Fintech PR
Paratus Reports Q3 2024 Results, Reaffirms Commitment to Shareholder Returns
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Nov. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Paratus Energy Services Ltd. (Oslo: PLSV) (“Paratus” or the “Company”) today reported operational and financial results for the third quarter of 2024, highlighted by $110 million in revenues and $63 million in adjusted EBITDA. At quarter-end, the Group held $165 million in cash deposits and had a net debt balance of $597 million.
Building on the momentum established by the inaugural quarterly cash distribution to shareholders for the second quarter, Paratus is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors (“Board”) has authorized a cash distribution to shareholders of $0.22 per share for the third quarter of 2024. This distribution reflects the continued confidence in the Company’s financial strength and commitment to creating long-term value for shareholders.
“Paratus is delivering on our commitment to return a majority of our excess free cash in the form of stable distributions to shareholders.” said Robert Jensen, CEO of Paratus. “Including this distribution, we will have returned more than 10% of our current market cap to shareholders since early September. This is a testament to our strong balance sheet and solid operational performance this year, and highlights Paratus’ differentiated capital returns program.”
(Note: numbers below are based on management reporting)
Key highlights
- Revenues of $110 million, including $8 million of variable revenue previously not recognized in Mexico.
- EBITDA of $63 million on the back of solid operational performance and cost discipline. EBITDA excluding variable revenue in Mexico was $54 million broadly in line with the previous quarter ($55 million).
- Reported net loss of $15 million was primarily due to a one-time, non-cash accounting expense of $35 million related to the partial redemption of the 2026 Notes. Excluding this item, the Company generated net income of $20 million.
- Exited the quarter with Group cash balance of $165 million and $597 million in net debt.
- Seagems secured $32 million additional backlog for Esmeralda and Fontis dayrates were adjusted up 4% following contractual market indexation, effective August.
- In October 2024, Paratus invested $12 million (its pro-rata share) in a private placement of Archer to support a strategic acquisition transaction.
- In November 2024, Paratus successfully uplisted onto the Euronext Oslo Børs.
- In November 2024, the Board of Directors authorized a cash distribution to shareholders of $0.22 per share for the third quarter of 2024, in line with the previous quarter.
Fontis
Fontis recorded total revenues of $63 million (Q2 2024: $72 million) including $8 million (Q2 2024: $15 million) in recognition of variable revenue from previously unbilled services that were agreed with the customer. Operating expenses (Opex) were $23 million, which was lower than the previous quarter (Q2 2024: $24 million), and general and administrative expenses (G&A) were $1 million, in line with the previous quarter (Q2 2024: $1 million). Adjusted EBITDA was $39 million compared to $47 million in Q2 2024 primarily due to a smaller portion of variable revenue from previously unbilled services compared to Q2 2024. For informational purposes, EBITDA generated during the quarter excluding variable revenues, was $31 million, which was largely in line with the previous quarter (Q2 2024: $32 million), despite the planned downtime of the Courageous for 58 days during the quarter due to the installation of a new crane.
In Q3 2024, Fontis achieved an average dayrate of $135.1 thousand per day (Q2 2024: $126.7 thousand per day) and an average technical utilization of 99.0% (Q2 2024: 99.8%), closing the quarter with a contract backlog of $317 million.
At the end of Q3 2024, the notional amount of the accounts receivable was $283 million, up from $215 million in Q2 2024. Fontis collected $106 million of receivables during the first nine months of 2024, including $90 million in Q2 2024. No payments have been received since the start of the third quarter, consistent with trends amongst other similar service companies in Mexico, causing receivables to rise with billed and accrued revenues. Additionally, $29 million was invoiced for previously unbilled services, further increasing the receivables balance. The Company has noted that the Mexican government has publicly expressed plans to support Fontis’ customer, including direct financial assistance and a tax reform to help the customer address its financial obligations and achieve operational efficiencies. The Company, leveraging over a decade-long relationship, has booked revenues of around $825 million and collected around $850 million since 2021, demonstrating strong collection resilience despite short-term fluctuations. The Company is actively engaging with the client to expedite the collection of outstanding receivables and expects to recover the full amount, as has been the case in the past, while acknowledging and planning for the possibility of ongoing fluctuations in the timing of collections. Consequently, the Company is also actively exploring alternative opportunities to potentially monetize part of its receivables balance of $283 million and will update the market accordingly if it enters any such transactions.
