Helmerich and Payne Inc (HP) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Helmerich & Payne's Fiscal Third Quarter Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions). Please note, this call may be recorded. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加今天的 Helmerich & Payne 第三季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）。請注意，此通話可能會被錄音。 （操作員說明）

It is now my pleasure to turn today's call over to Vice President of Investor Relations, Dave Wilson, please go ahead.

現在我很高興將今天的電話轉給投資者關係副總裁戴夫·威爾遜（Dave Wilson），請繼續。

Thank you, Ashley, and welcome, everyone, to Helmerich & Payne's Conference Call and Webcast for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023. With us today are John Lindsay, President and CEO; and Mark Smith, Senior Vice President and CFO. Both John and Mark will be sharing some comments with us, after which we'll open the call for questions.

謝謝 Ashley，歡迎大家參加 Helmerich & Payne 2023 財年第三季度的電話會議和網絡廣播。今天與我們在一起的有總裁兼首席執行官 John Lindsay；以及高級副總裁兼首席財務官馬克·史密斯。約翰和馬克都將與我們分享一些評論，之後我們將開始提問。

Before we begin our prepared remarks, I'll remind everyone that this call will include forward-looking statements as defined under the securities laws. Such statements are based on current information and management's expectations as of this date and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. As such, our actual outcomes and results could differ materially. You can learn more about these risks in our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our other SEC filings. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. and we undertake no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements.

在我們開始準備好的發言之前，我要提醒大家，本次電話會議將包括證券法定義的前瞻性陳述。此類聲明基於當前信息和管理層截至目前的預期，並非對未來業績的保證。前瞻性陳述涉及某些難以預測的風險、不確定性和假設。因此，我們的實際結果可能會存在重大差異。您可以在我們的 10-K 表年度報告、10-Q 表季度報告以及其他 SEC 文件中了解有關這些風險的更多信息。您不應過分依賴前瞻性陳述。我們不承擔公開更新這些前瞻性陳述的義務。

We will also make reference to certain non-GAAP financial measures such as segment operating income, direct margin and other operating statistics. You'll find the GAAP reconciliation comments and calculations in yesterday's press release.

我們還將參考某些非公認會計準則財務指標，例如分部營業收入、直接利潤率和其他運營統計數據。您可以在昨天的新聞稿中找到 GAAP 調節評論和計算。

With that said, I'll turn the call over to John Lindsay.

話雖如此，我會將電話轉給約翰·林賽。

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. H&P delivered another outstanding quarter, driven by service quality, technology and reliable execution, enabling us to deliver quality outcomes for our customers. .

謝謝戴夫，大家早上好。在服務質量、技術和可靠執行的推動下，H&P 又迎來了一個出色的季度，使我們能夠為客戶提供高質量的成果。 。

H&P's financial results for the third fiscal quarter were significant for a few reasons. First, they demonstrate that we are achieving economic returns in the low to mid-teens, which are just above our cost of capital. Second, these financial results were achieved during a slow period when rig activity was declining primarily due to weak natural gas prices. This demonstrates that contract economics rather than market share drove the company's financial performance this quarter.

由於多種原因，H&P 第三財季的財務業績非常顯著。首先，它們表明我們正在實現中低十幾歲的經濟回報，這略高於我們的資本成本。其次，這些財務業績是在鑽機活動下降的緩慢時期實現的，這主要是由於天然氣價格疲軟。這表明合同經濟而非市場份額推動了公司本季度的財務業績。

Finally, these results highlight the behavioral change that has transpired within the energy industry, one that reflects fiscal prudence and capital allocation. Uncertainty continued during the third fiscal quarter and was mostly centered around the macro outlook for crude oil and natural gas prices. While this created an underlying sense of apprehension in the U.S. drilling market during the quarter, recent readings are more confident, and we're sensing some optimism on the horizon.

最後，這些結果凸顯了能源行業內部發生的行為變化，這一變化反映了財政審慎和資本配置。第三財季的不確定性依然存在，主要集中在原油和天然氣價格的宏觀前景上。雖然這在本季度美國鑽探市場造成了潛在的擔憂，但最近的數據更加自信，我們感覺到即將出現一些樂觀情緒。

In the near term, we believe that U.S. rig activity declines will continue into the September ended quarter, although at a more modest pace than experienced thus far this calendar year. We see these declines as more of a function of customer budget and production discipline rather than a response to short-term commodity price movements, which is a prime example of the behavioral change in the industry. Having already received some promising indications, we expect to see an increase in rig activity during the fourth calendar quarter as our customers establish their capital budgets for 2024.

短期內，我們認為美國鑽機活動的下降將持續到九月份結束的季度，儘管下降幅度比今年迄今為止的下降幅度要小。我們認為這些下降更多地是客戶預算和生產紀律的結果，而不是對短期大宗商品價格變動的反應，這是行業行為變化的一個典型例子。已經收到一些有希望的跡象，隨著我們的客戶制定 2024 年的資本預算，我們預計第四季度的鑽機活動將會增加。

Commodity prices remain attractive, and we see the customer outlook being more positive regarding medium and long-term energy fundamentals. We believe there will be an increase in the demand for rigs relative to current levels due to fundamental supply and demand dynamics that are inherent in the industry. The major industry theme is service intensity. Our customers continue to do more with their acreage positions to drive stronger well economics. These desires typically require that our equipment works harder than ever.

大宗商品價格仍然具有吸引力，我們認為客戶對中長期能源基本面的前景更加樂觀。我們相信，由於該行業固有的基本供需動態，相對於目前的水平，鑽機的需求將會增加。行業的主要主題是服務強度。我們的客戶繼續利用他們的土地面積做更多的事情，以推動更強勁的油井經濟效益。這些願望通常要求我們的設備比以往更加努力地工作。

Laterals were longer, circulating pressures are higher to drill these wells and keep up with customer needs, and this drives cost higher. Our customers benefit from reliability, faster well cycles and better well quality, all of which lowers the total well cost. Our operations and sales teams are working more closely than ever with the customer to deliver more collaborative solutions.

支管更長，鑽這些井並滿足客戶需求的循環壓力更高，這導致成本更高。我們的客戶受益於可靠性、更快的油井週期和更好的油井質量，所有這些都降低了油井總成本。我們的運營和銷售團隊與客戶的合作比以往任何時候都更加密切，以提供更具協作性的解決方案。

In the face of recent rig count declines, we've been able to remain firm on our contractual economics by working with and collaborating closely with customers on alternative contract models. Our primary commercial model is using performance contracts combined with our technology solutions. Having the operational confidence in our ability to consistently execute enables H&P to enter into alternative contractual arrangements, including our automation solutions, which can result in win-win economics for both customer and H&P.

面對最近鑽機數量的下降，我們通過在替代合同模式上與客戶密切合作，能夠在合同經濟上保持堅定。我們的主要商業模式是使用績效合同與我們的技術解決方案相結合。對我們持續執行的能力充滿信心，使 H&P 能夠簽訂替代合同安排，包括我們的自動化解決方案，這可以為客戶和 H&P 帶來雙贏的經濟效益。

Today, we have approximately 51% of our active fleet using performance-based contracts, which is a high point since we implemented this new commercial model in 2019. Even with these ongoing efforts, we are anticipating our North America Solutions margins in the fourth fiscal quarter to compress slightly as the rigs idled during the second half of our fiscal year have been mainly in the spot market and had contractual margins above the overall fleet average. In short, the absence of those rigs, which had leading-edge revenues and margins will likely result in a modest decline in North America Solutions margins during the fourth fiscal quarter.

如今，我們約 51% 的活躍機隊使用基於績效的合同，這是自 2019 年實施這種新商業模式以來的最高點。即使不斷努力，我們預計第四財年北美解決方案的利潤率由於本財年下半年閒置的鑽機主要位於現貨市場，並且合同利潤率高於整體船隊平均水平，因此季度略有壓縮。簡而言之，缺乏這些具有領先收入和利潤率的鑽井平台可能會導致北美解決方案公司第四財季利潤率小幅下降。

Expanding our international footprint remains a core strategy for the company, but it is unfolding at a slower pace than expected. Our FlexRig in Australia is scheduled to commence drilling soon. We look forward to demonstrating our expertise in drilling efficiencies and the power of our technology platform for our customer, Tamboran as they work to unlock the unconventional resources of the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.

