OMS Energy Technologies Inc.

Hello ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by for OMS Energy Technologies Inc. fiscal year 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Today's conference call is being recorded. Before we begin, the company's financial and operational results were released through Global Newswire Services earlier today and have been made available online. You can also view the earnings press release by visiting the OMSIR website at ir.omsos.com. Please note that today's discussion will contain four looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Legislation Reform Act of 1995. These statements typically contain words such as may, will, expect, target, estimate, intend, believe, potential, continue and other similar expressions. Forward looking statements involve inherited risk and uncertainties. The accuracy of these statements may be impacted by a number of business risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated, many of which are factors beyond our control. The company, its affiliates, advisors and representatives do not undertake any obligations to update this forward looking information. except as required under the applicable law. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Hao Minghok. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. My name is Hao Minghok. I'm the CEO of OMS Energy Technologies Inc. This is our first earnings call covering a full fiscal year as a public company since our NASDAQ listing in May of last year. For investors newer to our story, OMS is the Singapore headquartered equipment manufacturer and an engineered solution supplier of surface-to-air systems and on-country developer goods, serving the upstream, onshore, and offshore oil and gas markets across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. We operate 11 fully certified manufacturing facilities across six countries, key markets, supplying a diverse, established customer base anchored by long-term contracts. We delivered a resilient performance in fiscal 2026 against a complex macro environment. Before I dive into the numbers, I want to address the geopolitical situation in the Middle East because it bears on how to read our full year results. Throughout the period, our first priority has been the safety and well-being of our employees and their families. We have taken all necessary precautions to protect our people and our Saudi facility has remained operational. At the same time, the conflict has caused some short-term logistical disruption in our business, most notably a shipment of specialty connectors from Singapore to the UAE worth approximately US$800,000 was delayed when the conflict broke out. We still expect to fulfill that shipment, but we remain cautious given the fluid regional environment and the uncertainty around when logistics activity will fully return to normal. Furthermore, the seasonal slowdown around Ramadan this year coincided with heightened regional caution compounding the effect. That said, our business remained healthy, delivering solid profitability and record cash flow despite a year-over-year revenue decline. We also remained debt-free and ended the year with the strongest balance sheet in our history. Full-year revenue was $155.9 million compared to $203.6 million in fiscal 2025. This decline was primarily driven by the timing of call-off orders under our long-term supply agreement with Saudi Aramco, set against an unusually high prior year base. As a reminder, fiscal 2025 included the overlap of the conclusion of our previous Aramco contract with the ramp-up of our new 10-year agreement signed in early 2024. That combination produced a revenue level in the first half of fiscal 2025 that we did not expect to repeat this year. Looking at the second half of 2026 in isolation tells a cleaner story. Our second half revenue was broadly stable year over year, confirming that the full year decline was largely attributable to the first half base effect, not continued deterioration in our run rate. Margins also held firm through the second half, and gross margin improves sequentially compared to the first half, benefiting from a favorable revenue mix and continued cost discipline. Let me be very clear on the Ramco contract as I was at the half-year mark. These are deferred orders, not lost orders. Our long-term agreement with Ramco remains fully intact. Our relationship remains strong. and there has been no cancellation. The pace of call-off orders is governed by customers' inventory management, inspection schedules, and capex cycle. We do not control this variable and these fluctuations are entirely normal and expected in our industry. In March, we announced an US$11 million call-off from Aramco under the existing agreement, signaling a recovery in the pace of their procurement activity. That order is now in our backlog, expected to be recognized in fiscal 2027. Our backlog at year-end was 60.7 million compared to 102 million a year ago. The decline reflects the same call-off timing dynamics, not a change in demand. To put the year-end backlog figure in context, the same independent industry forecast that informed our planning call for MENA Middle East-North Africa oil and gas capital spending to grow by approximately 4% in calendar 2026 and to accelerate to 6% to 7% range in 2027 and 2028 as deferred projects and post-conflict repair work flow into the regional budgets. Across the region, there have been no cancellation of major projects, only delays and timing shifts. and Saudi Aramco's capital program remains on track. Therefore, we'll characterize this year end figure as a point in time low within the normal call-off timing cycle, not a structural step down. And we expect the backlog to rebuild as Aramco's activity recovers through fiscal 2027. Beyond Aramco and Saudi Arabia, our diversification efforts continue to build a more balanced footprint across the region. In specialty connectors and pipe, our revenue outside Saudi Arabia grew to $4.6 million from $2 million, driven by export sales into the UAE, Pakistan, and Indonesia. In surface reality system and Christmas trees, revenue grew to $10.9 million from $8.7 million, supported by Indonesia and by first wins in new markets, including Pakistan and Angola. While these markets are smaller relative to the Middle East, they represent avenues for long-term expansion. We also continue to see encouraging growth in