7/24/2025

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

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 would 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, press star one a second time. We ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Seinzheimer, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Please go ahead.

speaker
Matt Seinsheimer
Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development

Thank you, Regina. Good morning and good afternoon, and welcome to Technip FMC's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Our news release and financial statements issued earlier today 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 or implied by these statements. 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 Ferdihert Technique FMC's Chair and Chief Executive Officer.

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Matt. Good morning and good afternoon. Thank you for participating in our second quarter earnings call. Total company revenue in the period was $2.5 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was $509 million with a margin of 20.1% when excluding foreign exchange impacts. We generated free cash flow of $261 million and distributed $271 million through dividends and share buybacks, further demonstrating our commitment to return a significant portion of free cash flow to shareholders. I am very proud of what our team has accomplished. This was another solid quarter driven by continued strength and execution from both the commercial and operational teams. I regularly speak to the transformation we have made in Sub-C to achieve meaningful and sustainable improvements. These include the complete reinvention of our commercial models, the development of configurable product offerings that provide solutions to our customers' unique challenges, and the optimization of operational workflows that drive continuous improvement in everything we do. But I also want to recognize the much improved performance of Surface Technologies, a direct result of a similar transformation, driven by the right leadership, focused on the right customers in the right markets, and executing with the team working in new ways that are fundamentally changing the way we operate our business today. In North America, this means doing more with less. Here we have exited unprofitable markets and product lines, and we have closed and consolidated facilities throughout the region. In fact, when including the actions taken in the second quarter, we have reduced our North America footprint by 50% over the last three years, while improving operating margins, and increasing cash flow. Looking beyond North America to the international markets, which today represent nearly two-thirds of our surface technologies revenue, we continue to focus on core markets with longer-term production growth ambitions, where our strong customer relationships and technology leadership can provide unique avenues of growth for our company. Now moving to subsea orders. We achieved $2.6 billion of inbound in the quarter, representing a diverse set of awards. We continue to benefit from our unique combination of IEPCI, subsea services, and direct awards. Subsea services was particularly robust, representing one of the highest quarterly inbound levels ever achieved. I would also add that while brownfield activity remains strong, nearly half of our project inbound was tied to greenfield developments. We look forward to sharing more about some of these projects in the coming weeks. The uniqueness and diversity of our order book gives us continued confidence in delivering more than $10 billion of subsea inbound for the year. Our differentiated orders most of which are direct awards to our company speak in part to the strength of our customer relationships which we work to build and enhance every day i'm proud to announce that we recently entered into a new iepci collaboration agreement with var energy supporting their subsea developments on the norwegian continental shelf working together We will utilize our integrated execution model to optimize development solutions and maximize value creation. Our differentiation goes beyond customer relationships. It is also fueled by technology leadership. We have been pioneering technology for decades, and we are constantly working with clients to solve their unique challenges. For instance, in partnership with Petrobras, we recently developed the technology behind HiSep, a high pressure separation process that enables the capture of CO2 rich dense gases directly from the well stream, all taking place on the sea floor. We have also been working with the same client to create a definitive solution for stress corrosion cracking that occurs in flexible pipe applications where there is a very high CO2 content, predominantly in pre-salt fields. We approach this industry challenge as a technology leader. Rather than simply evolving to the next iteration of an existing product, we set our sights on an innovative technology that would retain the advantages of flexibles but provide unrivaled corrosion resistance without compromising on other attributes such as weight. Product weight significantly impacts the design of the entire subsea architecture and can influence other major cost drivers such as the vessel requirements for the installation campaign. Our new hybrid flexible pipe is both disruptive and scalable and is fully aligned with our goal of delivering certainty through industrialization. We continue to advance our solution and are currently in the qualification process. Importantly, we have created a solution that can be used more broadly in applications that extend well beyond the pre-sale. Another focus of innovation is all-electric technology. Last year, we were awarded the industry's first all-electric subsea system for BP's Northern Endurance CCS project. This flagship project shows the critical importance of electric technology and the opportunities it can help clients realize. However, carbon capture and storage is just one application, and electrification is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Additionally, the use of all electric technology can be extended beyond new developments. It can also help our clients exploit their sizable existing portfolios, including systems that are currently operating on the seabed today. Here we are collaborating with Petrobras to extend the performance of existing production systems using electric solutions. Whether it be new commercial agreements, like our IEPCI collaboration with VAR Energy or the development of innovative technologies like hybrid flexible pipe and all electric, we are honored to be our client's trusted partner and the team they turn to for their most challenging projects. Turning to the outlook, offshore activity remains robust. Front end engineering activity is strong. and our subsea opportunity list remains healthy, with name projects progressing across multiple basins over the next 24 months. This supports continued strength in subsea inbound. In Guyana, where a significant ramp in production is already underway, we are excited about the progression of future project sanctioning, and we also see emerging potential for brownfield opportunities to provide incremental activity in the region. Mozambique continues to be one of the most promising areas for new development, particularly in gas. Suriname is also exciting, as we were recently awarded an IEPCI contract from Total Energies for the first oil and gas development in the region. Technip FMC is also involved in front-end engineering for multiple operators in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia, and the surrounding area in South Africa. Taken together, these constitute a rich set of near-term opportunities, even before considering other frontier developments in the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, and Asia. We continue to believe that offshore markets, will attract more capital due to the superior quality of these abundant reserves, their broad accessibility to operators, and the strong economics these resources provide, which we aim to further enhance in part through greater execution certainty. In closing, the market is not without challenges. However, as our results clearly demonstrate, we are navigating the issues and mitigating the impacts to our company. This reflects both the actions we are taking today and the structural changes we have made over the last several years. We have emphasized the importance of new commercial models and configurable product offerings as key enablers to our continued success. Our inbound also highlights the importance of strong and enduring customer relationships This is further supported by our legacy of technology innovation, focused on solving some of the industry's biggest challenges. Our visibility into the market continues to benefit from the high level of direct awards to our company. Our unique opportunity set also gives us confidence that we will reach our three-year goal of $30 billion in subsea inbound by the end of this year. And we see strength in offshore continuing, supported by client discussions for projects that are likely to be sanctioned through the end of the decade. I am very proud of the financial results we shared today and want to acknowledge the unwavering efforts of our global teams that continue to drive our performance to higher levels. I will now turn the call over to Elf to discuss our financial results