擴大國際影響力仍然是公司的核心戰略，但其進展速度比預期慢。我們在澳大利亞的 FlexRig 計劃很快開始鑽探。我們期待著向我們的客戶 Tamboran 展示我們在鑽井效率方面的專業知識以及我們技術平台的力量，因為他們正在努力開發北領地 Beetaloo 盆地的非常規資源。

Additionally, we plan to send a second super-spec rig to the Middle East in anticipation of the pending results of an unconventional tender. This would become our first unconventional rig award in the Middle East. Activities in our other international markets look to remain relatively steady for the foreseeable future. Capital returns to shareholders remains a priority for the company. Mark will give more specific details, but we repurchased approximately 3.2 million shares for roughly $103 million in the fiscal quarter. Fiscal year-to-date, we have returned approximately $451 million of capital to shareholders through base and supplemental dividends together with share repurchases.

此外，我們計劃向中東發送第二台超規格鑽機，以等待非常規招標的懸而未決的結果。這將成為我們在中東獲得的第一個非常規鑽機獎項。在可預見的未來，我們其他國際市場的活動預計將保持相對穩定。股東資本回報仍然是公司的首要任務。馬克將提供更多具體細節，但我們在本財季以約 1.03 億美元的價格回購了約 320 萬股股票。財年迄今，我們已通過基本股息和補充股息以及股票回購向股東返還了約 4.51 億美元的資本。

In closing, we remain optimistic that the political and economic uncertainty over the past several quarters, which has impacted the global crude oil and natural gas markets is abating. During the third fiscal quarter, we once again achieved returns in excess of our cost of capital. And moving forward, our focus will remain on maintaining these levels of returns while delivering superior economic outcomes to our customers. This level of performance is possible because of the service attitude of our people, and their ability to deliver value through drilling efficiencies and technology in collaboration with our customers.

最後，我們仍然樂觀地認為，過去幾個季度影響全球原油和天然氣市場的政治和經濟不確定性正在減弱。在第三財季，我們再次實現了超過資本成本的回報。展望未來，我們的重點將仍然是維持這些回報水平，同時為客戶提供卓越的經濟成果。這種水平的績效是可能的，因為我們員工的服務態度，以及他們與客戶合作通過鑽井效率和技術創造價值的能力。

And now I will turn the call over to Mark.

現在我將把電話轉給馬克。

Thanks, John. Today, I will review our fiscal third quarter 2023 operating results, provide guidance for the fourth quarter, update remaining full fiscal year '23 guidance as appropriate and comment on our financial positioning.

謝謝，約翰。今天，我將回顧我們 2023 年第三季度的經營業績，提供第四季度的指導，酌情更新剩餘的 23 財年完整指導，並對我們的財務定位發表評論。

Let me start with highlights for the recently completed third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2023. The company generated quarterly revenues of $724 million versus $769 million from the previous quarter. As expected, the quarterly decrease in revenue was due primarily to sequentially lower average rig count. Total direct operating costs were $430 million for the third quarter versus $450 million for the previous quarter. The sequential decrease is also attributable to the lower average rig count in North America solutions.

讓我首先介紹一下最近完成的截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的第三財季的亮點。該公司的季度收入為 7.24 億美元，而上一季度的收入為 7.69 億美元。正如預期的那樣，季度收入下降主要是由於平均鑽機數量連續減少。第三季度直接運營總成本為 4.3 億美元，上一季度為 4.5 億美元。環比下降還歸因於北美解決方案的平均鑽機數量減少。

General and administrative expenses were approximately $49 million for the third quarter. For the full year, we still expect approximately $205 million with the implied sequential increase driven by the timing of professional services and software fees.

第三季度一般及行政費用約為 4900 萬美元。我們仍然預計全年收入約為 2.05 億美元，其中專業服務和軟件費用的時間安排將導致隱含的連續增長。

During the third quarter, we recognized a loss of approximately $19 million, primarily related to the change in the fair market value of our equity investments, which is reported as a part of loss on investment securities in our consolidated statement of operations. Our Q3 effective tax rate was approximately 30%, which was slightly above our previously guided range for the quarter due to certain discrete tax adjustments and incremental foreign taxes. We still expect the full year effective tax rate to range between 23% and 28%.

第三季度，我們確認了約 1900 萬美元的虧損，主要與我們的股權投資公平市場價值的變化有關，該變動在我們的合併運營報表中作為投資證券虧損的一部分報告。我們第三季度的有效稅率約為 30%，由於某些離散的稅收調整和增量外國稅收，略高於我們之前的本季度指導範圍。我們仍預計全年有效稅率在 23% 至 28% 之間。

To summarize, this quarter's consolidated results, H&P earned a profit of $0.93 per diluted share versus $1.55 in the previous quarter. As highlighted in our press release, the third quarter earnings per share were negatively impacted by a net $0.16 loss per share of select items consisting primarily of the aforementioned loss on investment securities. Absent these select items, adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.09 in the third fiscal quarter versus an adjusted $1.26 during the second fiscal quarter.

總而言之，在本季度的綜合業績中，H&P 稀釋後每股盈利為 0.93 美元，而上一季度為 1.55 美元。正如我們在新聞稿中強調的那樣，第三季度每股收益受到特定項目每股淨虧損 0.16 美元的負面影響，其中主要包括上述投資證券的虧損。如果沒有這些選定項目，第三財季調整後稀釋每股收益為 1.09 美元，而第二財季調整後稀釋每股收益為 1.26 美元。

Capital expenditures for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 were $100 million, which was $15 million more than the previous quarter spend. I will comment later on our revised fiscal '23 capital expenditure guidance. H&P generated approximately $293 million in operating cash flow during the third quarter of 2023. I will address the company's cash position later in my remarks.

2023財年第三季度的資本支出為1億美元，比上一季度支出增加1500萬美元。我稍後將評論我們修訂後的 23 財年資本支出指南。 H&P 在 2023 年第三季度產生了約 2.93 億美元的運營現金流。我將在稍後的發言中討論該公司的現金狀況。

Turning to our other 3 segments, beginning with the North America Solutions segment. We averaged 166 contracted rigs during the third quarter, down from an average of 183 rigs in fiscal Q2, the exit rig count of 153 was slightly less than our guided range of between 155 and 160 as rigs were released for multiple reasons, including customers exceeding their production targets, customer budget exhaustion and weak natural gas price levels. This softening in activity caused revenues to decrease sequentially by $34 million.

轉向我們的其他 3 個部門，首先是北美解決方案部門。第三季度我們平均簽約鑽機數量為 166 台，低於第二財季平均 183 台，退出鑽機數量為 153 台，略低於我們 155 至 160 台的指導範圍，因為鑽機釋放的原因有多種，包括客戶超過他們的生產目標、客戶預算耗盡以及天然氣價格水平疲軟。活動疲軟導致收入環比減少 3,400 萬美元。

Segment direct margin was $277 million, which was within our April guidance, but sequentially lower than the previous quarter, which came in at $296 million. Performance contracts are made up of approximately 50% of total contracted rigs in the third quarter. Total segment expenses increased to $18,700 per day in the third quarter from $18,300 per day in the second quarter. Included in the third quarter figure was a select item of approximately $270 per day related to a contingent earn-out liability adjustment for a previous acquisition.

部門直接利潤率為 2.77 億美元，符合我們 4 月份的指引，但環比低於上一季度的 2.96 億美元。第三季度，性能合同約佔合同鑽機總數的 50%。第三季度的部門總費用從第二季度的每天 18,300 美元增加到每天 18,700 美元。第三季度的數字包括每天約 270 美元的選定項目，與之前收購的或有盈利負債調整相關。

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 for North America Solutions. Today, we have 149 rigs contracted, 147 of which are super-spec rigs, and we project some continued softening during the current quarter, which will leave between 141 and 147 contracted rigs at the end of the fourth fiscal quarter.

展望北美解決方案 23 財年第四季度。目前，我們已簽約 149 台鑽機，其中 147 台為超規格鑽機，我們預計本季度的鑽機數量將持續疲軟，到第四財季末，簽約鑽機數量將在 141 至 147 台之間。

As we moved through Q3, oil price volatility and forward macro uncertainty were a topic of concern for customers. As we ended Q3 and headed into Q4, we had additional rig releases related to more customer budget exhaustion, customers are not wanting to outgrow their production levels and some recent customer M&A activity. This led to more releases than we had line of sight to just a couple of months ago. This corresponding decrease in number of units working will result in lower North America Solutions revenue levels for Q4 than we previously expected.

隨著第三季度的到來，油價波動和未來宏觀不確定性成為客戶關注的話題。當我們結束第三季度並進入第四季度時，我們發布了與更多客戶預算耗盡相關的額外鑽機版本，客戶不希望超出其生產水平以及最近的一些客戶併購活動。這導致了比我們幾個月前看到的更多的發布。工作單位數量的相應減少將導致北美解決方案第四季度的收入水平低於我們之前的預期。

That said, I would reiterate what John mentioned regarding customer discussions about rig additions in calendar Q4 and how those lead us to believe that we may be reaching a bottom for U.S. rig activity. Our current revenue backlog from our North America Solutions fleet is roughly $900 million for rigs under term contract. As of today, approximately 62% of the U.S. active fleet is on a term contract. Average pricing per day should remain relatively flat to slightly down as high rate spot rig releases are offset to some extent by legacy term rate rollovers.

