Vitesse Energy Inc (VTS) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Vitesse Energy third quarter, 2024 earnings call.

歡迎參加 Vitesse Energy 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。

(operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

I will now turn the conference over to Ben Messier, Director, Investor relations and business development. Thank you. You may begin.

我現在將會議交給投資者關係和業務發展總監 Ben Messier 主持。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good morning and thank you for joining today. We will be discussing our financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2024 which we released yesterday after market closed, you can access our earnings release and presentation in the investor relations section of our website.

早安，感謝您今天加入。我們將討論我們昨天收盤後發布的 2024 年第三季度的財務和營運業績，您可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分訪問我們的收益發布和演示。

We filed our form 10 key with the SEC yesterday. I'm joined here this morning by VSS Chairman and CEO Bob Gerrity, our President, Brian Cree and our CFO Jimmy Henderson on today's call, Bob will provide opening remarks on the quarter. Then Brian will give you an operations update and Jimmy will review our financial results after the conclusion of our prepared remarks, the executive team will be available to answer questions before we begin.

我們昨天向 SEC 提交了 10 號表格密鑰。今天早上，VSS 董事長兼執行長 Bob Gerrity、總裁 Brian Cree 和財務長 Jimmy Henderson 與我一起參加了今天的電話會議，Bob 將就本季發表開場白。然後布萊恩將為您提供營運最新情況，吉米將在我們準備好的演講結束後審查我們的財務業績，執行團隊將在我們開始之前回答問題。

Let's cover our safe harbor language. Please be advised that our remarks today including the answers to your questions may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control that could cause actual results to be materially different from the expectations contemplated by these forward-looking statements. Those risks include among others matters that we have described in our earnings release and periodic filings.

讓我們來談談我們的安全港語言。請注意，我們今天的言論（包括對您的問題的回答）可能包含《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受到風險和不確定性的影響，其中一些風險和不確定性超出了我們的控制範圍，可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述所設想的預期有重大差異。這些風險包括我們在收益報告和定期文件中描述的其他事項。

We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements except as may be required by applicable securities laws. During our conference call, we may discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures including adjusted net income net debt adjusted EBITDA net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio and free cash flow reconciliations of these measures to the closest GAAP measures can be found in the earnings release that we issued yesterday. Now I will turn the call over to our Chairman and CEO Bob Gerty.

除適用的證券法要求外，我們不承擔更新這些前瞻性聲明的義務。在電話會議期間，我們可能會討論某些非GAAP 財務指標，包括調整後的淨利潤、淨債務、調整後的EBITDA 淨債務與調整後的EBITDA 比率以及這些指標與最接近的GAAP 指標的自由現金流調節表，這些指標可以在我們的收益發布中找到。現在我將把電話轉給我們的董事長兼執行長鮑勃·格蒂。

Thanks Ben and good morning everyone. Thanks for participating in today's call.

謝謝本，大家早安。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。

Pss' return of capital strategy continued in the third quarter.

Pss第三季持續實施資本回報策略。

We paid a dividend of $0.525 per share in September and recently declared another $0.525dividend to be paid in December.

我們在 9 月支付了每股 0.525 美元的股息，最近宣布將於 12 月再支付 0.525 美元的股息。

We have a strict return hurdle for our capital allocation in all price environments. We don't have a budget for our CapEx. We can flex our CapEx to meet those strict return hurdles.

在所有價格環境下，我們的資本配置都有嚴格的報酬門檻。我們沒有資本支出預算。我們可以靈活調整資本支出來滿足這些嚴格的報酬障礙。

This resulting capital efficiency buttresses our return of capital model. It allows us to flourish in high price environments and to be resilient when prices decline.

由此產生的資本效率支撐了我們的資本回報模型。它使我們能夠在高價格環境中蓬勃發展，並在價格下跌時保持彈性。

This responsive strategy protects the dividend while positioning us in a downturn to take advantage of opportunities.

這種回應策略可以保護股息，同時讓我們在經濟低迷時期抓住機會。

Improving capital efficiency is exemplified in our revised 2024 guidance.

我們修訂後的 2024 年指引舉例說明了提高資本效率。

In our preliminary 2025 outlook in our revised 24 guidance, we reduced CapEx by 18% while keeping our production guidance was within the prior range.

在我們修訂後的 24 指引中的 2025 年初步展望中，我們將資本支出減少了 18%，同時將生產指引保持在先前的範圍內。

In 2025 we expect 7% production growth on 2% less CapEx at the midpoints.

到 2025 年，我們預計產量將成長 7%，資本支出中位數將減少 2%。

When oil prices are high as they were over the summer, we tend to win less deals. But when oil prices decrease to where they are now, our opportunities increase, we will continue to be opportunistic. And again, we are not held to a fixed capital budget.