Seagems JV
The Company’s 50% share in the JV contributed with $47 million in contract revenues (Q2 2024: $52 million) and $25 million in adjusted EBITDA (Q2 2024: $28 million). The decrease in revenue was mainly driven by lower average dayrate and lower average technical utilization. Operating expenses (Opex) were $17 million and general and administrative expenses (G&A) were $3 million, both largely in line with the previous quarter (Q2 2024: $17 million and $3 million, respectively).
The JV achieved an average contractual rate of $185.7 thousand per day (Q2 2024: $200.8 thousand per day) and an average technical utilization of 97.7% (Q2 2024: 99.3%). The lower average dayrate in Q3 2024 compared to Q2 2024 was mainly due to Jade and Onix operating under contracts with lower dayrates in the quarter, compared to spot contracts with higher dayrates in the previous quarter.
As previously announced, pursuant to an agreed plan amongst the JV shareholders, Seagems distributes all excess cash to its JV shareholders. During Q3 2024, the JV distributed $22 million to Paratus (Q2 2024: $14 million).
In September, Seagems received the 2024 Petrobras Best Supplier Award as the best Pipelaying Company. This is the third time in seven editions that the company receives this award.
(*) Figures reflect period between 2021-Q3 2024. Included in the $850 million figure is VAT and the nominal value of $196 million unsecured notes issued by the customer in lieu of cash settlement for an equivalent amount of outstanding Fontis accounts receivables. During 2022, Fontis sold these notes for $186 million.
Webcast and Q&A Session
Paratus will host a presentation of the Q3 2024 results via an audio webcast today at 15:00 CET. The presentation will be led by CEO Robert Jensen and CFO Baton Haxhimehmedi. A Q&A session will follow the presentation, with instructions on how to submit questions provided at the start of the session.
To join the webcast, please use the following link: https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/paratus-energy/20241129_2/
For further information, please contact:
Robert Jensen, CEO, [email protected], +47 958 26 729
Baton Haxhimehmedi, CFO, [email protected], +47 406 39 083
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Attachments
- Q3 2024 Interim Results Report
- Q3 2024 Interim Results Presentation
An updated company presentation is also available at the Company’s website (www.paratus-energy.com).
About Paratus
Paratus Energy Services Ltd. (Oslo: PLSV) is an investment holding company of a group of leading energy services companies. The Paratus Group is primarily comprised of its ownership of Fontis and a 50/50 JV interest in Seagems (formerly Seabras). Fontis is an offshore drilling company with a fleet of five high-specification jack-up rigs working under contracts in Mexico. Seagems is a leading subsea services company, with a fleet of six multi-purpose pipe-laying support vessels under contracts in Brazil. In addition, Paratus is the largest shareholder in Archer Ltd, a global oil services company, listed on the Euronext Oslo Børs.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes forward-looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Company’s and / or the Paratus Group’s (including any member of the Paratus Group) plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its business and the markets in which it operates. These statements are based on management’s current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and / or the Paratus Group and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, management’s reliance on third party professional advisors and operational partners and providers, the Company’s ability (or inability) to control the operations and governance of certain joint ventures and investment vehicles, oil and energy services and solutions market conditions, subsea services market conditions, and offshore drilling market conditions, the cost and timing of capital projects, the performance of operating assets, delay in payment or disputes with customers, the ability to successfully employ operating assets, procure or have access to financing, ability to comply with loan covenants, liquidity and adequacy of cash flow from operations of its subsidiaries and investments, fluctuations in the international price of oil or alternative energy sources, international financial, commodity or currency market conditions, including, in each case, the impact of pandemics and related economic conditions, changes in governmental regulations, including in connection with pandemics, that affect the Paratus Group, increased competition in any of the industries in which the Paratus Group operates, the impact of global economic conditions and global health threats, including in connection with pandemics, our ability to maintain relationships with suppliers, customers, joint venture partners, professional advisors, operational partners and providers, employees and other third parties and our ability to maintain adequate financing to support our business plans, factors related to the offshore drilling, subsea services, and oil and energy services and solutions markets, the impact of global economic conditions, our liquidity and the adequacy of cash flows for our obligations, including the ability of the Company’s subsidiaries and investment vehicles to pay dividends, political and other uncertainties, the concentration of our revenues in certain geographical jurisdictions, limitations on insurance coverage, our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel on commercially reasonable terms, the level of expected capital expenditures, our expected financing of such capital expenditures, and the timing and cost of completion of capital projects, fluctuations in interest rates or exchange rates and currency devaluations relating to foreign or U.S. monetary policy, tax matters, changes in tax laws, treaties and regulations, tax assessments and liabilities for tax issues, legal and regulatory matters, customs and environmental matters, the potential impacts on our business resulting from climate-change or greenhouse gas legislation or regulations, the impact on our business from climate-change related physical changes or changes in weather patterns, and the occurrence of cybersecurity incidents, attacks or other breaches to our information technology systems, including our rig operating systems. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed.