也就是說，我想重申約翰提到的關於客戶關於第四季度鑽機增加的討論，以及這些如何讓我們相信我們可能正在達到美國鑽機活動的底部。目前，我們北美解決方案車隊的積壓收入約為 9 億美元，其中定期合同下的鑽機收入約為 9 億美元。截至目前，大約 62% 的美國現役機隊簽訂了定期合同。由於高利率現貨鑽機的釋放在一定程度上被傳統期限利率展期所抵消，每日平均定價應保持相對持平或略有下降。

If we see the aforementioned pickup in activity in calendar Q4, we would expect our average pricing levels to continue. In the North America segment, we expect direct margins in fiscal Q4 to range between $230 million to $250 million due to the sequential decline in activity levels. We currently expect fourth quarter per day cost to remain flat at approximately $18,700 per day. This per day cost is elevated from our expectations a couple of quarters ago, due to the idling of rigs in the third and fourth quarters, which results in the -- which results in our overhead absorption being spread over a smaller number of active rigs.

如果我們在第四季度看到上述活動的回升，我們預計我們的平均定價水平將繼續下去。在北美業務，由於活動水平連續下降，我們預計第四財季的直接利潤將在 2.3 億美元至 2.5 億美元之間。我們目前預計第四季度每天的成本將保持在每天 18,700 美元左右。由於第三和第四季度鑽機閒置，每日成本高於我們幾個季度前的預期，這導致我們的間接費用吸收分散在較少數量的活躍鑽機上。

As John mentioned, when we look beyond fiscal Q4 to calendar year-end, we believe more rigs will be put back to work, which should reverse some of the near-term impact overhead absorption has on daily costs moving forward in fiscal 2024.

正如 John 提到的，當我們展望第四財季到年底時，我們相信更多的鑽機將重新投入工作，這應該會扭轉 2024 財年日常成本吸收的一些短期影響。

Next to our International Solutions segment. International Solutions activity ended the third fiscal quarter with 13 rigs drilling on contract. International Solutions results were slightly below previous guidance due to higher-than-expected costs. As we look toward the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 for international, as John mentioned, we anticipate beginning drilling operations in mid-fourth quarter with the rig that was mobilized to Australia in the third quarter.

緊鄰我們的國際解決方案部門。截至第三財季，International Solutions 的活動共有 13 台合同鑽機。由於成本高於預期，國際解決方案公司的業績略低於之前的指引。正如約翰提到的，當我們展望 23 財年第四季度的國際業務時，我們預計將在第四季度中期開始使用第三季度調往澳大利亞的鑽井平台進行鑽井作業。

Expenses associated with advancing our Middle East hub are expected to continue, but at a much lower rate as we wrap up many of our planned preparations. As John mentioned, we are hopeful that those efforts to date will result in an award from a recent tender process. In the fourth quarter, we expect to earn $8 million to $11 million in direct margin aside from any foreign exchange impacts.

與推進我們的中東中心相關的費用預計將繼續存在，但隨著我們完成許多計劃的準備工作，費用會低得多。正如約翰提到的，我們希望迄今為止的這些努力能夠在最近的招標過程中獲獎。在第四季度，除了任何外匯影響之外，我們預計將獲得 800 萬至 1100 萬美元的直接利潤。

Finally, to our Offshore Gulf of Mexico segment. We had 4 of our 7 offshore platform rigs contracted, 1 of which was on a demobilization rate that the customer has reached the end of its multiyear drilling program. We have active management contracts on 3 customer-owned rigs, 1 of which is on active rate. The offshore segment generated a direct margin of $7.3 million during the quarter, which was in-line with our estimate. As we look toward the fourth quarter of fiscal '23 for the offshore Gulf of Mexico segment, one of our platform rigs should complete its demobilization this next week, and we expect offshore will generate between $6 million to $8 million of direct margin in Q4.

最後，我們的墨西哥灣近海部分。我們已與 7 座海上平台鑽井平台中的 4 座簽訂了合同，其中 1 座處於復員狀態，客戶已達到其多年鑽井計劃的末尾。我們對 3 個客戶擁有的鑽機擁有主動管理合同，其中 1 個處於活躍狀態。本季度離岸業務直接利潤為 730 萬美元，符合我們的預期。當我們展望墨西哥灣海上業務的 23 財年第四季度時，我們的一個平台鑽井平台應在下週完成其複員，我們預計海上業務將在第四季度產生 600 萬至 800 萬美元的直接利潤。

Let me update full fiscal year '23 guidance as appropriate. Capital expenditures for the full fiscal '23 year are now expected to be approximately $400 million which is a $25 million decrease from our prior guidance range of midpoint. Although we expect the timing of our CapEx spend to vary from quarter-to-quarter, supply chain delays have continued to push some planned maintenance CapEx from fiscal '23 to fiscal '24. In particular, some of our planned component overhauls have been delayed due to lags in obtaining certain parts.

讓我酌情更新完整的 '23 財年指引。目前，23 年整個財年的資本支出預計約為 4 億美元，比我們之前指導範圍的中點減少了 2500 萬美元。儘管我們預計每個季度的資本支出支出時間會有所不同，但供應鏈延遲繼續將一些計劃的維護資本支出從 23 財年推遲到 24 財年。特別是，由於獲取某些零件的滯後，我們計劃的一些零部件大修已被推遲。

As previously mentioned, our expectations for general and administrative expenses for the full fiscal '23 year remained $205 million. We are still estimating our annual effective tax rate to be in the range of 23% to 28% with the variance above U.S. statutory rate of 21% attributed to permanent book-to-tax differences and state and foreign income taxes. Through Q3, we have paid cash tax of approximately $156 million, and we're projecting to pay $25 million to $50 million for the remainder of the fiscal year, resulting in an annual cash tax range of $180 million to $205 million.

如前所述，我們對整個 23 財年一般和行政費用的預期仍然為 2.05 億美元。我們仍然估計我們的年度有效稅率在 23% 至 28% 之間，其中高於美國法定稅率 21% 的差異歸因於永久性賬面稅負差異以及州和外國所得稅。截至第三季度，我們已繳納了約 1.56 億美元的現金稅，預計在本財年剩餘時間內繳納 2500 萬至 5000 萬美元，年度現金稅範圍為 1.8 億至 2.05 億美元。

Now looking at our financial position. H&P hedged cash and short-term investments of approximately $293 million at June 30 versus an equivalent $245 million in March 31. The sequentially increased cash balance is largely attributable to working capital unlock. Including availability under our revolving credit facility, our liquidity remains relatively flat at just over $1 billion. Approximately 3.2 million shares were repurchased in fiscal Q3 for about $103 million. Fiscal '23 repurchases have totaled 6.5 million shares thus far or about $249 million. The repurchases today are at an average price of about $38 per share and have reduced shares outstanding from the beginning of fiscal '23 by approximately 6%. There are 1.3 million shares remaining under the calendar '23 authorization of 7 million shares.

現在看看我們的財務狀況。截至 6 月 30 日，H&P 對沖的現金和短期投資約為 2.93 億美元，而 3 月 31 日則為 2.45 億美元。現金餘額連續增加主要歸因於營運資金解鎖。包括我們的循環信貸額度下的可用資金在內，我們的流動性仍然相對平穩，僅略高於 10 億美元。第三財季回購了約 320 萬股股票，回購金額約為 1.03 億美元。迄今為止，23 財年回購總額已達 650 萬股，約合 2.49 億美元。今天的回購平均價格約為每股 38 美元，自 23 財年年初以來，已發行股票減少了約 6%。 '23歷年700萬股授權中剩餘130萬股。

As John indicated earlier, this fiscal year-to-date, including share repurchases and dividends paid and declared, the company has returned approximately $451 million of capital to shareholders as follows: $104 million in base dividends, $98 million in supplemental dividends and $249 million in share repurchases. Each of these items, the repurchases of the base and supplemental dividends encompass the capital allocation and shareholder return model that we announced in October at the beginning of fiscal '23. Looking ahead to fiscal '24, we will refresh that model in our annual budgeting process, taking into consideration various factors, including expected activity levels, planned capital expenditure levels and anticipated cash flow margin. We will discuss this plan on our November call.