當油價像夏天那樣高時，我們贏得的交易往往會減少。但當油價下降到現在的水平時，我們的機會就會增加，我們將繼續投機取巧。再說一次，我們沒有固定的資本預算。

I'll now turn the call over to our President Brian Cree to discuss our operations.

我現在將把電話轉給我們的總裁布萊恩·克里 (Brian Cree)，討論我們的營運情況。

Good morning everyone and thanks Bob in the third quarter. Our production averaged 13,009 barrels of oil equivalent per day, bringing our year-to-date production to 13,023 barrels of oil equivalent per day over the first nine months. While this was at the low end of prior guidance, our CapEx through September was on pace to be well below that guidance production will increase significantly as our pipeline of drilling and completing wells is converted to cash flowing assets over the coming months.

大家早安，感謝第三季的鮑伯。我們的平均產量為每天 13,009 桶石油當量，使我們今年前 9 個月的產量達到每天 13,023 桶石油當量。雖然這處於先前指導的低端，但我們截至 9 月份的資本支出將遠低於指導產量將大幅增加，因為我們的鑽井和完井管道在未來幾個月內將轉換為現金流資產。

As of September 30th, we had 20.2 net wells in our development pipeline including 11.3 wells that were being drilled and completed. At that time, many of these wells will begin producing late in the fourth quarter and early 2025. The overall pipeline is higher than ever as a result of the increased level of near term development acquisitions closed earlier this year and an acceleration of drilling on our organic acreage.

截至9月30日，我們的開發管道中有20.2口淨井，其中11.3口正在鑽探和完井。屆時，其中許多油井將於第四季末和 2025 年初開始生產。由於今年稍早完成的近期開發收購水準增加以及我們有機面積鑽探的加速，整體管道數量比以往任何時候都高。

We expect the acceleration of development on our organic acreage to continue into 2025 which is our highest return investment opportunity.

我們預計有機種植面積的加速開發將持續到 2025 年，這是我們回報率最高的投資機會。

We continue to add oil hedges through the end of 2025. At the midpoint of our revised guidance, we have 54% of our remaining 2024 oil production hedged at above $78 per barrel and 43% of our 2025 production hedge at above $73 per barrel at the midpoint of our preliminary outlook. Thanks for your time. Now, I'll turn the call over to our CFO Jimmy Henderson for financial highlights.

到 2025 年底，我們將繼續增加石油對沖。在我們修訂後的指引的中點，我們對沖的2024 年剩餘石油產量的54% 在每桶78 美元以上，在初步展望的中點，我們對沖的2025 年石油產量的43% 在每桶73 美元以上。感謝您抽出時間。現在，我將把電話轉給我們的財務長吉米·亨德森 (Jimmy Henderson)，以了解財務要點。

Good morning, everyone. Happy election day and thanks for joining.

大家早安。選舉日快樂，感謝您的加入。

I want to highlight a few financial results from the third quarter. You can refer to our earnings release and 10-Q which we filed yesterday for any additional details.

我想重點介紹第三季的一些財務業績。您可以參閱我們昨天提交的收益報告和 10-Q 報告，以了解更多詳細資訊。

As Brian mentioned, our production for the quarter was approximately 13,000 BOE per day with the 68% oil cut. This kept our nine month production within prior guidance lease operating expense came in at $11.6 million for the quarter, which is $9.71 per BOE. A slight decrease from the second quarter on a gross and per unit basis for the quarter adjusted EBIDA was $37.6 million and adjusted net income was $7.6 million. While GAAP net income was $17.4 million cash CapEx. And acquisition costs totaled $17.2 million for the quarter and $87 million for the first nine months of the year. And are now projected to be below our prior guidance on an annualized basis.

正如 Brian 所提到的，我們本季的產量約為每天 13,000 桶油當量，其中石油減產 68%。這使我們 9 個月的產量保持在先前的指導範圍內，本季租賃營運費用為 1,160 萬美元，即每桶油當量 9.71 美元。本季調整後的 EBIDA 為 3,760 萬美元，調整後的淨利潤為 760 萬美元，較第二季略有下降。而 GAAP 淨利為 1,740 萬美元現金資本支出。本季的收購成本總計為 1,720 萬美元，今年前 9 個月的收購成本總計為 8,700 萬美元。現在預計按年計算將低於我們先前的指導。

So we are dropping our prior guidance from $130million to $1 50 million to $110million to$ 120 million while leaving our production guidance within the prior range operating cash flow net of working capital changes was $35.1 million in a quarter which covered our dividend and CapEx providing excess discretionary cash flow to pay down our debt by$ 10 million within the quarter debt at the end of the quarter was $105 million resulting in a leverage ratio of 0.68 times on an annualized adjusted Eva dollar basis.

