase the dividend going forward is if we are doing something with our debt structure.

That will not happen during the next 12 months. I mentioned $50 million as a potential kind of long-term debt level.

Now we are at 65. In 1.5 months, we will be at 60.

Then in Q2 next year, we will be at 55, we pay in April, and then 50 in 13 months from now. For sure, we are really focusing on returning cash to shareholder, but also doing it in a sustainable manner.

Operator

Thank you. There was a related question.

One participant note that the dividend seems larger than the free cash flow after taking the debt amort into consideration. I guess you partly explained that by some payments coming into this quarter instead of the next one.

If you would like to comment?

Harald Thorstein

That's obviously something we take into account, and now we had the capacity to pay the 3 cents. Do I believe that we could have a similar capacity the next quarter and the quarter thereafter?

Yeah. You need smooth operations and everything to go as planned.

Far we have delivered good and strong operations. Again, you see from in Q3 last year, we paid 5 cents, and then we paid 2 cents, 2.5 cents, and 3 cents.

Obviously, with the cash flow you see now from operations and amortization, I don't see any room to increase the dividend from current levels if you don't do anything with amortization.

Operator

Thank you. Can you provide some color on why Aker BP decided to extend the contract so early?

Do you see the potential for additional work beyond the current option periods?

Harald Thorstein

That's for Aker BP to answer really, but I guess we like to have a good and constructive early dialogue with our clients, and we also saw that Equinor declared their options early. That's also a bit more than a year ago.

We like to have good visibility, and we have weekly meetings with our clients, and the extension was a result of a good dialogue, and I guess they saw the demand and the need to have the rig and to extend the firm period, and that was obviously something we entertained.

Operator

Building on that, when can we expect any new contract news?

Harald Thorstein

I cannot promise. As I said the same in Q2, or after Q1, I cannot promise anything, and I don't know.

We will continue to have dialogues with our existing clients and new clients, and let's see. I don't want to promise anything on that.

Operator

Thank you. That was the last question we have received.

Oh, there's one question coming in. No, that was answered.

Okay. Thank you all for dialing in, and have a good day.

Harald Thorstein

Thank you, everyone.

Daniel Samuelsen

Thank you.