正如約翰早些時候指出的，本財年迄今為止，包括股票回購以及支付和宣派的股息，該公司已向股東返還約 4.51 億美元的資本，具體如下：1.04 億美元的基本股息、9800 萬美元的補充股息和 2.49 億美元在股票回購中。這些項目中的每一項、基本股息和補充股息的回購都包含我們在 23 財年 10 月開始時宣布的資本分配和股東回報模型。展望 24 財年，我們將在年度預算流程中更新該模型，同時考慮各種因素，包括預期活動水平、計劃資本支出水平和預期現金流量利潤率。我們將在 11 月份的電話會議上討論該計劃。

Finally, a follow-up on John's comments about returns just above cost of capital. On our November 2022 call, we discussed our plan and our need to focus on achieving positive returns as measured in ROIC. In this current fiscal year, we have achieved that necessary step for our shareholders for the first time since 2014. H&P's return focus, combined with our capital allocation execution underscores our strategy to not only enhance the financial returns of the company, but also increase the cash returns provided to shareholders.

最後，約翰關於回報率略高於資本成本的評論的後續內容。在 2022 年 11 月的電話會議上，我們討論了我們的計劃以及我們需要專注於實現以投入資本回報率衡量的正回報。在本財年，我們自 2014 年以來首次為股東實現了這一必要步驟。H&P 對回報的關注，加上我們的資本配置執行，強調了我們的戰略，不僅要提高公司的財務回報，還要提高公司的盈利能力。向股東提供現金回報。

That concludes our prepared remarks for the third fiscal quarter. Let me now turn the call over to Ashley for questions.

我們為第三財季準備的講話到此結束。現在讓我將電話轉給阿什利詢問問題。

(Operator Instructions) We will take our first question from Doug Becker with Capital One.

（操作員說明）我們將接受第一資本的 Doug Becker 提出的第一個問題。

John, you highlighted the promising indications from customers about increasing activity. I was hoping to get a little more color around the tenor of those conversations. I'm trying to get a sense of what makes you think it's bonafide incremental interest versus just kicking the tires or customer looking to play contractors off one another?

約翰，您強調了客戶關於增加活動的有希望的跡象。我希望這些談話的基調能有更多的色彩。我想了解一下，是什麼讓您認為這是真正的增量興趣，而不是只是踢輪胎或客戶想要互相欺騙承包商？

Well, Doug, it's still -- obviously, it's still early in the year, but we have -- we have gotten that feedback. And again, I think it's consistent with the type of feedback that we've received in previous years. Obviously, in July, we're not talking, customers aren't talking specifically about there are '24 budgets, but we do expect that there will be a reset very similar to what we've seen in the last 3 years. As you think about this -- their desire to be very disciplined in their budget and in their production profile. And as Mark mentioned, some of the releases that we've had, have been really based on just that. It's customers getting to their production levels or getting to their budget levels as they forecast out through the rest of the year.

嗯，道格，顯然，現在還處於今年年初，但我們已經收到了反饋。再說一次，我認為這與我們前幾年收到的反饋類型是一致的。顯然，在 7 月份，我們不是在談論，客戶也沒有具體談論“24 小時預算”，但我們確實預計將會有一個與我們過去 3 年所看到的非常相似的重置。當你想到這一點時——他們希望在預算和生產方面非常嚴格。正如馬克提到的，我們發布的一些版本實際上就是基於此。這是客戶在今年剩餘時間內達到他們預測的生產水平或預算水平。

So I mean, we think it's bonafide. We think the customers intend to pick up activity in calendar Q4. But again, it's still early. And we're obviously not in a position to guide towards what that rig count activity would be, but we're definitely seeing the response, and we're having the conversations.

所以我的意思是，我們認為這是善意的。我們認為客戶打算在第四季度開始開展活動。但話又說回來，現在還早。顯然，我們無法指導鑽機數量活動，但我們肯定會看到回應，並且我們正在進行對話。

That makes sense. And just when activity does start to pick up, would you expect H&P to add rigs back faster in the industry. And clearly, market share is a byproduct of your economic model. But I wanted to get a sense of it seems reasonable that you would pick up a little bit of market share when activity does pick up.

這就說得通了。當活動確實開始回升時，您是否會期望 H&P 在行業中更快地恢復鑽機數量？顯然，市場份額是經濟模式的副產品。但我想了解一下，當活動確實回升時，你會獲得一點市場份額，這似乎是合理的。

Well, we -- obviously, we're hopeful that we would be in that position. I can say that the rigs that we've idled, we've idled them in a fashion such that they would be ready to go back to work very quickly, very easily, very low cost. So I think we're positioned well from that perspective. Most of the conversations that we've had are with larger public companies, and obviously, that's over 70% of the work that we do historically is from large private -- or large public E&Ps. So I think we're positioned well from that perspective. And obviously, that would be our hope.

嗯，顯然，我們希望我們能處於那個位置。我可以說，我們閒置的鑽機，我們以一種非常快速、非常容易、非常低成本的方式閒置它們，以便它們準備好重新投入工作。所以我認為從這個角度來看我們的定位很好。我們的大部分對話都是與大型上市公司進行的，顯然，我們歷史上超過 70% 的工作來自大型私人或大型公共勘探與生產公司。所以我認為從這個角度來看我們的定位很好。顯然，這將是我們的希望。

And then just a quick last one. You gave the preliminary outlook for the 2024 capital budget. If spending is effectively flat year-over-year, is it reasonable to assume the supplemental shareholder return plan would be flat as well?

然後是最後一個。您對 2024 年資本預算做出了初步展望。如果支出實際上同比持平，那麼假設補充股東回報計劃也持平是否合理？

Well, again, we're early in the cycle to be talking about. We felt like it was important to bring that up. As I think about this and our conversations internally and with our Board is, there's a great opportunity for us to do kind of an all of the above like we have been able to do with the base and the supplemental and opportunistic share buyback. So from our perspective with what we know right now, it seems reasonable. But again, it's early. We were just trying to give some estimate of how we were thinking about the budget without actually guiding to the budget.

好吧，再說一遍，我們正處於討論周期的早期。我們覺得提出這一點很重要。正如我所思考的那樣，我們在內部以及與董事會的對話中，我們有一個很好的機會來做上述所有事情，就像我們在基礎和補充性和機會主義股票回購方面所做的那樣。因此，從我們目前所知的情況來看，這似乎是合理的。但話又說回來，現在還早。我們只是試圖對我們如何考慮預算做出一些估計，而沒有實際指導預算。

That's right, Doug. I think the press release said at least from a CapEx perspective, as we mentioned in prepared remarks, in the back half of this year, we're seeing more delays in so -- and the ability to execute on some of our maintenance CapEx, and we have to continue through with that because we really as you know, back in the pandemic had to harvest and cannibalize a lot of parts, and we're still catching up with that. So we've not been able to execute on the full CapEx plan for this year, resulting in some of it being deferred in next year. .

沒錯，道格。我認為新聞稿至少從資本支出的角度來看，正如我們在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，在今年下半年，我們看到了更多的延遲 - 以及執行我們的一些維護資本支出的能力，我們必須繼續這樣做，因為正如你們所知，在大流行期間，我們必須收穫和蠶食很多零件，而且我們仍在追趕這一點。因此，我們無法執行今年的完整資本支出計劃，導致其中一些計劃被推遲到明年。 。

So we just have to see what that is, move a little bit more through the summer into the fall, as John indicated, it's early. And as we get into the fall, we'll have a little bit more clarity on activity levels for fiscal '24. So we marry that up with our full year '24 expectations, the CapEx, and then we'll see what the result ability is for the supplemental plan. But the 3 legs of that plan are certainly part of the DNA that we look to carry forward.

所以我們只需要看看那是什麼，從夏天到秋天再移動一點，正如約翰所說，現在還早。隨著進入秋季，我們將對 24 財年的活動水平有更清晰的了解。因此，我們將其與 24 年全年預期、資本支出結合起來，然後我們將看到補充計劃的結果能力。但該計劃的 3 個支柱無疑是我們希望發揚光大的 DNA 的一部分。

We'll take our next question from Derek Podhaizer with Barclays.

我們將接受巴克萊銀行的德里克·波德海澤 (Derek Podhaizer) 提出的下一個問題。

I wanted to touch on your comments around your daily margins recovering in calendar 4Q and I would think that would actually be a continued trend downward just given higher spot markets rolling off, repricing below your fleet average there. Can you maybe just talk about what's going on where you see recovery, just the interplay between the day rate and the cost per day? And would this ultimately make calendar 3Q represent the profitability trough for this part of the cycle?

我想談談您對第四季度每日利潤恢復的評論，我認為，鑑於現貨市場走高，重新定價低於您的船隊平均水平，這實際上將是持續下降的趨勢。您能否談談您所看到的複蘇情況，以及日費率和每日成本之間的相互作用？這最終會讓日曆第三季度代表週期這一部分的盈利低谷嗎？

I'll start us off. Derek, it's Mark. We have -- I think our guidance indicates that the margins next quarter will be coming down modestly per day because of those spot roll off. So that's probably a next quarter if the trough in fact, is that it would be the calendar Q3, which is our fiscal Q4. But that's as far as we can see now. Again, we think we have from customer visibility, some add-backs in Q4 to start fiscal '24. As it relates to -- that's a little bit on the pricing side because we have quite a few term -- legacy term contracts repricing, which helps offset the spot, the high-end spot contracts coming off.

