Earnings Labs

Cadeler A/S (CDLR)

Q1 2025 Earnings Call· Thu, May 22, 2025

$26.24

-0.38%

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Transcript

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

Thank you. Welcome to this Q1 2025 presentation. Thank you for joining us for the presentation of what has gone on in Q1 2025 in Cadeler. Firstly, a few highlights. What we want to say is that our financial performance in this quarter is in line with our expectations. No negative or positive surprises. We are following a plan and hence the results that we came out with today is exactly as we expected it. We took delivery of two newbuilds, the Wind Maker and the Wind Pace in Q1, and that is 50% of the newbuilds that we are supposed to deliver in our program this year, and we have delivered them in the first quarter on or ahead of schedule and on budget. And the remaining four newbuilds we have on the program, they are on track for delivery and also on or ahead of schedule. We now have seven vessels that are active either in Europe, APAC or US and that is demonstrating Cadeler’s global footprint. We continue to see a growing demand for O&M services and that is strongly contributing to the utilization of Cadeler’s fleet and we do believe that this is very important on a continuous basis. Cadeler’s contract backlog continues to strengthen increasing to over EUR 2.5 billion in the quarter. On the vessels, we have seen activity in different parts of the world, in different regions and, the fleet, has been busy, just after coming out from the yard. I think that we are, as I said before, we are following the plan. We see that Wind Orca is, very busy, first with the O&M campaign and then hence after that on the He Dreiht project for Vestas. On Osprey, we are doing an O&M campaign for Vestas, and after that, we…

Peter Brogaard Hansen

Management

Thank you very much. As Mikkel said in the beginning, quarter was from a financial point of view exactly as planned and expected. Revenue was EUR 65.5 million, significantly up from last year. The two O class vessels were up for crane upgrades. Equity ratio is 49.7%. It's going down a little bit as we take on more debt where we will deliver the vessel, but still very strong balance sheet. Utilization was 79.4% and it was really a quarter of transition. So you can see that the unadjusted utilization was 55% whereas when we adjust for dry lot and transition from the delivery 79%. We got delivery of the two vessels Maker and Pace in Q1. EBITDA, EUR 23.7 million also significantly up from last year. Nearly all EBITDA was flowing through to the cash, So EUR 20 million from operating activities. Backlog as mentioned EUR 2.5 billion and three months daily average turnover was EUR 5.6 million. If we look at the P&L, all line items were as expected already touched upon the revenue, which is significantly up and the cost of sales, the OpEx is also exactly as planned, of course increasing when we get more vessels on the water. SG&A is up as compared to last year, but also according to the plan the organizational ramp up that we have been doing for some quarters now. And that is also exactly to play. And we have an overall average per day was EUR 36,900 per day, up from last year and that is really also as planned as we communicated around annual report, we have some extra OpEx this year because we are putting extra trainee positions on some of the vessel on water to prepare for the new builds coming in. We had the seven…

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

In terms of commercial outlook, we have of course been asked a few questions about that lately. And what we just want to say, we remain of the view that Cadeler is still the go to provider of T&I and O&M solutions. We sit with a vessel fleet of 11 vessels when all new builds are delivered, and we believe that we have a very, very strong foothold in the market. Our proposition to the market and our proposition to the clients really offers flexibility and the ability to meet the demand, which also are reducing the risk of projects slippage. And we do believe that this overall package that we're delivering to our clients is something that they really have, as a value adder and as an enabler of taking, the necessary project decisions. We also see that our complementary investment strategy, is enabling the stronger fleet utilization and also the earnings visibility, for our investors. We also have an ability to meet the demands for larger scopes and project sizes and that is on a global basis. In terms of our view on the market, then you can say that we are basically in offshore wind still going from record to record. We are seeing stronger and stronger levels of projects being auctioned. We are seeing more and more, projects coming online. And I think that that is still very much, what is the actuals in the industry. But one cannot be in this industry without also looking at some of the noise that is going on, with projects being stopped in the US and then being started again. Projects being delayed and then let's see what happens. But what do I want to say is that we are looking at a very strong growth across all markets.…

Operator

Operator

Our first question comes from Martin Huseby at DNB. Please go ahead and ask your question. Hi, how are you?

Martin Huseby

Analyst

Quick question on the offshore wind industry in general and contract quality. As I think you flagged quite well in the presentation, there's been some projects not progressing as planned and you had this preferred supplier agreement cancellation as well disclosed in this quarter. I understand it's hard to make comments for specific contracts, but could you help us shed some light on contract quality and protection in general for the industry and also if possible for your backlog?

