Saipem increased its revenue by 5.6% year on year in the third quarter, while adjusted EBITDA was up 26.4% at 230 million euros.
During the first nine months of the year, Saipem won new contracts worth 11.92 billion euros, up from 6.92bn in the same period of 2022. As of the end of September, the company had a total backlog worth 27.68bn euros.
After the period end, Saipem signed up to work on the Hail and Ghasha project, under a deal with Adnoc. Saipem’s share of the contract is worth $4.1bn. As a result, the year to date backlog is 15.8bn euros.
Saipem CEO Alessandro Puliti complained recently of being overstretched, with the company having to turn down work.
The company reported net profit of 39mn euros for the third quarter, versus a loss of 8mn euros for the same period in 2022.
Saipem’s board agreed today to seek approval from shareholders to convert a 500mn euro bond, maturing in 2029, into equity. The company offered the bonds in September.
It also paid back 601mn euros of debt in the quarter.
Breakdown
In a presentation, Saipem said its EBITDA margin for its asset-based services had improved from 8.2% in 2022 to 10% in 2023. It attributed this to a “more favourable revenue mix”. This was a greater share of subsea work and a lower share of offshore wind.
Asset-based services makes up the majority of Saipem’s backlog, at 65%, or around 10bn euros this year. Awards in the third quarter included the second phase of work at Baleine, work on the Argos FPU and the Ravenna FSRU.
It has recently concluded work on an offshore wind project in the UK and expects to finish Dogger Bank by spring 2024. A French project, Courseulles-sur-Mer, will begin in December 2023.
The company’s drilling business has benefited from higher day rates, which increased its EBITDA margin from 31.9% to 40.3%.
Energy carriers continued to be a tough line of work for Saipem. In 2022, the adjusted EBITDA margin was 0.6%, falling to 0.3% in 2023.
Saipem’s backlog is shifting towards offshore engineering and construction, it noted, reaching 54% of the total. This is from 33% in 2021.
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