speaker
Elif
Chief Financial Officer

and more importantly our strengthened outlook for the balance of the year thanks doug inbound in the quarter was 2.8 billion driven by 2.6 billion of subsea orders total company backlog increased five percent sequentially to 16.6 billion revenue in the quarter was 2.5 billion adjusted ebitda was 509 million when excluding a foreign exchange gain of 12 million and restructuring impairment and other charges totaling 16 million, most of which were related to business transformation initiatives in surface technologies. Turning to segment results. In sub C, revenue of 2.2 billion increased 14% versus the first quarter. The sequential revenue improvement was largely driven by increased IEPCI project activity in the North Sea and higher installation activity and flexible pipe supply in Brazil, offset in part by project completions in Asia Pacific. Services revenue also increased due to seasonal improvements. Adjusted EBITDA was $483 million, up 44% sequentially. due to strong execution, improved earnings mix from backlog, and higher project and services activity. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 21.8%, up 450 basis points from the first quarter. In surface technologies, revenue was 318 million, an increase of 7% from the first quarter. The sequential increase in revenue was driven by higher project and services activity in the Middle East, modestly offset by lower activity in North America. Adjusted EBITDA was 52 million, an increase of 12% sequentially due to the higher project and services activity in the Middle East, modestly offset by North America. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 16.4%, up 70 basis points versus the first quarter. Turning to corporate and other items in the period, corporate expense was $27 million, net interest expense was $14 million, and tax expense in the quarter was $106 million. Cash flow from operating activities was $344 million, and capital expenditures were $84 million. This resulted in free cash flow of $261 million. We repurchased 250 million of stock in the second quarter. When including 21 million of dividends, total shareholder distributions were 271 million. During the quarter, we repaid 200 million euro of private placement notes that matured in June, reducing our gross debt to 696 million. We ended the period with cash and cash equivalents of $950 million. Net cash decreased modestly to $254 million. Moving to our guidance. For the third quarter, we expect subsidy revenue to grow low to mid single-digit sequentially with an adjusted EBITDA margin that is similar to the 21.8% reported in the second quarter. For surface technologies, we anticipate revenue to increase low single digits sequentially, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 16%. Moving to our full-year outlook, for both sub-C and surface technologies, we continue to expect revenue to come in near the midpoint of their respective guidance ranges. However, We are increasing our expectations for adjusted EBITDA margin, which we now expect to come in near the top end of the guidance range for both segments. When including corporate expense at the midpoint of guidance, we anticipate total company full year adjusted EBITDA to approximate 1.8 billion when excluding foreign exchange. Our current estimated impact from tariffs is contained within our updated guidance. With improved operational performance, we now expect free cash flow to come in near the top end of the guidance range of 1 to 1.15 billion. All other guidance items remain the same. In closing, given the strength in Q2, We have solid momentum as we enter the second half of the year. We have increased our full year guidance for total company adjusted EBITDA by 40 million, with an expectation that we will now deliver 1.8 billion in 2025, an increase of 30% versus the prior year. This guidance is supported by our substantial backlog and continued strength in our execution. Through the first six months of the year, we have distributed 85% of free cash flow to shareholders. We are reiterating our commitment to distribute at least 70% of free cash flow. And given the strength of our balance sheet, we certainly have the flexibility to exceed that level. Operator, you may now open the line for questions.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

