25 April 2024 – ABL Group’s 2024 first-quarter results
HIGHLIGHTS Q1 2024
Revenues of USD 68.9 million (Q1 23: USD 45.2 million)
Operating profit of USD 3.4 million (Q1 23: USD 2.7 million)
Adjusted EBIT of USD 3.7 million (Q1 23: USD 3.2 million)
Net cash of USD 19.4 million (Q4 23: USD 17.2 million)
Proposed semi-annual dividend of NOK 0.4 per share in H1 2024 upheld
Reuben Segal, CEO of ABL Group ASA (“ABL Group” or the “Company”), commented: “We achieved solid operating results in the first quarter. The acquisition of AGR accounted for a large element of our annual growth of 53%, but we also demonstrated organic growth in all existing parts of the business. We delivered year-on-year margin improvement across three of our four segments, while our renewables consultancy, OWC, experienced lower utilisation in a tough offshore wind market.
Our outlook for ABL Group for 2024 remains upbeat. A larger share of global oil & gas expenditure is expected to go into offshore execution, where ABL Group’s core capacity lies. The offshore wind industry sentiment is improving in what will be the busiest year of auctions ever in the sector. Finally, activity in the maritime sector remains high and stable, providing a robust base for our more cyclical operations.”
A presentation of the quarterly results will be held today at 08:30 CET at SpareBank 1 Markets’ office at Olav Vs gate 5, 0161 Oslo. The event will be webcast live and available for replay shortly after. To watch the webcast, please visit our Reports and Presentations page.
“We are delighted to be awarded by OMV Petrom the opportunity to support this important energy development for Romania and the wider Black Sea. ABL brings significant experience in marine warranty, engineering, consulting and surveying across the Black Sea region. We are also continuously cementing our commitment to the region with the development of our offices in Bulgaria, Turkey and our more recent office opening in Romania.”
Shai Tzucker, ABL’s Managing Director of energy services in Europe and West Africa
The Neptun Deep project is the largest natural gas project in the Romanian Black Sea. Production is expected to start in 2027 contributing to the region’s energy security.
ABL’s London operation has won the contract to provide MWS services to review, survey and approve all operations relating to the Transportation & Installation (T&I) of critical project assets for development of both Domino and Pelican South fields. ABL’s scope of work includes the T&I of the shallow water platform, subsea installation at both fields including a 160 km subsea pipeline from the said platform to the shore.
The shallow water platform will be fabricated at yards in Italy and Indonesia. ABL’s project management will be centralised in London, whilst much of the operational and on-site attendances will be delivered by ABL’s local Black Sea operations. ABL’s wider global team will also support the project’s global supply chain, including its Indonesian operations based in Jakarta and Batam.
“This energy infrastructure project will also play an important role in supporting Europe’s longer-term energy security. As such, we are pleased to offer our capabilities to support the delivery of the project.”
Sergio Leone, MWS Project Manager and Business Development Lead for Europe and Africa
ABL, which is part of Oslo-listed ABL Group ASA, is an independent energy and marine consultancy specializing in solutions to de-risk and drive the energy transition across renewables, maritime and oil and gas sectors.
Join ABL to mark the Launch of ABL Romania | Thursday 9th May, Constanta
ABL Romania is hosting an official launch event on Thursday 9th May, from 16:00, to mark the opening of its new office, which is the latest expansion of ABL’s operations in the Black Sea, to support the delivery of the region’s offshore oil & gas projects, whilst supporting the development of Romania’s energy transition strategy.
The launch event will begin with a collaborative industry panel discussion, bringing together stakeholders from Romania’s oil & gas, maritime and renewable energy industries, to discuss:
Delivering Black Sea Energy Today and Transitioning to a Net-Zero Future:
The risks and rewards on the horizon
Leading questions to discuss:
The Black Sea as key to European Energy Security: What’s the status on energy production and what are the challenges?
Black Sea energy diversification: What does the future look like?
Oslo, 2 April 2024 – ABL Group ASA (“ABL Group” or the “Company”) (OSE: ABL) initiated a share buyback program 20 March 2024 to repurchase up to 250,000 of the Company’s common shares in open market transactions on the OSE until the date the maximum number of shares have been repurchased. If the buyback is not completed before the 2024 Annual General Meeting (expected on or about 29 May 2024), the buyback shall be temporarily paused and may later continue, subject to the Board’s renewed approval, in accordance with a new authorization to repurchase shares expected to be granted to the Board of Directors by the 2024 Annual General Meeting.
For the period from and including 25 March through 27 March 2024, ABL Group purchased a total of 13,650 shares at an average price of NOK 11.92 per share. The transactions effected through the agreement with Arctic comprise all the transactions effected by or on behalf of ABL Group during the period.