selected Asian markets, including a 17% revenue increase in Thailand, 16% increase in Indonesia, and 8% increase in Brunei. Furthermore, OMS has officially qualified as an approved specialty connector and pipe vendor for Kuwait Oil Company. Kuwait is the second largest market for specialty connectors in the Middle East. While competition there is fierce, this qualification allows us to participate in future tenders and adds another country to our growth and diversification strategy. All the momentum in the surface wallet and Christmas tree is building across our other diversification markets with approximately 1 million in Oman, 1.3 million in Indonesia, and 0.26 million in Pakistan now in our backlog. We're also in the bidding process for several surface system opportunities in Nigeria and Kazakhstan, new territories that would expand our footprint. Meanwhile, we're advancing plans to establish a local presence in Pakistan and the UAE in line with the broader localization trends we're seeing across the region. We expect to file those applications in August. On the operational front, two recent certifications are beginning to translate into commercial activity. With OMS Saudi's API Specification 6A certification in hand, we're now working to establish a service and maintenance arrangement with a US-based drilling company. Meanwhile, OMS Indonesia's API 11D1 certification allowed us to expand into equipment installation for a customer in Indonesia. Both milestones support our product and services diversification strategy. We're also advancing R&D initiatives designed to drive manufacturing efficiency and enable us to deliver higher value, automation-based services. We recently signed a research and collaboration agreement with Nanyang Technological University focused on finite element analysis for metal, welder, and additive manufacture part. Separately, we're working with the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology on CNC machine sensing, anomaly detection, and overall equipment effectiveness. We will further report on this program as they progress. Turning now to our broader financial metrics, this year we're introducing two non-IFRS measures, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted free cash flow. We're adding this to better align with our peers' reporting and facilitate investors' evaluation of our business across cycles. Full reconciliations are in our earnings release. For the full year, gross profit was $47.2 million, for a gross margin of 30.3%. Margin held up well given the lower volume base, underscoring our pricing discipline and supply chain management. Adjusted EBITDA was 41.2 million. Operating profit was 34.9 million for an operating margin of 22.4% and net profit was 33.9 million. Now, let me briefly provide context on two items affecting our year-over-year comparability so that you can update your models cleanly. First, our effective tax rate was 11.8% down from 21.9% in fiscal 2025. This was largely attributable to one-off items, including the favorable resolution of a prior year tax matter that resulted in a return of $2.3 million and an overprovision of $0.5 million in an earlier period. Excluding this, our normalized effective tax rate will be approximately 19.1%, broadly consistent with prior years. That is the rate we would encourage you to use going forward. Second, the uptick in our selling general and administrative expenses reflected the first-year costs of operating as a public company, including compliance, directors' and officers' insurance, cybersecurity, and investor relations. While some of these costs, such as investor relations, legal, and audit fees are recurring, others were one-time or more elevated first-year setup costs. We expect this line to normalize toward approximately $11 million in the coming year as the one-time costs roll off. Cash conversion through working capital and collection management is a core operational discipline for us and the team handled it well through fiscal 2026. Net cash from operating activities was $54.1 million for fiscal year 2026 and adjusted free cash flow was $52.5 million, an increase of $14.9 million, or 39.4% over the prior year. In terms of composition, approximately $15.4 million of that cash came from inventory drawdown as we resized stock in line with the lower call-off cadence. Our target inventory level is in the $20 million to $25 million range. which means some of this cash will be reinvested in working capital during fiscal 2027 to support delivery of the Aramco order and other commitments. The underlying cash conversion of profit remains strong, but I would not encourage investors to model the fiscal 2026 free cash flow figure as a full cycle run rate. Combined with the $28.9 million in IPO proceeds we received in May 2025, This cash generation drove our cash and restricted cash to a record $154.3 million as of March 31, 2026. Importantly, our balance sheet remains debt-free. Our cash reserves are contributing meaningful finance income, and our overall financial strength positions us to invest in growth. Our priority is discipline development that builds on what we already do well. To that end, we have initiated a review of potential opportunities to extend our portfolio, mapping them to our core strength by both fit and time horizon. In the nearer term, this has pointed us to completion and production technologies adjacent to our existing portfolio, such as artificial leaf, and building on our recent certification package. Over the longer term, we are exploring areas in the energy transition space where our subsurface and engineering expertise is relevant, such as geothermal and carbon capture and storage. This is a structured exploratory process, not a commitment to any given transaction or sector. The conversations will take time because the strategic fit and valuation both have to be right, but it reflects how seriously we are approaching capital deployment. We are confident in our ability to put this balance sheet to work on long-term, high return opportunities without the need to raise additional equity. Looking ahead, the industry backdrop is still mixed in the near term but becoming more supportive over the medium term. The first half of calendar 2026 was slower across the Middle East as the conflict weighed on execution, but as I mentioned earlier, Those same independent forecasts point to regional capital spending strengthening