Participants

Kevin Bordosky; Investor Relations; Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc

Bernie Wolford; Chief Executive Officer, Director; Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc

Dominic Savarino; Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President; Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc

Eddie Kim; Analyst; Barclays

David Smith; Analyst; Pickering Energy Partners

Noel Parks; Analyst; Tuohy Brothers Investment Research

Josh Jayne; Analyst; Daniel Energy Partners

Doug Becker; Analyst; Capital One Financial

Presentation

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Diamond Offshore Drilling first-quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.
I would like now to turn the conference over to Kevin Bordosky, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Kevin Bordosky

Thank you, Michelle. Good morning and afternoon to everyone, and thank you for joining us. With me on the call today are Bernie Wolford, President and Chief Executive Officer; Dominic Savarino, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Jon Richards, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
Before we begin our remarks, I'll remind you that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, and therefore, time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of any replay of this call. Some of the information referenced in our call today is included in the slide presentation that you can find in the Investor Relations section of our website under Calendar of Events.
In addition, certain statements made during this call may be forward-looking in nature. These statements are based on our current expectations and include known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which we are unable to predict or control. These risks and uncertainties may cause our actual results or performance to differ materially from any future results or performance expressed or implied by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include the risk factors disclosed in our 10-K and 10-Q filings with the SEC.
Further, we expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Refer to the disclosure regarding forward-looking statements incorporated in our press release issued yesterday evening, and please note that the contents of our call today are covered by that disclosure. In addition, please note that we will be referencing non-GAAP figures on our call today. You can find a reconciliation to GAAP financials in our press release issued yesterday.
And now I will turn the call over to Bernie.