我就讓我們開始吧。德里克，是馬克。我認為我們的指導表明，由於現貨滾動，下個季度的利潤率每天都會小幅下降。因此，如果實際上的低谷是日曆第三季度，也就是我們的第四財季，那可能是下個季度。但據我們目前所知。同樣，我們認為，從客戶可見性來看，我們在第四季度進行了一些補充，以開始 24 財年。因為它與定價方面有關，因為我們有相當多的期限遺留期限合約重新定價，這有助於抵消現貨，高端現貨合約的消失。

On the cost side, as I mentioned, I think we're holding pretty flat with cost across the organization with the exception of absorption from the lesser activity we've experienced last quarter in this coming quarter. If we, in fact, then get into calendar Q4 fiscal Q1 with more activity that can help alleviate that absorption issue really in the midterm. John, would you add anything?

在成本方面，正如我所提到的，我認為我們整個組織的成本保持相當平穩，除了我們上個季度經歷的較少活動在下一季度的吸收之外。事實上，如果我們在第一財季第四季度開展更多活動，可以幫助在中期真正緩解吸收問題。約翰，你能補充點什麼嗎？

I think you hit it.

我認為你擊中了它。

Yes. Just because in the press release, so that calendar 4Q, I know that's your fiscal 1Q '24, you can see daily margins expand from where they're going to go in your fiscal 4Q?

是的。僅僅因為在新聞稿中，日曆第四季度，我知道那是您 24 年第一財季，您可以看到每日利潤率比第四財季的預期有所擴大？

Derek, I think, again, it's really hard to say at this point, and we sure don't want to try to guide for our first fiscal quarter, calendar Q4 in July. So again, we think from an activity perspective, we're going to hit the bottom here in the September quarter or in our fourth fiscal quarter, and we see some activity improvements in calendar Q4 and again, on the pricing front, we can't -- we don't know for sure where that's going to go. I mean our expectation is that we're going to be able to maintain pricing. Mark already hit on the cost side of the equation and the number of rigs we had back obviously had an influence on that.

德里克，我想，在這一點上真的很難說，我們當然不想嘗試為我們的第一個財政季度（即 7 月的日曆第四季度）提供指導。因此，從活動的角度來看，我們將在 9 月份季度或第四財季觸底，並且我們會在第四季度看到一些活動改善，並且在定價方面，我們可以' t——我們不確定它會去哪裡。我的意思是我們的期望是我們將能夠維持定價。馬克已經談到了成本方面的問題，而我們所擁有的鑽機數量顯然對此產生了影響。

Got it. Okay. That's all helpful. Maybe just talk about what we do hit bottom and start seeing the rig count recover. Can you talk about where you expect the pockets of strength there, gas versus oil and maybe regionally by basin?

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。也許只是談談我們觸底時所做的事情並開始看到鑽機數量恢復。您能談談您對那裡的實力的預期嗎？天然氣與石油，也許按盆地劃分？

I think you have to believe that the Permian is going to continue to be strong. I mean, it's our largest area of operation by a wide margin. And so I think we will see some pickup in activity there. Of course, most of that's oil related. I do think there will be some pickup in activity in some of the gas basins, but it's really hard to see at this point. But that would be our expectation is activity improvements there. And I'm sure there will be some in the Eagle Ford as well.

我認為你必須相信二疊紀將繼續強大。我的意思是，這是我們最大的業務領域。因此，我認為我們會看到那裡的活動有所回升。當然，其中大部分與石油有關。我確實認為一些天然氣盆地的活動將會有所回升，但目前還很難看到。但這是我們期望那裡的活動有所改善。我確信 Eagle Ford 中也會有一些。

We'll take our next question from David Smith with Pickering Energy.

我們將回答來自 Pickering Energy 的 David Smith 的下一個問題。

Mark, in the press release, just circling back to the comments for the preliminary outlook for fiscal '24 CapEx to be at least fiscal '23 levels, recognizing its really early, but I had to ask if you can make any comments about that, what that might assume for the lower 48 rig count, but also if there's any color you can give on kind of the level expected for international growth CapEx?

馬克，在新聞稿中，我回到了對 24 財年資本支出至少達到 23 財年水平的初步前景的評論，認識到現在還很早，但我不得不問你是否可以對此發表任何評論，對於較低的 48 台鑽機數量可能會發生什麼情況，而且您是否可以對國際增長資本支出的預期水平給出任何顏色？

Thanks for the question, Dave. We're caveating. It's early. But what we see or a few things. We -- as I mentioned, catching up on maintenance CapEx. So there is an amount of maintenance CapEx we need to execute on that, in fact, will not necessarily be tied to a specific rig count level in '24. In other words, we have to catch up on spares, capital spares through our systems, so we can continue to have our 99-plus percent revenue efficiency and uptime on our U.S. fleet, which obviously helps us in the service to our customers and the solutions we provide.

謝謝你的提問，戴夫。我們正在警告。現在還早。但我們所看到的還是一些事情。正如我所提到的，我們正在趕上維護資本支出。因此，我們需要執行大量的維護資本支出，事實上，這些資本支出不一定與 24 年的特定鑽機數量水平掛鉤。換句話說，我們必須通過我們的系統趕上備件、資本備件，這樣我們的美國機隊才能繼續保持 99% 以上的收入效率和正常運行時間，這顯然有助於我們為客戶和客戶提供服務。我們提供的解決方案。

So we will be catching up on that. And if -- I think it's still going to be in this elevated range that we have for this year, $1.1 million to $1.3 million per active rig per annum on average. But again, that may skew a little higher with this capital, with the spares componentry work that I'm talking about. So if you take that, if you take sort of a typical international offshore mix to add into that. And if you take some typical corporate spend on top, then you really kind of get to the at least comment that we had in the press release.

所以我們會趕上這一點。如果——我認為今年的價格仍將保持在這個較高的範圍內，即每個活躍鑽機每年平均 110 萬美元至 130 萬美元。但同樣，對於這筆資金以及我正在談論的備件工作，這可能會稍微偏高一些。因此，如果您採用這種方式，如果您採用某種典型的國際離岸組合來添加其中。如果您將一些典型的企業支出放在首位，那麼您確實至少會得到我們在新聞稿中的評論。

All right. I appreciate it. And a follow-up for John, if I may. Nice steady progress on increasing the mix of performance contracts. Wondering if you could give us any color on maybe how much of this mix is related to the decline in spot rig activity or if you're seeing customers, who were not previously on performance contracts, being more willing to adopt them?

好的。我很感激。如果可以的話，還有約翰的後續行動。在增加績效合同組合方面取得了良好的穩步進展。想知道您能否告訴我們，這種組合有多少與現貨鑽機活動的下降有關，或者您是否看到以前沒有簽訂績效合同的客戶更願意採用它們？

Yes, David, that's a great question. And it's a little bit of a mix of both as you can imagine in the contract mix as rigs are released. But there are some customers that continue to adopt performance-based contracts. They've seen it with some of our other customers and see great performance in a particular area, and we get feedback on that, and they decided to pursue that.

是的，大衛，這是一個很好的問題。正如您可以想像的那樣，當鑽機發佈時，它是兩者的混合體。但也有一些客戶繼續採用基於績效的合同。他們在我們的其他一些客戶身上看到了這一點，並在特定領域看到了出色的表現，我們得到了相關反饋，他們決定繼續這樣做。

So we're very pleased with that, and it continues to increase. And again, it's been a hard effort, long effort by our folks. But at the end of the day, what's great about it is it is a win-win contract construct, because customer wins, we win, when we perform well, and our teams do a great job on the performance side. So I suspect that we'll continue to have more adoption over time. So...

所以我們對此非常滿意，而且這一數字還在繼續增加。再說一次，這是我們人民的艱苦努力、長期努力。但歸根結底，它的偉大之處在於它是一個雙贏的合同結構，因為當我們表現良好時，客戶獲勝，我們獲勝，並且我們的團隊在績效方面做得很好。因此，我懷疑隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續有更多的採用。所以...

And David, this is Mark again. I want to go back to your previous question on CapEx. I think I left out one piece for your math there, which is that walking rig converging cadence, we also mentioned in the press release. Then you add that in, if we did 1 per month, by the way of example, that would be -- that gets you to your $400 million at least comment, just wanted to add that back.