因此，我們將先前的指引從1.3 億美元下調至1.5 億美元，再降低至1.1 億美元至1.2 億美元，同時將生產指引維持在先前的範圍內，扣除營運資本變動後的營運現金流為3510萬美元，涵蓋了我們的股息和資本支出提供超額可自由支配現金流，以在季度內償還債務1000 萬美元。倍。

On October 22nd, we amended our credit facility and among other things, the amendment extended the maturity date. The borrowing base was reaffirmed at $245 million and the elected commitments were decreased from $245million to $235 million. We also reduced our effective interest rate by 25 basis points. As always, we truly appreciate the support of our Great Bank group.

10 月 22 日，我們修改了信貸安排，其中包括延長了到期日。借款基礎重申為 2.45 億美元，選定的承諾從 2.45 億美元減少到 2.35 億美元。我們也將實際利率降低了 25 個基點。一如既往，我們衷心感謝大銀行集團的支持。

Finally, we are providing preliminary 2025 outlook with annual production ranging from 13,750 to 14,500 BOE per day, which is a 7% increase at the midpoint from our revised 2024 guidance and total CapEx for the year of $105 million to $120 million.

最後，我們提供了2025 年初步展望，年產量為每天13,750 桶油當量至14,500 桶油當量，較我們修訂後的2024 年指導值中點增加了7%，全年資本支出總額為1.05 億美元至1.2 億美元。

With that, let me turn the call over to the operator and we'll take questions. Thank you.

接下來，讓我將電話轉給接線員，我們將回答問題。謝謝。

Thank you. At this time, we'll conduct our question and answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。此時，我們將進行問答環節。（操作員說明）

And our first question comes from Jeff Grampp with alliance global partners. Please state your question.

我們的第一個問題來自傑夫·格蘭普和全球聯盟合作夥伴。請說出你的問題。

One. What I wanted to I want to start first on the CapEx front, obviously came in very low for the quarter and you guys obviously had a couple of different times. That you reduced CapEx for the full year. But activity levels seem, you know, really robust recos high on your acreage. I think wells in progress and in the pipeline, it's kind of been at record levels for the last couple of quarters. So curious to dig into that dynamic a bit more if you could.

一。我想要的是，我想先從資本支出開始，顯然本季的資本支出非常低，而且你們顯然經歷了幾次不同的時期。您減少了全年的資本支出。但你知道，你的土地上的活動水平似乎非常強勁。我認為進展順利，並且正在醞釀中，在過去的幾個季度中，它達到了創紀錄的水平。如果可以的話，我很想進一步深入研究這種動態。

Yes, Jeff, this is Brian. I'll take a first crack at that and let anyone else add to it really, you know, CapEx for the third quarter was a little lower than everyone expected, primarily just because some of those wells that were affiliated with the acquisitions we made in the second quarter were going to be completed and brought on more in the fourth quarter as opposed to some of those in the third quarter. So it's really just a situation where the timing of those wells coming online, got pushed to the fourth quarter in the first quarter of 2025.

是的，傑夫，這是布萊恩。我會先解決這個問題，然後讓其他人補充一下，你知道，第三季度的資本支出比所有人預期的要低一些，主要是因為其中一些油井與我們在第二季度的工作將在第四季度完成，並帶來比第三季的一些更多的工作。因此，這實際上只是這些油井上線時間被推遲到 2025 年第一季第四季的情況。

Okay. Got it. That's helpful. And I think on the last call, you guys talked about seeing, you know, a pretty material increase in the organic CapEx as you guys kind of call it. But maybe it sounded a little early at least last quarter to have any kind of conviction about, you know, the durability of that. Given that we have the outlook now for 25 I assume you guys have a little bit better line of sight one way or the other on that. So just I guess, hoping to dig into what you guys are seeing on the organic front and kind of what's embedded in that preliminary outlook for next year.

好的。知道了。這很有幫助。我認為在上次電話會議上，你們談到了看到有機資本支出大幅增加，正如你們所說的那樣。但至少在上個季度，對這一點的持久性抱持任何信心似乎還為時過早。考慮到我們現在對 25 的展望，我想你們在這方面有更好的視野。所以我想，希望深入了解你們在有機方面所看到的內容以及明年初步展望中包含的內容。

Yes, we do have more visibility at this point in time.

是的，我們目前確實有更多的知名度。

The afs that we've received so far during the course of 2024 are getting close to double what we saw in 2023. So a lot more drilling is occurring on our organic acreage which allows us to allocate more of our capital to that higher rate of return opportunity.

到目前為止，我們在 2024 年收到的 AFS 數量幾乎是 2023 年的兩倍。因此，我們的有機土地上正在進行更多的鑽探，這使我們能夠將更多的資本分配給更高回報率的機會。

Great and, and maybe if I can shift to the other side of the coin for, for my last one, if I could sneak one more in on the acquisition front. What are you guys kind of seeing there, Bob, I think in the prepared remarks, you said that you know, these kind of relatively lower oil prices kind of help you guys from a deal flow perspective. Any any commentary there and maybe if it makes sense to break it up in terms of kind of the near term development funnel versus larger deals, if that's worth discussing separately, happy to take it that way as well.