Bernie Wolford

Thanks, Kevin. Good day to everyone, and thank you for your interest in Diamond Offshore as we present our results for the first quarter of 2020. For today, I'll provide an update on previously reported GreatWhite incidents highlights from the first quarter, our perspective on the deepwater drilling market and opportunities for our fleet. Dominic will then walk through our financial results and guidance for the second quarter and full year.
Before I wrap up and open the floor for questions, I will begin with an update on the GreatWhite on March 15th. The GreatWhite arrived and Kishore import where it is now undergoing repairs prior to departing the well locations. The rig's crew safely recovered the lower marine riser package. Our LMRP. from the seabed. Since arriving in Kishor, we have dismantled the LMRP. made repairs to damaged equipment and significantly progress the rebuild of the LMRP. over the next four to five weeks, we expect to complete all repairs, including the rebuild, commissioning and testing of the MRP and BOP. As of today, we are more than 90% complete with the shipyard scope and progressing in line with our previously guided estimate for time out of service, we currently expect the rig to be back on the well location in the first half of June. Dominic will provide additional information about the estimated repair costs and insurance recovery in his remarks.
Before moving on, I'd like to recognize the extraordinary work by our team in response to this event and the quality of the ongoing collaboration with our client and local authorities.
Turning now to our financial results. Total revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter were 275,000,064 million, respectively. During the first quarter, we safely handed our rig back to the rig owner after managing the rig since March of 2021. The villa remains under our management through August. While it completes its current contract with an operator in the US Gulf of Mexico at the contracts and management of the Villa will transfer back to the rig owner.
Turning now to backlog. As previously announced, we secured $713 million of new backlog during the quarter, which equates to 4.2 rig years of work spread across three rigs. These include two of our seventh generation drillships, the black line and Black Hornet, which are each contracted for two year extensions in the US Gulf of Mexico at substantially higher day rates and the Patriot one of our more harsh environment semis, which was contracted for a 60 day to well P&A campaign in the UK that commenced in early March. The black line and Black Hornet contract extension will start in direct continuation of their current contracts and provide firm work through the third quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, respectively. Under these new contracts, the black line and Black Hornet will each be positioned to generate approximately 115 million in annualized rig level EBITDA contributing significantly to our cash flow over the coming years.
Since the end of the first quarter we are pleased to announce that the BlackRhino secured a one-well job in the Ivory Coast with an independent operator. The campaign is estimated to take 30 days and is planned to commence late this year. After the rig's special periodical survey, our SPS and managed pressure drilling upgrade. The total prepaid contract value associated with this job is approximately 18 million with a day rate in line with recent global drill fixtures, including mobilization and demobilization elements with our contracting success year to date, we have significantly increased the visibility of our revenues for 2024 and beyond. For the full year 2024, excluding cold-stacked rigs, 88% of our marketed capacity is contracted 91%. If you include priced options. Similarly, 49% of our 2025 marketed capacity is contracted. If you include priced option, this number rises to 73%.
Now I'll turn to our view on the markets in general and opportunities for Diamond. During the first quarter, 32 rig years of floating rig demand were booked across the industry with an average per rig duration of approximately 1.1 years. This average duration is without cost options, extensions, sublets and the recent 10-year JV fixture. We believe the broader trend towards longer term contracts will continue as the year progresses. According to recent data from S&P Global as of mid-April, open demand from floating rate tenders was approximately 56 rig years compared to 42 rig years a year earlier, representing an increase of more than 30%. This uptick in tendering activity, coupled with concern over future rig availability, has pushed day rates for high-specification ultra-deepwater drilling rigs into the high four hundreds to low $500,000 per day range for our fleet, we are tracking 53 contract opportunities totaling 55 rig years of demand with commencement dates from now to the end of 2025.
This demand is split between DP and moored rigs at 66% and 34%, respectively. Demand for floating rigs across the Golden Triangle remained strong while the UK sector of the North Sea has been more volatile as some operators are deferring decisions for specific programs due to concerns brought about by the extension of the energy profits levy and anticipation anticipated national elections from some of these deferred programs or 2024 opportunities for the Patriot. It is now likely that the Patriot will be idle following its current contract until late this year or early next when it commences its contracted long-term P&A campaign, demand in the region ticks up in 2025, and we remain optimistic for the Endeavour's opportunities following its current campaign as we pursue for opportunities for work both in and outside the UK.
Finally, the BlackRhino is competing for multiple opportunities across the Golden Triangle commencing after SSPS. and short-term job in the Ivory Coast. It is notable that during the SPS, we're installing an MPD system when that is completed. All four of our black ships will feature owned MPD systems securing their position at the high end of technical specifications among competing seventh-generation drillships. We are in active discussions on a number of opportunities and expect the BlackRhino to secure additional work without a gap between contracts changing subjects, we are well positioned to capture further upside through marketing rights recently secured for three seventh-generation stranded newbuild drillships.
We have entered into an agreement with the owners of the Dorado and Danko to market these rigs in Brazil, Latin America, West Africa Malaysia and Indonesia. The Dorado was delivered from the shipyard in April and subsequently moved to Malaysia. While the DrillCo is expected to be delivered from the shipyard in the third quarter in addition, we secured marketing rights for the former LS Libra now known as the title action for the US Gulf of Mexico region. The rig is currently expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2025. These are exciting opportunities that could generate meaningful income and increase our exposure to the Seventh Generation drillship market during a period when our own units are likely to be fully committed. If we are successful in securing work for these rigs, we would manage the rigs on behalf of their respective owners and earn fees that would be accretive to our EBITDA projections without an increase in required working capital.
And with that, I'll turn the call over to Dominic before returning with some concluding remarks.