大衛，這又是馬克。我想回到你之前關於資本支出的問題。我想我在數學中遺漏了一項內容，那就是步行裝置收斂的節奏，我們也在新聞稿中提到過。然後你補充說，如果我們每月做 1 次，舉例來說，那就是——這會讓你至少得到 4 億美元的評論，只是想把它加回來。

We'll take our next question from Saurabh Pant with Bank of America.

我們將接受美國銀行 Saurabh Pant 的下一個問題。

I guess maybe a quick follow-up on the performance model and tying it up with some of the recent M&A in the industry. One of your large deals acquired a drill bit manufacturer and obviously, that allows them to integrate along the bottom on assembly, right? And clearly, it should give them more control and allows them to do more rate from an efficiency standpoint, if I think about performance-based models, is that or maybe something else along the lines of integrating down the wellbore. Does that make sense to you? How do you think about it from a big picture standpoint going forward?

我想也許是對績效模型的快速跟進，並將其與行業最近的一些併購結合起來。您的一項大交易收購了一家鑽頭製造商，顯然，這使他們能夠在裝配時沿著底部進行集成，對吧？顯然，如果我考慮基於性能的模型，它應該給他們更多的控制權，並允許他們從效率的角度獲得更高的效率，或者可能是沿著井筒整合的其他東西。這對你來說有意義嗎？從大局的角度來看，您如何看待未來的發展？

From a -- I wasn't really thinking about it from a bit manufacturing perspective, I know at H&P, we have quite a bit of data, downhole data that we're able to utilize to drive enhanced performance. Obviously, we have software solutions that also assist in driving performance for customers. So I think the drill bit data that you're talking about is really data that we already have in most cases related to the software that we already have. If that was your question?

從——我並沒有真正從製造的角度來考慮這個問題，我知道在 H&P，我們有相當多的數據、井下數據，我們可以利用它們來提高性能。顯然，我們的軟件解決方案也有助於提高客戶的績效。所以我認為你所說的鑽頭數據實際上是我們在大多數情況下已經擁有的與我們已有的軟件相關的數據。如果這是你的問題？

Okay. No, John, that was part of the question. I guess just to clarify, I was thinking from the perspective of controlling more things down the wellbore if you have control of that drill bit or something else along the wellbore, right? You're more in control of how efficient the well is being drilled, right? I'm just thinking from a performance standpoint, just having more components in the bottom hole assembly. Does that help you in the performance model going forward and thinking from a medium to long-term perspective, not just from a data, but from a tool perspective?

好的。不，約翰，這是問題的一部分。我想只是為了澄清一下，我是從控制井眼中更多東西的角度來思考的，如果你能控制鑽頭或井眼中的其他東西，對嗎？您可以更好地控制鑽井的效率，對嗎？我只是從性能的角度考慮，只是在底部鑽具組件中添加更多組件。這是否有助於您的性能模型向前發展並從中長期角度思考，不僅僅是從數據角度，而是從工具角度？

Right. I don't really see that there's a connection back to the rig necessarily. But again, it's a great question. I don't really have that there's going to be a competitive advantage there.

正確的。我真的不認為有必要連接回設備。但這又是一個很好的問題。我真的不認為那裡會有競爭優勢。

I would just add, it's again, it's capital intensive, and we have said for many years as we look at ancillary businesses, where we prefer the software approach related to enhancing our overall drilling solutions. And what John is talking about with software through our drill scan software, we have a lot of data about the bottom hole assembly and drilling and drill bit preference. And remember, customers choose the drill bit completely separately from the rig. So we don't see necessarily a synergy there either.

我想補充一點，它是資本密集型的​​，多年來我們在考慮輔助業務時就說過，我們更喜歡與增強整體鑽井解決方案相關的軟件方法。約翰通過我們的鑽孔掃描軟件談論的軟件，我們有大量關於底部鑽具組合以及鑽孔和鑽頭偏好的數據。請記住，客戶選擇的鑽頭與鑽機完全分開。因此，我們也不一定認為存在協同作用。

And then just one quick clarification, maybe for both John and Mark, but Mark maybe more for you. As you think about, I know it's early, right, but as you think about your fiscal '24 supplemental shareholder return plan, I know you said that you still see the 3 legs to the stool are sticking to the base dividend, the supplemental dividend and the buyback. But as you look back at fiscal '23 plan, I know it was your inaugural plan. As you look back and see where you think you had the most success and how you can fine tune that going forward in fiscal '24, what should we expect from that? What was in your view, the best part? And where do you think you can fine tune that plan going forward? I'm particularly thinking about the mix between supplemental dividend and maybe share buybacks.

然後快速澄清一下，也許對約翰和馬克來說，但馬克對你來說可能更重要。正如你所想，我知道現在還為時過早，對吧，但當你思考你的 24 財年補充股東回報計劃時，我知道你說過，你仍然看到凳子的 3 條腿堅持基本股息、補充股息和回購。但當您回顧 23 財年計劃時，我知道這是您的首個計劃。當您回顧過去，看看您認為自己在哪些方面取得了最大的成功，以及如何在 24 財年的未來進行微調時，我們應該對此有何期待？您認為最好的部分是什麼？您認為未來可以在哪些方面對該計劃進行微調？我特別考慮補充股息和股票回購之間的組合。

Well, Saurabh, it's going to -- that's a hard question to comment on, because what we have in our 3-pronged plan is, one, with the base dividend the legacy of 60 years of paying dividends and returns to shareholders. But the supplemental dividend and the share buyback is flexibility. So we have repurchased a lot of shares this year. In fact, we believe that this last quarter was a record for the company in terms of shares and dollars repurchased. But that is also because it was a dislocation in the share price from what we believe is a more accurate valuation and therefore, a good investment for the company. So as we've said on previous calls, we have our own modeling that we do with upside, downside base cases. We assess the terminal value and a DCF and we put a multiple on it, we say anything trading below that would be a good investment.

好吧，Saurabh，這是一個很難評論的問題，因為我們的三管齊下的計劃是，第一，基本股息是 60 年來向股東支付股息和回報的遺產。但補充股息和股票回購具有靈活性。所以我們今年回購了很多股票。事實上，我們認為上個季度該公司在股票和美元回購方面創下了紀錄。但這也是因為它的股價與我們認為更準確的估值存在偏差，因此對公司來說是一項很好的投資。正如我們在之前的電話會議中所說，我們有自己的模型，針對上行和下行的基本情況進行建模。我們評估終端價值和貼現現金流，並對其進行倍數計算，我們認為任何低於該倍數的交易都是一項不錯的投資。

So I guess one could say, if you see a lot of those investments if the stock is not where you want it to be, if we're buying back less than we may be returning more in the form of supplemental dividends in cash. But we just have to wait. It's going to be dependent on the situation at hand at the time, and that's about all we can comment on. It's a lot easier to comment on things as we've actually executed on them and report on them on a quarter looking in the rearview mirror.

所以我想有人可能會說，如果你看到很多這樣的投資，如果股票沒有達到你想要的水平，如果我們回購的金額少於我們可能會以現金補充股息的形式回報更多。但我們只需要等待。這將取決於當時的情況，這就是我們所能發表的評論。對事情進行評論要容易得多，因為我們實際上已經執行了這些事情，並在四分之一的時間裡回顧了它們的情況進行了報告。

No, I guess that's all fair. You got to maintain a balance between continuity and flexibility.

不，我想這很公平。您必須在連續性和靈活性之間保持平衡。

We'll take our next question from Keith MacKey with RBC Capital Markets.

我們將回答加拿大皇家銀行資本市場公司基思·麥基 (Keith MacKey) 提出的下一個問題。

I just wanted to return to the discussion around performance-based contracts. Wondering if you can just discuss a little bit more about the average uplift you see from those contracts relative to what you might get on a standard day rate type of contract? And is there really any cost associated with it? Or is it just purely a $1,000 to $2,000 or so margin uplift from -- from an average rig rate?

我只是想回到關於基於績效的合同的討論。想知道您是否可以更多地討論一下您從這些合同中看到的相對於標準日費率類型合同可能獲得的平均提升？真的有與之相關的任何成本嗎？或者僅僅是平均鑽機費率提高了 1,000 至 2,000 美元左右的利潤？

I don't have the numbers in front of me.

我面前沒有數字。

$1,000 to $2,000 still.

仍然是1,000到2,000美元。

Dave may have -- so in average, but that's across the overall fleet. And so from a cost perspective, we just touched on, on the previous question to a degree, and that's related to having the data set, having certain technologies, having a staff of people that are -- that know how to put the performance contracts into place and working with the customer. So there are some costs associated with that.