At this time, if you'd like to ask a question, press star, followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. We ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. Our first question will come from the line of David Anderson with Barclays. Please go ahead.

speaker
David Anderson
Analyst, Barclays

Thank you. Good morning, Doug. How are you? Good morning, Dave. And yourself? I'm doing great. So another strong subsidy order book this quarter. Clearly you're confident being the $10 billion target this year. I was hoping you could break down sort of the composition a bit more and kind of how you see it changing this year. I'm first curious about the services. You had called out services being very strong this quarter. I'm curious if there was kind of a one-off or this is a new trend. And secondarily, as you're expecting more awards from the second half, I'm curious if you're expecting more awards in the second half to come from the subsidy opportunities list, or is that more like the IEPCI direct awards?

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure, Dave. Thank you. So regarding subsea services, I think it's evident that we have been successful in the marketplace and our clients' adoption of our IEPCI and subsea 2.0, which has resulted in a significant number of direct awards, meaning they don't go to competitive tender. They're just direct awarded to our company, has changed the market dynamic, let's say. That results in us having an ever-increasing install base on the seafloor. This is an OEM model. We inspect, maintain, repair, service all of our products that are on the seafloor, typically for a 20 to 35-year life, depending upon the design of the equipment and the requirement of the contract. So a very long, sustainable tail of services. which is increasing in size as we've been more successful as we talked about a moment ago. So when you put the two together, it's certainly a very positive trend for our subsea services business. We talked about the growth last year where we had achieved $1.6 billion for subsea services, and we said that it would grow in line with revenue again this year or approximate $1.8 billion. And I can confirm that that is indeed the plan. So yes, no one-off. This is a result of the strategy of the company, the winning rate that we have had, the success, the repeat orders, the direct awards, the unique alliances that we have been able to form, and the continuous focus on supporting those through innovation and technology, superior execution, both in terms of the project execution, but also the service execution that set up our subsea services business to be a very strong and important component of our inbound. I believe there was a second follow-up, and I lost it already.

speaker
David Anderson
Analyst, Barclays

Yeah, I was just sort of asking, you have your subsea opportunities list, which you update. I'm just curious. You were talking about the direct awards, which are different from that. I was just curious, in the second half, are more awards kind of shifting more towards the subsea opportunities list, or is it more the direct awards side? I'm just kind of curious how that's shaping up.

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, a good question. And just to remind everyone else, um, you know, we publish, uh, the industries, you know, subsea opportunity list that, you know, uh, those opportunities that are likely to FID over the next 24 months, uh, broadly across the industry. So that's something that can be used as a reference document. And we update that every quarter, which we did again this quarter. And that list has continued to grow, but there's also a secondary list that is very important and exclusive to our company. And this is a result of the fact that we have the only IAPCI and subsea 2.0 offering, which results in us working in the very early stages, typically two to three years before a contract is awarded, exclusively with our clients to develop a subsea architecture that is unique and, quite frankly, can't be designed or developed by others because they don't have the tools and resources and technology that we have. So they work with us on a proprietary basis, and then those projects, when and if they go to FID, are direct awarded to our company. That list, I will tell you, is also growing. So both the public list and the private list, for lack of a better term, are both growing in size. In terms of the mix in the second half, where is it likely to come from? I think it will continue to be strongly supported by both of those, and I think I am confident that our level of direct awards will continue to be very robust, which means that private list is very, very critical to our company.

speaker
David Anderson
Analyst, Barclays

And, Doug, if I could sneak one more in here. I know it's early, but I was wondering if you could just kind of give us an early look at how you think orders are starting to shape up for 2026. Based upon what you were just saying there, is another $10 billion in 2026 a reasonable assumption at this time?