Dominic Savarino

Thanks, Bernie, and good morning or afternoon to everyone in my prepared remarks. This morning, I'll provide a recap of our results for the first quarter, an update on the estimated financial impact of the GreatWhite incident guidance for the second quarter and updated full year 2024 guidance. For the first quarter, we reported revenue, excluding reimbursable revenue of 259 million as compared to 280 million in the prior quarter and adjusted EBITDA of $64 million as compared to 72 million the quarter over quarter decrease in revenue was primarily attributable to the completion of one of the managed rig contracts and the return of that rig to its owner and the GreatWhite being off contract for two months in the first quarter as a result of the LMRP. incident, partially offset by the courage and Black Hawk operating for the full quarter on new higher day rate contracts.
Our revenue in the first quarter came in just under our guidance of 260 to $270 million, despite the fact that our guidance did not include the adverse impact on revenue of the GreatWhite incident. The revenue generated from the remainder of the fleet exceeded our expectations for the quarter as a result of additional revenue days for the Patriot and strong revenue efficiency across the remainder of the fleet in the second half of the quarter.
Contract drilling expense for the first quarter was $184 million compared to 189 million in the prior quarter. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower charter and other operating expenses for the managed rigs, partially offset by higher operating costs for the courage and Black Hawk as they work the full quarter after commencing new contracts in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the recording of the one-time expense of $8 million for the insurance deductible associated with the GreatWhite incident. Our resulting adjusted EBITDA of $64 million exceeded our guidance of 40 45 to 55 million by almost 30%.
Our guidance beat was attributable to the Patriot revenue and fleet revenue efficiency performance I mentioned earlier as well as the incurrence of lower repairs and maintenance costs in the quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA results for the quarter have been normalized to remove the one-time $10 million charge for the insurance deductible, 8 million of which was recorded in contract drilling expense and 2 million of which was recorded as a loss on the disposition of assets. Absent this adjustment, adjusted EBITDA still came in at the high end of our guidance despite the GreatWhite earning no revenue in February or March.
Operating cash flow for the first quarter was $59 million with free cash flow of 38 million as compared to negative free cash flow of 22 million in the fourth quarter of last year. The improvement in free cash flow was primarily a result have a relief in working capital and lower capital expenditures.
Turning now to the GreatWhite and our updated estimate of the financial implications of the unintentional release of the LMRP. As Bernie noted, the GreatWhite is making good progress on the repairs and is estimated to be back on location and earning day rate in the second half of June. Simultaneously, we have begun the process of filing the insurance claim for the incident and anticipate beginning to receive reimbursement from our insurance underwriters in the second quarter.
After taking into account lost revenue, repair costs, insurance proceeds, including loss of higher insurance and our deductible. We now estimate that the overall EBITDA and cash flow impact will be approximately 25 to 30 million, a slight decrease compared to previous expectations. This impact can be broken down into the following three components. First, a decrease in top line revenue of 32 to $35 million, approximately half of which was recognized in the first quarter with the remainder being recognized in the second quarter. Second, a net increase in contract drilling expenses of three to $6 million attributable to the insurance deductible, partially offset by the expected reimbursement of a portion of operating expenses as part of the insurance claim. And finally, an increase in other operating income due to the expected receipt of loss of higher insurance of 10 to $11 million, all of which should be recognized in the second quarter. In addition, we anticipate an increase in capital expenditures of 15 to 20 million related to the incident, all of which we anticipate to be subject to recovery and reimbursement under our insurance policy I would like to now turn to guidance for the second quarter and full year 2024 on our earnings call last quarter.
Given the recency of the GreatWhite incident, we presented our initial guidance for 2024 by excluding any financial impact from the GreatWhite event, now that we have better visibility into the estimated impact and how the various components will be accounted for in our financial results. We are updating our full year 2020 for revenue, adjusted EBITDA and capital expenditure guidance to take into account the negative impact of the GreatWhite incident, offset by various positive outcomes across our fleet.
Our full year 2024 revenue guidance, excluding reimbursable revenue, is now 925 to $945 million. And our full year 2024 adjusted EBITDA guidance is now 225 to 245 million. This revised adjusted EBITDA guidance is a considerable increase to our prior guidance as our prior guidance of 230 to $250 million did not take into account the previously disclosed 25 to $30 million adverse impact from the GreatWhite incident. And our new guidance does our updated adjusted EBITDA guidance of 235 million at the midpoint compares favorably to the prior effective guidance of $212 212 million at the midpoint.
The overall increase in guidance is largely driven by higher revenue as a result of certain rigs being on contract more days than originally anticipated and lower operating costs. We are pleased that we have been able to increase our full year adjusted EBITDA guidance. Further, this increased guidance is substantially derisked as 100% of our adjusted EBITDA guidance for the remainder of this year is represented by already contracted work or priced options that are likely to be exercised. We have removed any additional contribution from the Patriot for the remainder of 2024 as opportunities for additional work this year have not materialized. Full year 2024 CapEx is now expected to be between 135 to 145 million after taking into account the additional capital expenditures for the GreatWhite.
Turning to our second quarter guidance, we expect revenue excluding reimbursable revenue to be between 230 to 240 million and adjusted EBITDA to be between 55 to $65 million. Again, both ranges, inclusive of the negative financial impact we anticipate will be recorded in Q2 from the GreatWhite event Capital expenditures for Q2 are expected to be between 30 and 35 million. Looking forward to the end of 2024 and beyond, our visibility to estimated future earnings and cash flow is increasing as a result of our recent contract awards and our growing backlog at higher average day rates.
In addition to our adjusted EBITDA guidance in 2024 being increased and derisked. We have 73% and 41% of available days in 2025 and 2026, respectively, committed through firm contracts and priced options we expect to be exercised. The weighted average drillship and semi-submersible day rate in our 2025 2025 backlog is 475,267 thousand dollars per day respectively, with total weighted average day rate across the entire fleet of $356,000 per day. This compares favorably to the $305,000 per day earned in the first quarter of this year. This level of contract coverage and average day rate growth positions us well for the next three years yet still provides plenty of room for positive operational leverage as recontracting opportunities arise.
The continued strong operating performance across our fleet has us on track for our net leverage ratio and other requirements under our credit facility and bond indenture to be met by the end of 2024, giving us additional flexibility with regard to our capital allocation strategy.
That concludes my prepared remarks. I will now hand it back to Bernie for some closing comments.