戴夫可能有——平均而言，但這是整個機隊的情況。因此，從成本角度來看，我們只是在某種程度上觸及了前一個問題，這與擁有數據集、擁有某些技術、擁有一支知道如何簽訂績效合同的人員有關。到位並與客戶合作。因此，存在一些與之相關的成本。

But at the end of the day, what we're trying to do is we're driving performance improvements for our customers, and that's where the real cost savings are. You've probably heard us talk about that before. Reducing our day rate really has very little material impact on the cost of the well, but saving a day or 2 days or 5 days and doing it reliably well after well, that's where the savings are really captured. And so that's really the focus that we, as an organization have in working with our customers.

但歸根結底，我們要做的是為客戶推動性能改進，這才是真正節省成本的地方。您以前可能聽過我們談論過這個問題。降低日費率實際上對油井成本影響很小，但節省一天、兩天或五天，並在井後可靠地進行，這才是真正節省的地方。因此，這確實是我們作為一個組織與客戶合作的重點。

Understood. And if I could just follow up on the international side. So got the 1 rig slated to start drilling in Australia very soon and then 1 more going to the Middle East in anticipation of some tender results. But certainly, think there was plans initially to send a handful or so more in the shorter term. Can you just discuss what you're thinking now around that the time line for those incremental rigs? Is this purely a cost decision in the near term? Or was there some tender results that maybe didn't go your way that are leading to the adjusted plans for the Middle East rigs?

明白了。如果我能在國際方面跟進的話。因此，預計很快就會有 1 個鑽機在澳大利亞開始鑽探，然後還有 1 個鑽機將前往中東，期待一些招標結果。但可以肯定的是，我們最初計劃在短期內發送更多的數量。您能談談您現在對這些增量鑽機的時間表的想法嗎？這純粹是近期的成本決定嗎？或者是否有一些招標結果可能不符合您的意願，從而導致調整中東鑽井平台的計劃？

Keith, there -- there are some other tendering opportunities in the region that we are participating in, and it will depend upon how those develop over the coming weeks and months and potentially quarters, because these things often are slow processes. We don't plan to incur necessarily mobilization costs until we have clear line of sight to the results of such processes. I hope that's helpful.

基思，我們正在參與該地區還有一些其他招標機會，這將取決於這些機會在未來幾週、幾個月甚至可能幾個季度的發展情況，因為這些事情往往是緩慢的過程。在我們對此類過程的結果有清晰的認識之前，我們不打算承擔必然的動員成本。我希望這有幫助。

And we will take our next question from Arun Jayaram with JPMorgan.

我們將回答摩根大通 Arun Jayaram 提出的下一個問題。

Gentlemen, at the risk of kind of beating a dead horse, I did want to ask you about the supplemental shareholder return plan. Last year, you announced to get clarity on the plan in, I think, October of last year. I was wondering if maybe you could give us some thoughts on -- there's a little bit more uncertainty in the market. Does that change maybe thoughts on when to communicate the plan? And how should we think about some of the pushes and pulls relative to last year's program?

先生們，冒著死馬的風險，我確實想向你們詢問補充股東回報計劃。去年，您宣布要在去年 10 月份明確該計劃。我想知道您是否可以給我們一些想法——市場的不確定性有點多。這是否會改變關於何時傳達計劃的想法？我們應該如何看待與去年計劃相關的一些推動和拉動？

Thanks for the question, Arun. I'll start this off. I think last year's release in October was because the supplemental plan was, in fact new. It was a different mechanism for us in terms of assessing how we could return more cash to shareholders with the cash flow generation we foresaw, but without necessarily increasing the base dividend as we had historically. While we did a lot of soundings with investors and came up with a supplemental plan, and I think we believe in a pull going forward. So I think it'd be more normal to see us discuss that plan perhaps in the November earnings call and then dependent on any timing related to declaration of such supplemental dividend, it may be a different timing.

謝謝你的提問，阿倫。我就從這開始吧。我認為去年十月發布是因為補充計劃實際上是新的。對於我們來說，在評估如何通過我們預見的現金流量向股東返還更多現金方面，這是一種不同的機制，但不一定像我們歷史上那樣增加基本股息。雖然我們與投資者進行了很多試探並提出了補充計劃，但我認為我們相信未來的推動力。因此，我認為更正常的情況是，我們可能會在 11 月份的財報電話會議上討論該計劃，然後取決於與宣布此類補充股息相關的任何時間，這可能是一個不同的時間。

But the overall plan would be something that we would discuss, I think, more fulsomely on the annual guidance time frame, which is the November call. As John mentioned earlier, we have -- it's early in the year, and we have a lot of work to get through. But we're a lot more hopeful just about the market as we see the same thing that everyone sees. We don't have a clear crystal ball, but we certainly are hopeful with what we see in the macro environment, for example, with consensus calls for recession starting to come below 50%. And we know that the (inaudible) has had a whole lot higher probability of recession baked into it, and I think we're seeing the oil prices go up today. because of that.

但我認為，我們將在年度指導時間框架（即 11 月的電話會議）上更充分地討論總體計劃。正如約翰之前提到的，現在還處於年初，我們還有很多工作要做。但我們對市場抱有更大的希望，因為我們看到了每個人都看到的同樣的事情。我們沒有一個明確的水晶球，但我們當然對我們在宏觀環境中看到的情況充滿希望，例如，普遍認為經濟衰退開始低於 50%。我們知道（聽不清）經濟衰退的可能性要高得多，而且我認為我們今天看到油價上漲。因為這個。

So there's a lot of macro uncertainty, I think, that's coming out, and that will in play over the next several months, which is, again, ahead of our customers commencing their calendar -- typically calendar annual budgeting processes. And as that gets underway, we'll have more intelligence from our sales and operations teams in the field to be able to bake into next year's plan. So I think that, again, fits more with the November time frame. John, would you add any?

因此，我認為，存在很多宏觀不確定性，這些不確定性將在未來幾個月內發揮作用，這又是在我們的客戶開始他們的日曆（通常是日曆年度預算流程）之前。隨著這一過程的進行，我們將從現場的銷售和運營團隊獲得更多情報，以便能夠融入明年的計劃。所以我認為這更符合 11 月的時間框架。約翰，你可以添加一些嗎？

Well, really, I think I already said it earlier, which is we see the plan providing the flexibility and we think about it from an all of the above standpoint. And whether it's the base or supplemental and then depending on share price and having opportunistic share buybacks. So we look at -- we think it's been very effective, and our -- it's just too early in the game to be communicating at this point. Mark had a great point about the November timing, because that really makes a lot of sense. It won't be something new, something that we're trying to get out there. It's just something that we're building on.

嗯，真的，我想我之前已經說過了，我們看到該計劃提供了靈活性，並且我們從上述所有角度來考慮它。無論是基礎還是補充，都取決於股價和機會性股票回購。所以我們認為——我們認為這是非常有效的，而且我們的——現在進行溝通還為時過早。馬克對於 11 月的時間安排提出了一個很好的觀點，因為這確實很有意義。這不會是新的東西，也不會是我們試圖推出的東西。這只是我們正在構建的東西。

Okay. And just my follow-up, John, you guys historically have worked with the large E&Ps majors and larger privates. But I was wondering if you could give us maybe some thoughts on -- just from the private E&Ps as a whole, what does the conversation level with them with that group, obviously, a very important customer group about adding rigs as you get into 2024? And do lower deck balances, does that feed into kind of thoughts on rig demand next year?

好的。我的後續行動，約翰，你們歷史上曾與大型勘探與生產專業公司和較大的私人公司合作過。但我想知道您是否可以給我們一些想法——僅從整個私人勘探與生產公司來看，他們與該群體的對話水平如何，顯然，這是一個非常重要的客戶群體，在進入 2024 年時增加了鑽機？下層甲板是否平衡，這是否會影響明年鑽機需求的想法？

We've never -- we haven't spent a lot of time on the deck counts historically. But clearly, they're low I think you're right, the private company is very important, and we have a lot of really strong relationships and rigs working. I think 30% of our rigs today are working for the smaller private companies. So very important customer group. I think it's still early. I would say most of the rig adds that we've been talking about for calendar Q4 have been with a larger public companies and most of the conversations, not completely, but in most cases.

從歷史上看，我們從來沒有在牌組計數上花費過很多時間。但顯然，它們很低，我認為你是對的，私營公司非常重要，我們有很多非常牢固的關係和正在運行的設備。我認為現在我們 30% 的鑽機都為小型私營公司服務。所以非常重要的客戶群。我覺得現在還早。我想說的是，我們在第四季度討論的大多數鑽機補充都是與較大的上市公司進行的，並且大多數對話，雖然不完全，但在大多數情況下都是如此。

So no doubt the smaller private companies play an important role and they're an important customer to us. Still really early in the year right now. As we all know, they tend to be pretty opportunistic as it relates to commodity price. And obviously, oil prices have strengthened. They have a tendency to respond pretty quickly to those sort of price inflections. And of course, natural gas is still -- we still don't know a whole lot about that in terms of pricing, but we do expect to see an improvement in pricing there.