over 2027 and 2028. Also, Saudi Aramco's capital program remains on track, though the broader Saudi market is not immune to regional cost pressure. The recovery will not be uniform. The international oil majors continue to emphasize capital discipline, with Group CapEx forecast to be approximately flat in 2026 versus 2025. We expect acceleration to be concentrated among the national oil companies and in post-conflict rehabilitation activity rather than broad-based regional search. We also see clear multi-year trend to a supply chain localization across the Gulf, which favors suppliers with in-region manufacturing and certification precisely where we have been investing. Across our other markets, the picture is mixed. Indonesia remains active with intensifying tender activity, Thailand continues to be busy, and Brunei is drawing renewed interest from a broader set of operators. In Malaysia, activity has been softer as Patronus directs more work outside the country, and our Singapore operations are facing some near-term pressure as regional work shifts towards the Middle East. Taken together, we expect the demand environment to firm up as recovery and rehabilitation spending builds. Assuming no further material geopolitical disruption, we would expect to perform modestly better than this year on the top line, supported by a Ramco call-off activity gradually picking up and continued progress in our diversification markets. As we reinvest in capabilities and continue to absorb full-year public company costs, against a more diversified mix, we will point to a normalized operating margin to settle modestly below this year's level, which benefited from a favorable revenue mix. To sum up, our top-line performance was constrained by call-out timing against a difficult macro backdrop in fiscal 2026, but disciplined execution and strategic diversification kept the underlying business strong. We closed the year with record cash a debt-free balance sheet and healthy margins. OMS is more stable, more globally diversified than any other point in our history. Moving forward, we'll both focus on deploying our balance sheet, trying effectively to convert a Ramco order recovery and expanding regional opportunities into visible growth and long-term value. Before we close, I'd like to spend a few minutes addressing Some of the questions we anticipate may be on investors' minds following these results. I know there's particular interest in how we intend to use our balance sheet, so let me speak on a few of these directly. One, with over $154 million of cash and no debt, how should investors think about our capital allocation framework? We intend to preserve a strong debt-free balance sheet throughout any capital allocation activity. In our industry, financial resilience is a competitive advantage when serving large national oil company customers who value suppliers that can deliver reliably over long contract cycles. That said, our top priority is to reinvest in the core business, funding capacity, certification, and in region capabilities that drive our growth, including potential local presence initiatives in Pakistan and the UAE. Second, As I noted earlier, we are reviewing disciplined, bolt-on opportunities adjacent to our existing product and services, assessed on strategic fit and valuation. Our cash position allows us to pursue this without raising new capital or taking on debt. Two, many investors, particularly in Asia, have asked about dividends or share buybacks. What is our thinking on returning capital? At this stage, we believe the highest return use of our capital is investing to support growth, where we see attractive opportunities in our core markets and selective bolt-ons. We don't currently have a dividend or buyback program in place, but our strong debt-free balance sheet gives us the flexibility to introduce one when the timing and conditions are right. We hear the interest clearly and we will be transparent with the market as our thinking evolves. Three, reported operating margin this year was around 22.4%. How should an investor think about a normalized margin going forward? To be clear, we're not providing a formal guidance. The point is simply that this year's reported margin was elevated by mix. So we would encourage modeling a normalized level modesty below it. We have a track record of protecting margin through cost discipline, even in lower volume years, as this year's demonstrated. So we would rather set a benchmark that we are confident that we can meet and to work to do better. Our mix diversifies away from peak Saudi specialty connector volume towards newer product and markets. And as we carry a full year of public company costs and continue to reinvest, we think a normalized range modestly below this year's levels is the responsible way for investors to model us. Four, free cash flow was very strong this year, helped by an inventory drawdown. How sustainable is that? And is inventory now too lean to support growth? Part of this year's cash generation came from disciplined working capital management, including converting earlier inventory built into deliveries in line with the lower call-off cadence. We wouldn't expect a working capital release of the same size every year, so a normalized free cash flow level will be somewhat lower. On inventory, we managed a level aligned with expected order activity, including the 11 million Aramco call-off schedule for fiscal 2027, and we are comfortable it supports our delivery commitments. Five, our earnings per share fell more than our net profit this year. Why is that? The steeper decline in EPS than in net profit is largely mechanical. This year's result carried the fuller effect of the additional shares issued in our May 2025 IPO, so our weighted average share count was higher year over year. In other words, the wider per share decline reflects the larger post-IPO share base, not the change in the underlying business beyond the revenue timing we discussed earlier. Importantly, The same share base means that as profit recovers alongside a Ramco call of activity, the benefit flows through per share earnings on the way back up. With this, we conclude our prepared remarks. Thank you once again for joining us today. And if you have further questions, please feel free to contact OMS or Pisante Financial Communications.

Thank you. With this, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Thank you.