Bernie Wolford

Thank you, Dominic. The demand landscape remains compelling for our business. The high-specification deepwater rig supply to demand balance continues to tighten. This is resulting in strong contracting conditions that should benefit our available and marketed fleet. We have made a strong start to 2020 for securing 731 million in contract awards, sharing our improved financial outlook for the year and significantly improved earnings visibility into 2025. We look forward to delivering our guided results, along with further EBITDA and free cash flow improvements in 2025. We appreciate your interest in Diamond Offshore, and we'll now open the call for questions.
Thank you.

Question and Answer Session

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Eddie Kim, Barclays.

Eddie Kim

Hi, good morning.
Just wanted to touch on the marketing arrangements on the three stranded newbuilds, it would you would dime and get a say as to the day rate and secured on those contracts?
And then separately, just with regards to that the management arrangement, if those rigs are contracted, does that cover just the initial job or is that management contract somewhat somewhat indefinite? Just any color on those on the marketing agreements would be great.

Bernie Wolford

It is yes. Thanks for the question. First, successful in earning a contract for the rigs that will be managed and crew by Diamond Offshore employees and from our customers' perspective, the rig will be a Diamond Offshore rig dominant market, the rig to customers within the stated regions and pursue contracting opportunities in line with how we would market our own diamond rigs. Commercial proposals will be evaluated submitted with an owner's input and consent with Diamond being the focal point for commercial and contractual negotiations.
With respect to your question about the management of the race beyond the marketing agreement, our anticipation is that as marketing agreements need to manage contracts, those obligations would continue through the time of the managed contract but by no means indefinite the marketing agreements themselves are indefinite subject to certain conditions that might result in the ultimate termination of those.

Dominic Savarino

Okay.

Eddie Kim

Understood. And then just with regard to the kind of the margins on the managed on a management contract. I mean, is it fair to assume that the but the margins would be similar to what you earn for the Auriga and the Vela for Pat, how should we think about the margins on that?

Bernie Wolford

Yes, Graham, before I get to that, I should point out the management agreement would be for the firm term plus any options with regard to the margins, they would be similar to what we were earning on previously or currently combined, if all three units were working under these new marketing rights, then we would expect contribution on the order of 35 to $45 million annually the EBITDA.