Neither the Company nor any member of the Paratus Group undertakes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of these factors. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each such factors on our businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
The following files are available for download:
https://mb.cision.com/Public/21459/4073351/8744e75c2e71ea01.pdf |
Q3 2024 Interim Results Presentation |
https://mb.cision.com/Public/21459/4073351/91f3b5ea3e127c75.pdf |
Q3 2024 Interim Results Report |
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/paratus-reports-q3-2024-results-reaffirms-commitment-to-shareholder-returns-302318609.html
Fintech
Fintech Pulse: Your Daily Industry Brief (Pennant Technologies, MogoPlus, Stash, Kennel Connection, RedRover)
As the fintech world evolves, emerging technologies, strategic collaborations, and industry shifts continue to shape the financial landscape. Today’s briefing covers the intensifying AI race between fintechs and banks, transformative partnerships, executive changes, and industry-wide innovations, highlighting the crucial role of fintech in reshaping the future of finance.
The AI Race: Fintechs vs. Traditional Banks
The competition between fintech firms and traditional banks to dominate AI integration is heating up. Fintech companies are leveraging AI to enhance customer experience and streamline operations, whereas banks are adopting AI cautiously, balancing innovation with regulatory compliance. The dynamic is reshaping customer expectations, with fintechs pushing the envelope in personalization, risk assessment, and fraud prevention. Traditional institutions are adopting fintech-style agility to stay competitive.
Source: Yahoo Finance, Fintech Futures, Cointelegraph
Collaborations for Enhanced Services
Pennant Technologies and MogoPlus have joined forces in Australia to revolutionize the lending process. By integrating their technologies, they aim to streamline the value chain in lending, offering enhanced speed and efficiency to both institutions and borrowers. This partnership reflects a growing trend of fintechs collaborating to offer comprehensive solutions, expanding their reach and impact within traditional financial sectors.
Source: Fintech Futures
Leadership Shifts and Layoffs: Stash’s Turbulent Turn
Stash, a major player in the fintech space, is undergoing significant leadership changes and layoffs amidst acquisition speculations. The fintech industry is experiencing a wave of strategic realignments, with several firms reevaluating their business models in response to market pressures and investor demands. This reflects broader industry concerns about sustainability and scaling in a competitive, innovation-driven market.
Source: Fortune
Fintech Meets Pet Care: A Unique Philanthropic Move
Kennel Connection has made waves by contributing $5,000 to RedRover on Giving Tuesday, an amount doubled through impact matching. This innovative use of fintech in pet care philanthropy highlights how financial technology can facilitate social impact, offering seamless donation solutions and promoting corporate responsibility in niche markets.
Source: PR Newswire
The post Fintech Pulse: Your Daily Industry Brief (Pennant Technologies, MogoPlus, Stash, Kennel Connection, RedRover) appeared first on News, Events, Advertising Options.
Fintech PR
Renaissance Philanthropy and XTX Markets launch new $9 million AI for Math Fund
Fund aims to support new projects building AI tools to accelerate breakthrough discoveries in mathematics
WASHINGTON and LONDON, Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Renaissance Philanthropy and XTX Markets today announced the launch of the AI for Math Fund. The fund will commit $9.2 million to support the development of new AI tools, which will serve as long-term building blocks to advance mathematics.