因此，毫無疑問，較小的私營公司發揮著重要作用，他們是我們的重要客戶。現在還很早。眾所周知，他們往往相當機會主義，因為這與大宗商品價格有關。顯然，油價已經走強。他們傾向於對此類價格變化做出快速反應。當然，天然氣仍然——我們在定價方面仍然不太了解，但我們確實期望看到那裡的定價有所改善。

So that's about the best I can do right now in terms of -- there definitely will be some. But I think at this stage of the game, I'd say most of the responses we've had have been with the larger public companies.

所以這就是我現在能做的最好的事情——肯定會有一些。但我認為在遊戲的這個階段，我想說我們得到的大部分回應都是針對大型上市公司的。

We'll take our next question from Kurt Hallead with Benchmark.

我們將接受 Benchmark 的 Kurt Hallad 提出的下一個問題。

So John, I'm kind of curious, right, on the international front. I know there's some very good near-term opportunities for you as you mapped out in a couple of different markets, but maybe kind of bigger picture and more holistically, it looks like international is on track to maybe represent about 3% of your total gross profit. What is the -- as you look at it, right, what is the opportunity set internationally and the time and effort it takes to kind of build out an international presence relative to the actual financial impact? And where do you see it maybe in 3 to 5 years? And I just want to get some context from you on pursuing the international market opportunities and where do you see the upside and the uplift on the financials?

約翰，我對國際方面有點好奇。我知道，當您在幾個不同的市場進行規劃時，短期內您會遇到一些非常好的機會，但也許從更大的角度和更全面的角度來看，國際業務有望佔您總收入的 3% 左右利潤。當你看到它時，國際上的機會是什麼，以及相對於實際的財務影響而言，建立國際影響力所需的時間和精力是什麼？ 3 到 5 年後你會在哪裡看到它？我只想從您那裡了解一些關於尋求國際市場機會的背景信息，您認為財務狀況的好處和提昇在哪裡？

Well, Kurt, we obviously recognize the need for additional scale. And for us, unfortunately, well, not just us for everyone unfortunately, international projects move at a much different pace than what we're used to here in the U.S. I know our teams in the Middle East have done a great job in building relationships, and we have a lot of momentum there. And so I feel like we're on that verge of -- that point of being able to really see some growth there. But again, when you look at the size and the scale of the -- of our North America operation, obviously, there's a lot of additional work that we're going to have to do.

好吧，庫爾特，我們顯然認識到需要擴大規模。不幸的是，對我們來說，不幸的是，不僅僅是我們對每個人來說，國際項目的進展速度與我們在美國習慣的速度有很大不同。我知道我們在中東的團隊在建立關係方面做得很好，我們在那裡有很大的動力。所以我覺得我們正處於能夠真正看到一些增長的邊緣。但同樣，當你看看我們北美業務的規模和規模時，顯然我們還有很多額外的工作要做。

So we recognize the challenge. We're committed to it. We think we have a great team. We do think the international unconventional plays is an area that we can really make a difference. And so as we see unconventional plays grow, we think we're going to have a larger influence there. So I hear what you're saying, we recognize the challenge and we're up to it. But I think it is a 3-year, 5-year time period to do this organically. I mean it just -- it's going to take some time.

所以我們認識到這一挑戰。我們致力於此。我們認為我們擁有一支出色的團隊。我們確實認為國際非常規戲劇是我們真正可以有所作為的領域。因此，當我們看到非常規遊戲的增長時，我們認為我們將在那裡產生更大的影響力。所以我聽到了你所說的，我們認識到了挑戰，並且我們已經做好了應對的準備。但我認為有機地做到這一點是一個3年、5年的時間段。我的意思是——這需要一些時間。

I appreciate that. And you guys are always very thoughtful and diligent about how you run your business. And so I was also curious to say it in the context of that, say, 3- to 5-year window of kind of growing it organically. As you kind of go through your strategic planning processes, what percent of your business do you think international can reasonably represent over that time period?

我很感激。你們對於如何經營業務總是非常深思熟慮和勤奮。因此，我也很好奇在 3 到 5 年的有機增長窗口的背景下這麼說。當您完成戰略規劃流程時，您認為國際業務在這段時間內可以合理地佔您業務的百分之幾？

Kurt, we haven't said. I'll leave it at that.

庫爾特，我們還沒說過。我就這樣吧。

I would give you an opportunity to share. That's okay.

我會給你一個分享的機會。沒關係。

It's going to be more than 3%, but because of the complexity that John mentioned and as we've discussed, we've been focused on this for a couple of years, and it looks like that some of that focus is going to -- at least have some initial positive results and then we'll build on that. That's the plan.

它將超過 3%，但由於約翰提到的複雜性以及我們已經討論過的，我們已經關注這個問題好幾年了，看起來其中一些重點將是 - - 至少取得一些初步的積極成果，然後我們將在此基礎上繼續努力。這就是計劃。

So my follow-up here is on the performance contract dynamic you referenced 50% of the rigs around some sort of performance contract. And I know this has been an evolution in development for you guys for quite a number of years now. But it also kind of seems to me to a certain extent that there's an ebb and flow to the performance contracts. And -- is it kind of hit its limitations, do you think, on adoption? And does it really kind of resurface every time you got some day rate weakness? I guess just trying to get a sense from you, John, as you've seen it evolve, is it kind of 2 steps up, 1 step back? Or we've kind of hit a point where we could just get a flat line on the adoption of it?

因此，我的後續行動是關於性能合同動態，您提到了 50% 的鑽機圍繞某種性能合同。我知道這對你們來說已經是多年以來的發展演變。但在我看來，在某種程度上，績效合同也有起有落。您認為，它在採用方面是否遇到了局限性？每次當日利率疲軟時，它真的會重新出現嗎？我想只是想從你那裡得到一種感覺，約翰，正如你所看到的，它的演變，是不是進步了 2 步，後退了 1 步？或者我們已經達到了一個點，我們可以在採用它時獲得一條平坦的線？

I think that it has some potential to continue to grow. And the reason is when I look at the customer base that we do performance contracts with. There are other customers that are very similar in size and sophistication in the way that they approach drilling the wells that aren't necessarily using performance-based contracts. So I think there's a huge upside. Our sales force spends a lot of time on this. And they have a strong belief that there are additional customers out there that will benefit from the performance-based contract.

我認為它有繼續增長的潛力。原因是當我觀察與我們簽訂績效合同的客戶群時。還有其他客戶的規模和鑽探方式非常相似，但不一定使用基於績效的合同。所以我認為有一個巨大的好處。我們的銷售人員在這方面花費了大量時間。他們堅信還有更多客戶將從基於績效的合同中受益。

And I think that's what's really key here is -- yes, it's a tool in the market that we have been experiencing -- this correction that we've been experiencing over the last couple of quarters, but it is also a really good tool for customers in terms of their desire to drive not only greater performance and efficiency, but greater reliability. And we continue to hear from customer after customer that yes, performance and drilling a well, "record well" is important. But what's most important is to be able to drill reliably and not have the outliers. And that's -- to us, that's what performance-based contracts are all about, because there's so much opportunity to standardize on process and technologies and using what works the best.

我認為真正關鍵的是——是的，這是我們一直在經歷的市場工具——我們在過去幾個季度經歷了這種調整，但它也是一個非常好的工具客戶不僅希望提高性能和效率，而且希望提高可靠性。我們不斷從客戶那裡聽到，是的，性能和鑽井、“記錄井”很重要。但最重要的是能夠可靠地鑽探並且不會出現異常值。對我們來說，這就是基於績效的合同的意義所在，因為有很多機會對流程和技術進行標準化，並使用最有效的方法。

So -- we're excited about it. We think there's additional upside to, I think we're ever going to have 100% performance contracts, no, but I do think that there's some additional upside ahead.

所以——我們對此感到興奮。我們認為還有額外的好處，我認為我們將擁有 100% 的績效合同，不，但我確實認為未來還有一些額外的好處。

And at this time, I would like to turn the call back over to John Lindsay for closing remarks.

此時，我想將電話轉回約翰·林賽 (John Lindsay) 進行結束語。

Thank you. Appreciate everybody joining us today. As we've mentioned during this call, we remain optimistic about the long-term energy fundamentals and the opportunities. This provides H&P to create value for shareholders. So again, thanks for joining us today, and we'll sign off. Thank you.

謝謝。感謝今天加入我們的所有人。正如我們在本次電話會議中提到的，我們對長期能源基本面和機遇保持樂觀。這使得H&P能夠為股東創造價值。再次感謝您今天加入我們，我們就結束了。謝謝。

Thank you. This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

謝謝。今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連接。