太好了，也許我可以轉移到硬幣的另一面，對於我的最後一個，如果我可以在收購方面再偷偷溜進去一次。鮑勃，你們在那裡看到了什麼，我想在準備好的發言中，你說你知道，這種相對較低的油價從交易流的角度來看對你們有幫助。那裡有任何評論，也許從短期發展漏斗與較大交易的角度將其分解是否有意義，如果值得單獨討論，也很樂意這樣做。

Yeah, thanks Jeff.

是的，謝謝傑夫。

So we don't root for lower oil prices. But we are very busy when the price of oil is in the 60s or the 70s. And so the near term opportunities are a lot more attractive right now.

因此，我們並不支持油價下跌。但當石油價格在 60 年代或 70 年代時，我們非常忙碌。因此，近期的機會現在更具吸引力。

But as Brian said, those near term opportunities have to compete with an incredible rate of return that we're getting for organic. So we'll be very selective in buying those near term drilling things.

但正如布萊恩所說，這些短期機會必須與我們獲得的有機報酬率競爭。因此，我們將非常有選擇性地購買那些近期的鑽探設備。

In terms of the large deals, we have a wonderful picture of Ted Williams on our war room where we're at right now and we're always looking for the fat pitch. I can tell you that we're going to be very selective when we do that. But we like, we like oil where it's at. We like our opportunity said Jeff.

就大宗交易而言，我們在我們的作戰室裡有一張特德威廉斯的精彩照片，我們現在就在那裡，我們一直在尋找有利的投球機會。我可以告訴你，當我們這樣做時，我們會非常有選擇性。但我們喜歡，我們喜歡石油所在的地方。傑夫說，我們喜歡我們的機會。

All right, I appreciate those details. Thank you guys.

好吧，我很欣賞這些細節。謝謝你們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our next question comes from Noel Parks with Tuohy Brothers. Please state your question.

我們的下一個問題來自諾埃爾·帕克斯和圖伊兄弟。請說出你的問題。

Hi, good morning.

嗨，早安。

I just I apologize if you touched on this already. But was there any effect that you saw from the wildfires this month or actually, I should say last month in October in North Dakota?

如果您已經觸及這一點，我只是表示歉意。但是，本月或者實際上，我應該說上個月十月在北達科他州發生的野火，您是否看到了任何影響？

I know this is Jimmy. No, we are aware of, what was going on up there, but it really didn't show up in our production volumes and we're not really expecting it to impact us too much. We, as you noted, we did lower our production a little bit on in the range within the range of previous guidance, but that was largely due to the timing that that Brian kind of walked through on wells coming on that we had acquired earlier in the year.

我知道這是吉米。不，我們知道那裡發生了什麼，但它確實沒有出現在我們的產量中，我們並不真正期望它會對我們產生太大影響。正如您所指出的，我們確實在之前的指導範圍內稍微降低了產量，但這很大程度上是由於布萊恩在我們早些時候獲得的油井上走過的時間。

Great. And, I just wonder any trends you're noticing as far as, costs embedded in the A FS you're, seeing.

偉大的。而且，我只是想知道您注意到的任何趨勢，以及您所看到的 A FS 中嵌入的成本。

You know, this is Brian, the AFS between the second and the third quarter remain pretty consistent.

你知道，這是布萊恩，第二節和第三節之間的 AFS 保持相當一致。

You know, for our purposes, we would expect to see actual drilling costs come down a lot of times it takes the operators several months to start changing the AFS.

您知道，就我們的目的而言，我們預計實際鑽井成本會下降很多倍，而營運商需要幾個月的時間才能開始更換 AFS。

But with the lower oil prices, our expectation is that field costs, we will see those start to come down.

但隨著油價下跌，我們預期油田成本將開始下降。

Great. Thanks a lot.

偉大的。多謝。

Thanks. Thanks.

謝謝。謝謝。

And there appears to be no additional questions at this time. So I'll hand the floor back to Bob Gerrity for closing remarks.

目前似乎沒有其他問題。因此，我將把發言權交還給鮑伯·格里蒂（Bob Gerrity）作結束語。

Thank you and thanks everybody for dialing in. If you have any further questions, you can always get a hold of ben. Thank you and we'll see you next quarter. Byebye.

謝謝您，也謝謝大家撥電話。如果您還有任何疑問，可以隨時聯絡 Ben。謝謝您，我們下季見。再見。

Thank you. This concludes today's call. I'll pardon me, disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。原諒我吧，斷絕關係。