Saipem Logs 21 Percent Increase in Nine-Month Revenue

Saipem SpA has upgraded its performance projections for 2024 after it saw revenue for the first three quarters grow 21.1 percent to EUR 10.13 billion ($10.96 billion) compared to the same period last year.

The offshore driller, which also provides other engineering services not only to oil and gas but also to offshore wind, reported EUR 206 million ($222.85 million) in net profit and EUR 905 million ($979.03 million) in EBITDA for January–September 2024. Net cash from operations totaled EUR 731 million ($790.8 million).

“The improvement is recorded in particular in the Offshore, both Engineering and Construction and Drilling”, driven by activities in the Middle East, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific, the Italian company said in a statement.

“The continued improvements of the economic and financial results confirm the strong market demand, the competitiveness of Saipem's offering and the execution capabilities of the Group”, Saipem said.

Backlog stood at EUR 33.2 billion ($35.92 billion) as of September with EUR 13.5 billion ($14.6 billion) awards won in the first nine months, “further confirming the visibility of the 2024-2027 strategic plan targets”, Saipem said. It expects to execute EUR 2.14 billion ($2.32 billion) worth of asset-based services backlog in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Last month Saipem announced multibillion-dollar contracts for jobs in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. These include a contract of about $4 billion for QatarEnergy’s natural gas compression projects in the North Field. The other contracts, worth around $3 billion in aggregate, came from Saudi Arabian Oil Co., mostly for the Marjan field expansion.

While it reported EUR 509 million ($550.64 million) in non-IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) net cash, Saipem had negative working capital of EUR 1.43 billion ($1.55 billion) as of the end of the third quarter.

“Pre-IFRS 16 gross debt as of September 30, 2024, amounted to €2,180 million [$2.36 billion], liquidity to €2,689 million [$2.91 billion] of which €1,308 million [$1.42 billion] available”, it said.

Boosted by its results year-to-date, Saipem said it now expects 2024 revenue to exceed EUR 14 billion ($15.15 billion). Full-year EBITDA and operating cash flow are also projected to surpass EUR 1.3 billion ($1.41 billion) and EUR 760 million ($822.17 million) respectively.

“Moreover, Saipem confirms its dividend policy of distributing approximately 30-40 percent of Free Cash Flow (post repayment of lease liabilities), with the first dividend expected to be paid in 2025 on the back of 2024 results (subject to approval of Board of Directors as well as to the approval of Shareholders in the Annual General Meeting)”, it said.

Three months ago Saipem launched the redemption of up to 18.6 million shares for the 2024 portion of a three-year repurchase program.

“Based on the price of Saipem S.p.A. shares on Borsa Italiana, market/segment Euronext Milan, as of August 2, 2024, the potential maximum outlay for the purchases under the [2024] Program is estimated at approximately Euro 40,220,000 [$43.51 million]”, it said in a press release August 5.

Saipem investors approved the Long-Term Variable Incentive Plan last year. Purchases depend on the company’s financial performance, it said May 3, 2023, announcing the shareholder approval.

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