Eddie Kim

Okay, great. And if I could just squeeze one in here. The short term contract you announced for the BlackRhino for total contract value, 18 million works out to 600,000 a day. But I believe you said that included some mobile T-Mobile and that's kind of a clean rate. Is it closer to where leading edge is today? Is that clean rate kind of in that mid to high four hundreds or low five five hundreds.

Bernie Wolford

It's in the mid to high four hundreds.

Eddie Kim

Okay, that is great. Thank you for all the color. I'll turn it back.

Operator

David Smith, Pickering Energy.

David Smith

And good morning and congratulations on the quarter and on bucking the trend by improving your 24 outlook.

Bernie Wolford

Thank you, David.

David Smith

Thanks, Dave. And circling back to the theme of management rights, wanted to ask if those agreements include a potential path to ownership and if so could you provide any high-level color on the timing or valuation?
Yes.

Bernie Wolford

The current marketing rights do not include any specific provisions that would lead to some kind of ownership potential in the future. Obviously, I'm sure we'll be successful in marketing the rigs and ultimately managing the rigs. It does somewhat improve our chances our relative position, I would say, but there's no explicit rights at all.
Okay.

David Smith

I do appreciate that. And then a second for the Endeavor, I think you referenced four opportunities that you're pursuing. I was hoping if you could give any color about the duration of those and really how you think about the potential for that rig to work through semester 20.

Bernie Wolford

Sure. From two of those opportunities are first quarter 25 ranging from seven months to two years in duration on the balance of those opportunities start in the second quarter of 25, ranging in duration from just over two months to nine months in duration. So it's a bit of a mixed bag, Dave, you know, we're still chasing every single one of those. Some of those are already tendered and the bids are under evaluation. Others are in the stages of pursuing a bid opportunity that's always had already out on the market, but hadn't yet closed. So a bit of a mixed bag. And obviously pricing will be adjusted in line with term as we would prefer term over over ultimate short term pricing power NetCentric cents.

Operator

Noel Parks, Tuohy Brothers.

Noel Parks

Hi, good morning. I just wondered if you maybe could Tom expand a little bit on your thoughts on what you see as far as regional activity trends. You talked a bit about, Tom, some of the regulatory matters at them. We're having it in Sure.

Bernie Wolford

I'm none in particular to comment on for the U.S. Brazil or West Africa. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, in the UK, the extension of the energy profits levy has been a source of concern for our clients and potential clients as well as an expectation that the UK will hold national elections sometime before the end of this year. All of which, yes, they have created some volatility and concern on their part as to how their profits may be taxed and how their opportunities may be presented in years going ahead in the UK sector. So it's some somewhat uncertain for the bigger programs and the P&A program.
So we see those going ahead for some of the smaller some what I would call brownfields, our legacy development areas. We've seen some of those programs deferred until 25 until there's more clarity on regulatory activity in Australia, we've seen great progress and our clients have been able to secure their environmental permits and that that backlog and risk that was well recognized a year and six months ago has largely cleared off back to the UK. Certainly seeing increased demand on the P&A front and that P&A demand doesn't seem to be impacted by, you know, the uncertainty around further development activity.

Operator

One moment for the next question.

Bernie Wolford

Operator, we were expecting a likely participant, Greg Lewis from BTIG, because we had missed him last quarter, but I don't see him on our roll today. Greg, if perhaps you're on the call. Please know that we can't see you in the queue.

Operator

Josh Jayne, Daniel Energy.

Josh Jayne

So I don't want to beat a dead horse, but just to go back to the three newbuild rigs, could you talk about why this was the right path for Diamond instead of late with the agreements that you signed instead of pursuing some sort of path to ownership for, you know, all three potentially one of the rigs was ownership a consideration or an option in your discussions or was it was it because you're capital constrained today? Or just maybe just talk me through the discussions and how you are thinking about this being the best path forward for those rigs and Diamond?