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Yes.

speaker
Scott Gruber
Analyst, Citigroup

Thank you.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Mark Bianchi with TD Cowan. Please go ahead.

speaker
Mark Bianchi
Analyst, TD Cowan

Hey, thank you. I wanted to drill down a little bit more into the services success that you had this quarter. And specifically, it sounds like the services orders were quite strong. I'm curious if the revenue was also strong because, you know, historically this was like a bookend ship. type of business, but I think more recently some of that's been going into backlog. So maybe you could talk a little bit about that and how we should think about the growth of services for 25 and beyond.

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure, Mark. You correctly point out it's largely a book in turn, but we do have a backlog and a growing backlog actually in our services business. And that just depends upon the type of awards and the nature of the awards that we receive. But the majority is book in turn. So yes, if inbound and strong revenue is most likely to be strong as well. So I can confirm that to the first part of your question. You know, in terms of the growth and the trajectory, as I was commenting earlier to Dave's question, the, you know, the install base as a significant contribution to that very long and sustainable services revenue again, over decades following the initial project. Clearly, we've been successful. And if we've been successful on the project side and on the subsea inbound side, that will reflect in the subsea services growth, not only, you know, at the time of the award, but again, very importantly, creates a very long, sustainable, important contributor

speaker
Mark Bianchi
Analyst, TD Cowan

to our company going forward is doug i think previously the outlook was for services revenue to grow in line with all of subsea for this year um is that still the case or are we seeing an acceleration of that let's let's stick with the uh current guidance that's out there which is the 1.8 billion which would be in line with the revenue growth um but i'm very confident um that our subsea services will continue to respond very favorably super and if i could just ask one real quick from alf um the the corporate um has been running quite a bit below the mid or right quite a bit below the guidance range here so but you'd frame the guidance to the updated guidance with kind of solving for for the corporate um at 120 is What's going on there, and how should we think about that once we get past the back half of this year?

speaker
Elif
Chief Financial Officer

No, I appreciate the question. Clearly, there is some timing in this. As reminded, corporate expense includes executive management expense and corporate functions as well as some programs, and there are some timing in spending the first half versus second half in our programs, and in particular, the spending for upgrading our ERP environment that has a higher run rate in the second half compared to the first half.

speaker
Mark Bianchi
Analyst, TD Cowan

Got it. Okay, thank you very much. I'll turn it back.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Scott Gruber with Citigroup. Please go ahead.

speaker
Scott Gruber
Analyst, Citigroup

Yes, good morning. I want to come back to the inbound details that you mentioned, Doug. You mentioned that we'll hear more about some Greenfield projects in the coming weeks. Will those be included in your 3Q volume, or are we going to get the details on some projects that were included in 2Q?

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Scott, and good morning. The answer is most likely both. So I would fully expect that you'll hear about some Q3 awards that will be inbound in Q3. But there is, um, there will be some press releases potentially in the coming weeks that will refer back to the awards that we had received in the second quarter. And look, I want to be clear there. The only reason that occurs is if the client or the host country, or, you know, someone involved, uh, has set a requirement around the disclosure, um, of such a public disclosure of such award. Once we receive all of the requirements to be able to inbound per our internal requirements, then we are obligated to inbound that and account that for the current quarter. So I think you'll be hearing about some awards, some of which will refer back to Q2, but some will also be Q3 awards.

speaker
Scott Gruber
Analyst, Citigroup

I appreciate that. I'm just trying to get a sense for the Brownfield and the small projects, because know just just contemplating history you know usually when when crude prices moderate um you see the the elevated returns and lower capital intensity of the brownfield projects kind of drive a mixed shift uh toward tiebacks and brownfield um but this cycle it seems like the the appetite for greenfield remains robust you see it in your project list um but also seems robust on the on the brownfield side can you just kind of discuss know the the appetite for brownfield and and large greenfield kind of both sustaining even even in light of more moderate crude prices does that just reflect you know the volume of capital dollars kind of shifting towards deep water some color there you know would be great no scott thank you i mean that's one of the key takeaways that i would uh hope everyone takes from this call uh and you know referred to it in my prepared remarks um