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

Yeah. We believe that, everything that is in the backlog is very well protected from a contractual standpoint. We believe that we have been able to sign contracts with the right terms in them to both secure us, but also our clients for the delivery that they want. And hence, we believe that we are in a very good situation when it comes to that. And I think we have talked about this since the listing back in 2020, that contract quality is something we have worked with alongside, the whole, let's say, economical part of the contract. So far, it has always been a hand in hand thing, but we are focused on both. And I think that that is something that serves us well today.

Martin Huseby

Analyst

Touching on the Hornsea 4 project, since the announcement from Maersk on that project, there's been clearly some uncertainty in the capital markets related to utilization for one of your foundation vessels that I think most people expected to do this project. I know execution on this project was pretty far out in time, and it's still uncertain what will happen. But if replacement work is required from your perspective, can you tell us something about the comfort level and how we think about securing an alternative work for that vessel?

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

I think, that particular vessel is still on a contract with Orsted. As we said in the presentation, the long term agreement that we have with Orsted has not been terminated. That still continues. And hence, in principle, that vessel will continue to work for us for the duration of the contract until we hear anything different to that. But in general, what I can say to you is that, we never only work with one plan, so to speak, even, on a project where, in all fairness, we had high confidence as Hornsea 4. We always work with backup plans, and this is really some of the things that our sales team and our commercial team, they do incredibly well. They always have backup plans and different routes to goals should something work out differently. This is not new to us that things can shift in time and stuff like that. It has not done that recently for us, but we have tried it before. And I think the ability to shift focus, regroup, and then reassess, and then attack another opportunity, that is something that we can do and certainly a capability that is within the team. So I'm pretty confident that we will show a continued strong utilization of our fleet despite the fact that Hornsea 4 is currently delayed.

Martin Huseby

Analyst

Taking one step backwards to Hornsea 3, which is clearly ramping up as we speak. With respect to the margin contribution on this project before the vessel arrive, should we think about that being flattish at around the current levels? Or would it be fair to think there is also a gradual margin increase throughout the year before the vessel arrive late this year, early next year?

Peter Brogaard Hansen

Management

There will be a gradual increase, but still healthy margins will come in 2026 when the business starts to install. But there will be both in terms of revenue and margins which towards the end of the year.

Martin Huseby

Analyst

So more and more kicking in towards the second half of the year?

Peter Brogaard Hansen

Management

Yes.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Jamie Franklin with Jefferies. Please go ahead and ask your question.

Jamie Franklin

Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead and ask your question.

So firstly, I just wanted a bit of help to understand 2Q in terms of contracted days relative to the first quarter. So obviously, you've got the two newbuilds with Wind Pace starting on contract in the second quarter, and you've also got Wind Maker likely to contribute a lot more meaningfully. So we'd expect to see a big step up in contracted days in the second quarter. But just wondering if you can give any more color there. And if you expect to see any planned maintenance or downtime on any of the seven vessels in the second quarter?

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

Yes, I think that is correct. It also goes for Zaratan. Zaratan started an O&M contract in Asia late in the quarter, and hence, she will also be having much more meaningful contribution in the second quarter. I think that that is completely correct, and that is also the thing that we would like to remind people when we take delivery of vessels. They're not working the day after in the open market because they have to, in many cases, to repatriate from, from the yard and then to where the project is. In case of Wind Maker, that was very fast because the project was in Asia. So we were mobilizing in Singapore and then back up to Taiwan to start the project, and hence, that was very fast. In terms of downtime, we do not expect any adverse downtime on the vessels. As we have also talked about in in one to one conversations, when you deliver vessels like this, are seeing teething issues, but I believe that it's under control and also that our operational team are handling it incredibly well together with our suppliers and hence we are still delivering to our clients and are comfortable around what we are seeing there.

Jamie Franklin

Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead and ask your question.

And then second question just on your order books. You mentioned that your order book for 2025 is substantially filled. But where there are small gaps, is it fair to assume those are towards the end of the year? Or are they kind of evenly spread through the year and that's what you will fill with O&M work?

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

I think the gaps that we currently have are either gaps that come from transiting to projects or let's say the very end of the year potentially on Zaratan. And I think that that is something that has very low likelihood to fill because of the weather situation there. But of course, how long we are working into Q4 is always a question on Zaratan in the Taiwanese water. But I think the remainder is really transiting to projects where, for example, Ally, it has been decided that she will not do any other work than Hornsea 3. So she is steaming directly back and preparing for being 100% ready for Hornsea 3, because we believe that that is a derisking of that project that is very, very important. So while we, on the other projects, have tried to do a bit of utilization prior to the project on Ally, we are focusing on being 100% ready when that project starts.

Jamie Franklin

Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead and ask your question.

And finally, just on O&M, so exciting to see your Nexra offering. Can you just tell us where you are in terms of sort of day rates in operations and maintenance at the moment? Are you still kind of on par with turbine installation rates?

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

I think if we look at the spot market, it's certainly at par with the installation market. If we look at the longer term contracts that are currently in the market, then I think that we are seeing rates that are slightly lower, but let's say with more visibility. So I think the offshore O&M market has, two sides to it. The spot market and the longer market. And we are, of course, let's say, have been building up to this. We have talked that in the last few quarters as well that that we believe that the O&M market needs more care from a company like us. And I think that that is something where we're now taking that step to show our clients that we are ready to embark on that journey with them to make sure we take good care of the turbines that have been installed and deliver more renewable power to the world together.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Roald Hartvigsen with Clarksons.

Roald Hartvigsen

Analyst · Clarksons.

First, want to touch a bit upon the new generation vessels that have entered operations now. So, yeah, Wind Peak, which have started installation work on Sofia and Wind Maker, which has started work on Shangwa [ph]. So can you give us some color on the performance of these new generation vessels so far? And I know it's still you have a limited time of operation, limited data so far, but are you achieving the enhanced installation rates to the tune and vision for those vessels?

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

Yes. I think we are. I think in all fairness, we have seen more issues on Peak than on the other vessels, but it's also the first that we have taken delivery of and we are getting acquainted with the systems, but also kind of like the spare parts strategy. What is it exactly that we need to have in the inventory for spare parts? We are working closely with our suppliers and I think that we are really seeing the benefits of the serial production of these vessels where we have a lot of similarities in terms of cranes, jacking systems, stuff like that across the fleet of the new builds. The Peak is performing well, but we can already see improvements to pace and also Maker, because of what we know now from Peak. So Peak maybe becomes a little bit the scapegoat, although she has a very strong technical uptime, but she becomes a little bit the scapegoat because we are learning from her and we are implementing it. So it's really about taking operational knowledge and transferring it to the new build team to ensure that we take that knowledge in while the vessel is still in in yard. And it is fair to say that we are seeing an improvement already.

Roald Hartvigsen

Analyst · Clarksons.

Thanks. And then on my next question, I want to sort of touch a bit upon yard prices versus secondhand market. So we have generally seen yard prices just continue to rise, which I guess makes that a greater hurdle than it has been in the past. So could that make second hand transactions a more viable option for growth going forward? And how do you assess that market currently?

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

That's probably a fair assumption that could be relevant for some to look at that. I would like to say that, in my view, they are very, limited quality out there, and hence, one has to be very careful of not, adding something that could be deadweight in a few years. So I think that that's something where the teams have to go through these processes very, very diligently, if something is looked at. I think the benefit maybe if one has to look at that is that it's probably with the current narrative in the market for anybody to, let's say, come in speculatively is probably not realistic either. So that maybe takes a little bit of the pressure off the yards.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Asne Holsen with ABG. Please go ahead and ask your question.

Asne Holsen

Analyst · ABG. Please go ahead and ask your question.

I see you have a really good order book growth year-over-year, but I noticed that there is not a lot of development from 31st of March until now. Are people sort of awaiting signing contracts with waiting for a little bit more certain market environment? Or how should we think about that?

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

I think in offshore wind, one has to be very careful not to compare too strictly on a few months because these contracts are in negotiation for a long time, and hence, it can be, you know, the contract negotiation happens at a certain point of time or an auction happens at a certain point of time. I think we more focus kind of like what is our target for the year and what we want to achieve in a year rather than what month it comes in at. And we will continue to report on the backlog in the same format so you guys can follow it. But I think what we try to convey to you guys in the backlog slide and in general on our market slides is that we still believe that the most capable assets will be very busy in the years to come.

Operator

Operator

We have no further questions at this time. Thank you for your participation. I will now hand the floor back to Mikkel Gleerup for any closing remarks.

Mikkel Gleerup

Management

Yes. Thank you, and thanks for everybody who joined. It's always a pleasure to be able to have the questions directly from you guys. Remember that we're always available if there's any follow-up questions that is better asked in a one to one forum. Thanks to everybody who have been part of the journey so far. We know that there is a lot of noise out in the market at the moment, but we still believe that the fundamentals in this industry are very sound. And we will continue to fight to deliver, what you expect from us. Thank you.