Bernie Wolford

Sure. The first part of that question, as to you know, from us pursuing the marketing rights and why it's right for Diamond and largely that's because we have the global scale, we have the people, processes and systems that allow us to take on those those rigs and market those rigs and provide great services for our clients without much add to our infrastructure and costs. And particularly that's important with our expectation that all of our black ships are going to be are likely to be committed in the not-too-distant future. And so we would be have no availability in the drillship market to make offerings to our clients with.
Regarding to past ownership, Josh, we have looked at it ownership of these assets and other assets similar to these that were that were well aware of some working in the market today and in some cases, simply put the bid-ask spread has been too wide for us to cover, in other cases, as our equity has continued to trade at prices that might indicate a per drillship value of $300 million from our equity currency is really not priced on to support a potential acquisition right now. We remain generally interested in acquiring assets like these, and we'll continue to pursue those opportunities, but it does not have a good to trying to negotiate a path to ownership when there's a large disparity on the bid ask premium at this stage, the things that help.

Josh Jayne

That's helpful. Maybe maybe on that point on the equity valuation. As you think about where the fleet is today, where it's going to be earning in 25 and 26, how should we be thinking about what your the opportunities to likely return capital over the next couple of years given where we are in the upcycle? Is there any chance that you could just offer some preliminary thoughts about that?

Dominic Savarino

This is Dominic, Josh, there certainly is that possibility as we exit 2024 and get into 2025 we'll have the financial profile that we meet our covenants in our RCF and our indenture that would give us the flexibility to be able to do that starting next year. And that's a decision that the Board will take at that point in time. We are focused on on managing our liquidity and our and our balance sheet in a conservative manner. But certainly. So those discussions would take place and we would have that opportunity once we meet those covenants by the time we exit this year.

Bernie Wolford

And Josh, I might add that Tom you know, part and follow up to your other question in part to this question of two things. One, we're keenly focused on cash flow and building our cash on the balance sheet.
And secondly, with regard to potential acquisitions and my reference to how our equity was trading today on a per seventh gen equivalent, we're obviously very sensitive to pursuing deals that are accretive for our shareholders and in some cases that that simply does not allow us to come to go toward that process.

Josh Jayne

Sounds good.

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Doug Becker, Capital One.

Doug Becker

Thank you, Bernie, you mentioned the black line that was expected to secure additional work without gaps between contracts. I curious if that extends to the entire 2025 outlook and really just trying to gauge what type of visibility you have for that rig next year?

Bernie Wolford

Yeah. Thanks, Doug, for the question, Tom. Yes, it does extend to the to the 2025 outlook for the full year. I mean, to the extent from my comment regarding not having any gap, there may be a mobilization involved in getting from where we are to where the job is dependent on whether it's in West Africa, Brazil or the US Gulf of Mexico. But we expect to be fully contracted for the year at this stage.
Now that really de-risks the outlook.

Doug Becker

Dominic, I was hoping you could talk a little bit about normalized operating costs on your first quarter. The Regal was being released. I guess there were some efficiency bonuses, but just trying to think about the fleet going forward. Just any any context on operating cost explicitly?

Dominic Savarino

We can get into details about the operating costs, although certainly we've seen some costs from up from our guidance has come down. We are and we had some benefits in the first quarter from some deferral of costs that got pushed out into later in the year from a repairs and maintenance perspective. But overall, our operating costs have come down slightly relative to our to our expectations, but we can talk more offline if we wanted to get into a more details about.
Yes, rig by rig view of that from a modeling standpoint.

Bernie Wolford

Doug, I would add with that, I would add that our inflation expectations for the year, I think are on the order of 3% to 4%, and that's baked into that. So the guidance we provided today.

Josh Jayne

Got it.

Operator

I show no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call Bernie for closing remarks.

Bernie Wolford

Thanks to all for your participation in today's call. We certainly look forward to speaking with you again next quarter and wish you all a good day. Thanks and goodbye.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation.