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Adnoc Drilling delivers record Q1 revenue, earnings

Dividend to increase by at least 10% annually for the next five years, company says

Adnoc Drilling Company on Monday announced that first quarter revenue increased to $886 million, up 24 per cent year-on-year.

The offshore jack-up and oilfield services (OFS) segments drove revenue growth, increasing 51 per cent and 16 per cent respectively year-on-year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) grew 31 per cent year-on-year to $437 million, driven by strong operational performance, leading to a year-on-year Ebitda margin expansion of 49 per cent. Net profit for the quarter reached $275 million, up 26 per cent year-on-year.

Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Seiari, chief executive officer of Adnoc Drilling, said: “Our strong first quarter performance demonstrates that we have entered a new era for the company as we go from strength-to-strength, delivering on and beyond the expectations of the market, our customers and our shareholders. Confidence in our growth trajectory and cash flow generation ability going forward, has resulted in our board of directors recommending an enhanced progressive dividend policy that will further bolster shareholder returns.”

He added: “Our multi-faceted strategy of enabling Adnoc’s conventional and unconventional production capacity growth to meet the world’s growing demand for energy will further transform the business in 2024-onwards. The $1.7 billion contract award represents a transformational opportunity as the UAE’s world-class unconventional energy resources will require many thousands of wells, and we are in a prime position to deliver them. Aligned to this is the investment in and adoption of AI and advanced technologies through our strategic joint venture, Enersol, that has a $1.5 billion mandate to invest in and acquire global energy technologies.”

The board of directors has recommended a new, progressive dividend policy with dividends expected to grow by at least 10 per cent per annum on a dividend per share basis over the next five years (2024-2028).

Moreover, the board of directors, at its discretion, may consider additional dividends over and above the progressive dividend policy after taking into account growth opportunities while maintaining net debt/Ebitda up to 2x, excluding transformative M&A.

The new dividend policy is subject to shareholder approval at an upcoming general shareholder meeting.

As per the policy, dividends are expected to be paid semi-annually, with a final dividend distributed to shareholders in the first half and the payment of the interim dividend in the second half of each fiscal year.

At the end of the first quarter of 2024, Adnoc Drilling’s fleet comprised 137 rigs, 133 owned plus four lease-to-own land rigs, an increase of 22 rigs year-on-year. Thirteen of the rigs included in the rig count are hybrid-powered land rigs that utilise battery storage to improve power delivery and reduce emissions by up to 15 per cent per rig.

An additional three hybrid land rigs are expected to enter the fleet this year, for a total of 16 all of which were ordered in 2023.