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

There has been a absolute focus and commitment to moving greenfield offshore greenfield projects forward. We've seen no, um, change in that behavior. Um, and as a matter of fact, the visibility that we now have, including conversations that I had just as recently as yesterday, uh, with a major operator, there is a, a firm commitment to moving these projects forward. for a variety of different reasons, including commitments that they have made, their visibility into the market, and understanding that these are projects that will take multiple years before they come online and are producing. So they're looking at their models and their forecasts, as well as, as you said, the capital flow, which is now, let's say, prioritizing the offshore versus other investment opportunities of the past decade. this is a significant amount of additional capital coming into the offshore market. So the greenfields has remained very resilient, and the brownfield has been steady, and that really shows up in our unannounced awards, which, you know, based on your earlier question, you know, I've indicated that there was probably a couple more awards projects that would have could have been announced in q2 but the client did not you know have the offer we didn't have the opportunity to do so but we will in the coming weeks even if you take those into account let's say the unannounced bucket which is you know direct awards and um you know the the a lot of it is the brownfields and the smaller type awards uh is still approaching a billion dollars so the brownfield activity is very strong you you correctly point out and you know that it is extremely constructive in terms of economics. Very little capital investment required because the host facility already exists. The host facility is normally operating below nameplate capacity. So if you will, you're improving the returns on that initial investment by adding the incremental barrels without the significant upfront capital costs, which is often associated with large greenfield projects. We're very focused on the brownfield market in an area we continue to innovate in, including the application of all electric, which will increase the radius around an existing host facility for up to four times further distance that we'll be able to tie stranded reserves back to a host facility. So increasing the total available market, if you will, for brownfield opportunities. So that remains very important as well. Appreciate the call. Thank you, Doug.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Arun Jayaram with JPMorgan Securities. Please go ahead.

speaker
Arun Jayaram
Analyst, JPMorgan Securities

Hey, good morning. Doug, I was wondering if you could highlight what you're seeing outside of the Golden Triangle across the globe and perhaps some emerging areas where we could see some FID activity over the next, call it, 12 to 24 months. As well as maybe address some of the recent question marks around Namibia.

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure. And good morning, Arun. I actually think we probably need to redefine the Golden Triangle because it's, I don't know if it's a polygon now or what. I'll have to think about that. But it clearly has changed. And, you know, just a historical reference for those on the call, the Golden Triangle really being, you know, the North Sea, West Africa. and Brazil, you know, encompassing the Gulf of Mexico. So it's really changed quite dramatically. Those activities remain robust. Norway is particularly important and continues to be a key source of energy security to continental Europe. The U.S. Gulf continues to be very active, not only in brownfield activity, but now with the Paleogene in greenfield activity. And that's a very important area for our company where we provide our 20K solution for the Paleo gene. West Africa indeed has slowed down over the last decade, but we're seeing increased activity. We announced an award in Nigeria not that long ago, and we see increasing activity in Angola. Now you obviously have the strength of Brazil. and the continued commitment by Petrobras and other international operators, which is very important. You know, there's multiple billion-dollar projects going on in Brazil operated by international oil companies as well as Petrobras. And now we have Guiana, and we all know the importance of Guiana and certainly the importance of Guiana to Technip FMC. We were honored to be the exclusive provider of subsea equipment in the country. Uh, and now we added Suriname and Suriname where we received the first project award for their offshore production, uh, which was an IEPCI, an integrated project for our company. Um, and you know, we continue to see other areas in South America, um, looking like future opportunities as well. So if we kind of, you know, draw the, the, the, the, the, you know, the triangle a little more broadly. You start to encompass actually quite a few additional unique opportunities as well. Now, if we shift kind of from the triangle to the polygon or whatever we want to, whatever angle we want to go, you have to talk about East Africa. I mean, East Africa is important. This is gas. Gas is important for the future of the global economy and for the world. And East Africa has significant gas reserves, and Mozambique in particular, that as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, has been and will continue to be very important to our company, where we've been the first mover in the country and where we've had a significant presence and that we believe will have a growing presence going forward. You have the Eastern Mediterranean, which is also gassed. very prolific gas reserves where we're operating projects today, but we think will continue to be an area of investment going forward. You have the southern part, if you will, of Africa, southwest Africa, which is Namibia and the Orange Basin. I actually think one of the major operators had comments earlier today, and he is much better positioned to comment on it than I am. but I think they were very positive and constructive. And I can just say from our perspective, we're involved in multiple pre-feed and feed studies and actively in commercial negotiations today on projects in Namibia. Beyond that, I would look towards Asia Pacific. We're in Indonesia, massive gas reserves. We've seen success, quite a bit of success by one of the international companies operators, and we believe they will continue to invest in others in Indonesia and in the gas reserves. And I think I'll stop there only because I think it just shows the robustness, both in the traditional basins or the traditional Golden Triangle, but now well beyond that. And it's what gets us so excited and keeps us so motivated to continue to do what we do.