Transaction overview:
Date
Aggregated daily volume (# of shares)
Weighted average price (NOK)
Total daily transaction value (NOK)
25.03.2024
208
12.25
2 548
26.03.2024
10 500
11.91
125 103
27.03.2024
2 942
11.93
35 109
Period total
13 650
11.92
162 760
Total earlier announced buy-back under the program
27 400
12.18
333 744
Program total
41 050
12.10
496 504
The issuer’s holding of own shares: 41,050 Following the completion of the above transactions, ABL Group owned a total of 41,050 of its own shares, corresponding to 0.03% of ABL Group’s share capital.
Appendix: An overview of all transactions made under the Company’s buyback program and its agreement with Arctic Securities that have been carried out during the above-mentioned time period is attached to this report and available at www.newsweb.no.
Oslo, 26 March 2024 – ABL Group ASA (“ABL Group” or the “Company”) (OSE: ABL) initiated a share buyback program on 20 March 2024 to repurchase up to 250,000 of the Company’s common shares in open market transactions on the OSE until the date the maximum number of shares have been repurchased. If the buyback is not completed before the 2024 Annual General Meeting (expected on or about 29 May 2024), the buyback shall be temporarily paused and may later continue, subject to the Board’s renewed approval, in accordance with a new authorization to repurchase shares expected to be granted to the Board of Directors by the 2024 Annual General Meeting.
For the period from and including 20 March through 22 March 2024, ABL Group purchased a total of 27,400 shares at an average price of NOK 12.18 per share. The transactions effected through the agreement with Arctic comprise all the transactions effected by or on behalf of ABL Group during the period.
Transaction overview:
Date
Aggregated daily volume (# of shares)
Weighted average price (NOK)
Total daily transaction value (NOK)
20.03.2024
10 900
12.30
134 084
21.03.2024
6 000
12.24
73 410
22.03.2024
10 500
12.02
126 250
Period total
27 400
12.18
333 744
Total earlier announced buy-back under the program
0
0
0
Program total
27 400
12.18
333 744
The issuer’s holding of own shares: 27,400 Following the completion of the above transactions, ABL Group owned a total of 27,400 of its own shares, corresponding to 0.02% of ABL Group’s share capital.
Appendix: An overview of all transactions made under the Company’s buyback program and its agreement with Arctic Securities that have been carried out during the above-mentioned time period is attached to this report and available at www.newsweb.no.
ABL Group ASA (or the “Company”, ticker: “ABL”) has decided to initiate a share buyback program of up to 250,000 of its own shares, representing approximately 0.2% of the outstanding share capital in the Company.
The buyback program will be conducted in accordance with the authorization granted to the Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting on 31 May 2023.
Under the share buyback program, shares may be acquired for a total maximum amount of NOK 5,000,000 and for a maximum of 250,000 shares.
The number of shares acquired per day shall not exceed 25% of the average daily trading volume in the 20 trading days preceding the relevant purchase date.
The repurchase will be conducted in the period from 20 March 2024 until the date the maximum number of shares have been repurchased. If the repurchase is not completed before the 2024 Annual General Meeting (expected on or about 29 May 2024), the repurchase shall be temporarily paused and may later continue, subject to the Board’s renewed approval, in accordance with a new authorization to repurchase shares expected to be granted to the Board of Directors by the 2024 Annual General Meeting. This means that repurchase of shares may be continued after the date of the 2024 Annual General Meeting, until the earlier of the date the maximum number of shares have been acquired and 30 June 2024.
The purpose of the share buyback program is to meet near term contractual obligations on past M&A transactions and to fulfil obligations in connection with employee share programs. Any shares purchased will be held in treasury until used for the above purposes.
The buyback program will be managed by Arctic Securities AS, which will make its trading decisions in relation to the acquisition of shares independently of, and uninfluenced by, the Company.
The transactions will be conducted in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 and Euronext Oslo Børs’ Guidelines for buyback programs and stabilization dated February 2021.