An increasing number of researchers, including some of the world’s leading mathematicians, are embracing AI to push the boundaries of mathematical discovery and learning. The AI for Math Fund will support projects that expand the use of leading AI technology by mathematicians globally.
Alex Gerko, Founder and co-CEO, XTX Markets said, “The fund will support this critical intersection between AI and math. Working in partnership with Renaissance Philanthropy, we want to give mathematicians the tools they need to advance the field. As AI continues to transform other sciences, we believe that mathematics will be next.”
Renaissance Philanthropy and XTX Markets are inviting proposals for innovative projects led by researchers, non-profits, companies, mathematicians, software engineers and computer scientists that are unlikely to occur under business-as-usual conditions. Click here to submit an application.
Proposals should be aligned with one of the following categories:
- Production grade software tools: AI for auto-formalization, proof generation, synthesis of verifiable code, and more
- Datasets: Open-source collections of theorems, proofs, and math problems
- Field building: Textbooks, courses, and resources to grow the AI-for-math community
- Breakthrough ideas: High-risk, high-reward approaches to AI-driven math research
XTX Markets is the founding donor of the AI for Math Fund.
“We are excited to partner with XTX Markets on this important initiative,” said Tom Kalil, CEO of Renaissance Philanthropy. “The convergence of AI and math has the potential to advance fundamental mathematics, the reasoning capability of AI systems, and the synthesis of verifiable code.”
Following a rigorous assessment of the proposals, individual grants of up to $1 million will be awarded for projects lasting up to 24 months.
Terence Tao, UCLA, Fields Medalist and AI for Math Fund advisor said, “The next generation of AI models and tools have the potential to enhance collaboration among mathematicians that was previously impossible. I am delighted to work with Renaissance Philanthropy and XTX Markets to realize this potential through the AI for Math Fund.”
About Renaissance Philanthropy
Renaissance Philanthropy is a nonprofit organization with a mission to fuel a 21st century renaissance by increasing the ambition of philanthropists, scientists, and innovators. We do this by advising philanthropists, surfacing breakthrough ideas, and incubating ambitious initiatives.
About XTX Markets
XTX Markets is a leading algorithmic trading firm which uses state-of-the-art machine learning technology to produce price forecasts for over 50,000 financial instruments across equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and crypto. It uses those forecasts to trade on exchanges and alternative trading venues, and to offer differentiated liquidity directly to clients worldwide. The firm trades over $250bn a day across 35 countries and has over 250 employees based in London, Singapore, New York, Paris, Bristol, Mumbai and Yerevan.
XTX Markets has an unrivalled level of computational resources in the trading industry, with a growing research cluster currently containing over 25,000 GPUs with 650 petabytes of usable storage. Teams across the firm include world-class researchers with backgrounds in pure math, programming, physics, computer science and machine learning. The firm is also constructing a large-scale data centre in Finland to future-proof its significant computational capabilities.
Since 2017, XTX Markets has committed over £250 million to charities and non-profit partners, establishing the firm as a major philanthropic donor in the UK and globally. The firm’s philanthropy focuses on advancing mathematics education and research, having committed over £50 million in grants to UK charities and education institutions, with the aim of supporting more students to progress to degrees, PhDs and highly-skilled careers in maths, especially those from low-income backgrounds. XTX Markets has also committed more than £25 million to support elite mathematics talent worldwide. More broadly, the firm’s giving also supports high-impact education programmes in low- and middle-income countries, humanitarian relief and local community initiatives in the regions where our offices are located internationally.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/renaissance-philanthropy-and-xtx-markets-launch-new-9-million-ai-for-math-fund-302324035.html
Fintech PR
Mambu acquires payment technology provider Numeral, bolstering its market position to target new growth opportunities
- The acquisition marks a strategic move by the cloud banking leader to extend its payment capabilities for customers, as Mambu eyes market expansion and accelerated growth in support of long-term plans.
- Numeral’s platform will be integrated into Mambu’s core banking offerings, with advanced payment solutions technology, to accelerate and advance the next generation of financial products.
AMSTERDAM, Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Mambu, a leading cloud banking platform, has announced the acquisition of Numeral, a French payment technology provider for banks and fintechs.
