TechnipFMC plc

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Technique FMC second quarter earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, again, press the star one. Thank you. I'd now like to turn the conference over to Matt Feinzheimer. Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Mr. Seinsheimer, please go ahead.

Thank you, Jack. Good morning and good afternoon, and welcome to Technip FMC's second quarter 2022 earnings conference call. Our news release and financial statements issued yesterday can be found on our website. I'd like to caution you with respect to any forward-looking statements made during this call. Although these forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, beliefs, and assumptions regarding future developments and business conditions, they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these states. Known material factors that could cause our actual results to differ from our projected results are described in our most recent 10 , most recent 10 , and other periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We wish to caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of our forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. I will now turn the call over to Doug Ferdihart, Technip FMC's chair and chief executive officer.

Thank you, Matt, and congratulations on your recent promotion and your expanded role. Thank you for participating in our second quarter earnings call. Before I comment on the strong operating results in the period, I want to first talk about yesterday's announcement regarding shareholder distributions. At our analyst day in November of 2021, we shared with you what we believe to be an appropriate capital structure for our company. Since then, we have made substantial progress towards our goal. In the second quarter, we successfully reduced gross debt by more than $500 million, and we remain confident in our ability to achieve our stated target of $1.3 billion. This targeted capital structure will ensure that we can maintain strong access to credit and allow for continued investment in our business through the cycle. Given our debt reduction to date, we now have the flexibility to begin shareholder distributions as evidenced by the announcement of an authorization to repurchase up to 400 million of our common stock. This represents 14% of the company's outstanding shares at yesterday's closing price. We firmly believe that our shares are undervalued and that the share repurchase program underscores our confidence in the long-term outlook for our company. Simply put, buying our shares is one of the most compelling investments available to us today. In addition to this opportunistic approach to shareholder distributions, We have reaffirmed our intent to initiate a quarterly dividend in the second half of 2023. Our debt reduction, share repurchase announcement, and reaffirmation of a dividend distribution are all important milestones in delivering greater shareholder value.