Revenues of USD 67.7 million (Q4 22: USD 42.8 million)
Operating profit of USD 3.9 million (Q4 22: USD 2.5 million)
Adjusted EBIT of USD 5.0 million (Q4 22: USD 3.5 million)
Net cash of USD 17.2 million (Q3 23: USD 14.9 million)
Proposing semi-annual dividend of NOK 0.4 per share in H1 2024
HIGHLIGHTS FULL YEAR 2023
Revenue of USD 251.2 million (2022: USD 167.9 million)
Operating profit of USD 16.5 million (2022: USD 12.5 million)
Adjusted EBIT of USD 20.8 million (2022: USD 15.3 million)
Total dividend of NOK 0.7 per share paid during 2023
Completed acquisition of AGR and DWP
Reuben Segal, CEO of ABL Group ASA (“ABL Group” or the “Company”), commented:
“Ending the year with record high operational cash flows, 2023 represents another step change in the development of ABL Group. The acquisition of AGR accounted for a large element of our annual growth of 50%, but we also demonstrated organic growth in all existing parts of the business, led by in renewables consultancy OWC. We continue our investment in OWC, despite lower utilisation in the quarter, as this is a longer-term play on building a leading renewables consultancy capability.
Our outlook for ABL Group for 2024 is upbeat. A larger share of global oil & gas expenditure is expected to go into offshore execution, where ABL Group’s core capacity lies. The offshore wind industry sentiment is improving ahead of what will be the busiest year of auctions ever in the sector. Finally, activity in the maritime sector remains high and stable, providing a robust base for our more cyclical operations.”
A presentation of the quarterly results will be held today at 08:30 CET at SpareBank 1 Markets’ office at Olav Vs gate 5, 0161 Oslo. The event will be webcast live and available for replay shortly after. To watch the webcast, please visit our Reports and Presentations page.
ABL Group ASA (“ABL Group”) will release its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, 22 February 2024, at approximately 06:00 Central European Time (CET).
A presentation of the quarterly results will be held the same day at 08:30 CET at SpareBank 1 Markets’ office at Olav Vs gate 5, 0161 Oslo. The event will be webcast live and available for replay shortly after.
Shell has contracted ABL’s specialist master data build and optimisation software – EffioTM, to support a number of its large-scale newbuild projects including LNG Canada, Crux and Jackdaw. So far EffioTM has helped deliver time savings by 50% as well as adding value to improved management and overall visualisation of asset integrity management.
“The EffioTM tool has helped accelerate the computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) build by as much as 50% compared to a conventional project. This is done by introducing a novel solution that eliminates many MS Excel heavy activities common in CMMS projects, spanning data preparation, field population, quality checks and complex transmittal package management,” says Stuart Murray, head of technical at ABL’s asset and integrity management team.
As part of ABL’s scope of work with Shell, EffioTM has been deployed on LNG Canada and one of Shell’s Canada-based shale gas projects, ahead of further global deployment across new projects.
EffioTM is a cloud-based master data build, ETL (extract, transform and load) and optimisation software with a proven capability of achieving significant time and cost efficiencies for projects. This software was developed by ABL’s in house software team and is used on all internal new projects for data enhancement, build and optimisation of maintenance, materials and resources load levelling/grouping. EffioTM provides a one-stop solution for controlled, efficient, consistent and connected deployment of an asset management strategy.
ABL – part of Oslo-listed ABL Group ASA – is a marine and engineering consultancy working in renewables, oil and gas and maritime industries. The company’s asset management software is qualified to both the international ISO standard as well as the Norwegian NORSOK offshore standard.
EffioTM captures the learning from projects as rules and governance, enhancing each project delivery by enabling it to run QA checks on data sets before bulk loading into an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or a CMMS. This allows the automation of some activities within a maintenance build.
The software has been successfully piloted by Shell’s global Technical Asset Operations team in managing Canadian asset projects where standard operate-phased Master Data Management tools are not yet in place.
“Our goal is focusing on getting data right the first time and building trust in the business through applying established industry and data standards such as ISO standard, CFIHOS, etc. We are looking forward to continuing our support as EffioTM adoption expands” adds Stuart Murray.
The EffioTM software has been used successfully on multiple upstream oil and gas projects and clients, including supermajors, international oil companies and FPSO operators, plus for projects in the downstream processing and renewable energy industries. It can be applied to any industry and a large distillery in the UK has recently started using it.
EffioTM is also used by clients to migrate systems for example to move from SAP to SAP S/4HANA and when merging acquired assets into the organisation.
ABL’s asset integrity management teams in Aberdeen and London, UK, are managing the project from the supplier side. The company has not disclosed the value of the contract.
Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement from ABL Group ASA (the “Company”) on 22 January 2024 regarding exercise of warrants.
The share capital increase as a result of the exercise of warrants has now been registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises, and the Company’s share capital has been increased with NOK 100,000.
Following registration of the share capital increase, the Company has an issued share capital of NOK 12,847,786.70 divided on 128,477,867 shares each with a par value of NOK 0.10.
Shares issued on the basis of the warrants will be subject to a lock-up period of 6 months from the date of issue. After the expiry of such period, there shall be no restriction on the transferability of such shares.
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