The acquisition strengthens Mambu’s position as an industry leader, in a move that underscores market confidence and growing demand for modern financial experiences. The addition of advanced payment capabilities represents a significant investment in the next phase of Mambu’s growth as an established market player.
With Numeral’s platform, Mambu is set to drive new value from wider audience segments that will increase its overall share of the market. It also offers a unique strategic fit to the foundation of the cloud banking leader’s long-term expansion efforts.
“This acquisition marks a considered move to deliver a more modern, comprehensive payment offering which is now an integrated part of Mambu’s product portfolio. Numeral’s advanced payments platform will enable us to address changing customer demands, strengthen existing product lines and expand our market reach, while offering businesses advanced capabilities to meet an extensive range of needs.” – Fernando Zandona, CEO at Mambu.
Speaking about why Numeral was the ‘right fit’ for Mambu, Zandona added: “Numeral’s values, proven agility, and robust onboarding processes match perfectly with our growth mindset as a business. We look forward to welcoming their talented team as we unlock new growth opportunities together.”
Founded in 2021, Numeral is a fast-growing payment technology provider that offers financial institutions a universal gateway to connect to partner banks and access schemes and a modern payments hub to automate payment processing. The Paris-based firm processes more than €10 billion in payments annually and has established a strong presence in Europe, having expanded its operations to the UK last year.
The size of the market opportunity for bank payments is striking. In 2022, the value of bank payments in the Eurozone stood at €191 trillion, that is 58x more than card payments (€3.3 trillion). This vast global market is transforming rapidly, driven by the rise of instant payments as a catalyst for modernising core banking and payment platforms. With its robust bank integrations, a modular API and modern dashboard, Numeral’s platform will enable Mambu to capitalise on this market opportunity.
The cloud banking platform will also benefit from Numeral’s roster of partnerships with some of Europe’s leading banks, including BNP Paribas, Barclays, HSBC, and ABN AMRO.
“Payments are at the heart of how companies do business around the world, yet they remain trapped in systems designed decades ago, unfit for the ongoing instant payments revolution,” said Numeral co-founder and CEO, Édouard Mandon. “This is a problem that Mambu intimately understands having helped banks and financial institutions worldwide to migrate from rigid, traditional core systems to agile and adaptable cloud infrastructure. Bringing together our dedicated payments technology with Mambu’s leading cloud banking platform and global customer base, we can enable more companies to make their payments future-proof and ever-compliant while eliminating hidden payment complexity at scale.”
The integration of Mambu and Numeral’s advanced payment platform will enable banks, fintechs, and non-financial service firms to seamlessly manage end-to-end payment workflows, support multiple payment methods, and provide real-time transaction capabilities. This will drive greater operational efficiency, improved customer experiences, and accelerated time-to-market for innovative financial solutions.
Mambu will gain the flexibility to offer an even more sophisticated, readily-available set of payment capabilities. New and not-yet-live customers can take advantage of this from day one, while customers that already have a payment solution in place will have the option to upgrade.
Notes to editors
About Mambu
Mambu is the world’s only true SaaS cloud banking platform. Launched in 2011, Mambu fast-tracks the design and build of nearly any type of financial offering for banks of all sizes, lenders, fintechs, retailers, telcos and more. Our unique composable approach means that independent components, systems and connectors can be assembled in any configuration to meet business needs and end user demands. Mambu supports over 260 customers in over 65 countries – including Western Union, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, N26, BancoEstado, Raiffeisen Bank, ABN AMRO, and Bank Islam. www.mambu.com
About Numeral
Numeral is a payment technology provider that offers financial institutions a universal gateway to connect to partner banks and access schemes and a modern payments hub to automate payment processing. Numeral enables fintechs and banks to unlock growth by launching new products and expanding geographically faster, eliminating hidden payment complexity and making their payments future-proof and ever-compliant. Launched in 2021, Numeral provides the payment infrastructure for the most innovative European banks and fintechs like WorldFirst, Argentex and Alma and partners with Europe’s leading banks, including BNP Paribas, Barclays, BPCE, HSBC and LHV.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mambu-acquires-payment-technology-provider-numeral-bolstering-its-market-position-to-target-new-growth-opportunities-302323963.html
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