speaker
Arun Jayaram
Analyst, JPMorgan Securities

Great. Thanks for the fulsome answer. I really appreciate it. Doug, my follow-up is regarding Surface. You announced some business transformation, some self-help activities, I think concentrated in North America. I was wondering if you could address maybe some near-term changes in the competitive dynamics with Cactus planning to enter the Middle East surface market through the transaction with Baker. Talk to us about, you know, they're a pretty capable player looking at what they've done in North America, but how does that change? Does that impact FTI in any way as you think about that transaction?

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure. Let me first step back a little bit on the transformation because it's really important. As I said, this has been going on for three years. This isn't a response to any kind of current events, if you will. We recognize that in order to have a sustainable high-returns business in North America, we needed to change our approach, and it needed to be very focused, and we needed to really bring the knowledge and the technology that we have in the company, particularly in the area of automation and control. And that's what we're doing. And we're doing it in a very focused effort. Hence the reason we've reduced our footprint by over 50%. And it's important while increasing cash flow. So I think clearly was the right thing to do. As we look outside of North America, we are also using a similar playbook outside of North America. So it's not exclusive to North America. And it's important that there too, we really identify Where is it that we can create the greatest value and gain our portion of the economic value we create for our clients? And we're doing that by looking at the footprint and the products and services and, again, increasing the amount of digital offerings in our business outside of North America for surface technologies. Speaking specifically to the Middle East and the recent transactions, look, this is a very high-end industry. portion of our surface technologies business. At an investor conference that we had a few years ago, we actually did a side-by-side of a surface tree for the unconventionals or for the U.S. versus a surface tree for the Middle East. And it's about 10 times, 10 times the degree of difficulty, 10 times the cost, 10 times the complexity. There is no translation between the North American market and the Middle East market. There is no translation. It is a very different market. And look, I think everybody knows that and acknowledges that. But it's important that that is emphasized. So what we have seen historically is a very focused group of companies, two to maximum three of us, who work on that very high end. So in this transaction, you're just swapping one for the other. but with a massive learning curve associated with it. So, you know, we look forward to continuing to have a very focused market structure in the Middle East, and we will continue to invest both in technology, where we are the leader in technology and qualified technology in the Middle East, which is important and very much recognized and rewarded by our clients. Thanks, Doug.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Sebastian Erskine with Rothschild. Please go ahead.

speaker
Sebastian Erskine
Analyst, Rothschild

Yeah, hi, good morning, Doug. Good morning, Al. Thanks for taking my questions. I'd like to start on Brazil, and you kind of touched on it in a bit of detail there on the response to Arun. I mean, historically, with some of the Brazilian tenders, you kind of haven't been happy with the kind of non-integrated nature of those scopes, kind of surf only or SPS only, and it didn't make sense to kind of pull vessels away from integrated work to do that. We're obviously seeing kind of a Tarpu 2 come out, and that looks like it's gone to Wall Street. It's quite a low bid, and there are some other activity. How do you view Brazil specifically evolving? You've got a great relationship with Petrobras, but just specifically on the prospects, how many of those realistically would you hope to convert?

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure, and good afternoon. The The Brazilian market has its own dynamic. It's incredibly important. We have had a very long-term relationship with Petrobras. We have been recognized and continue to be recognized as their number one subsea supplier, something we're very proud of, and it's reflected in our install base and a very significant subsea services business that we have in Brazil. In terms of the construct of their awards, Actually, they've done integrated awards. And the one and only integrated award they did, not surprisingly, is the only integrated company went to Technip FMC, and that was the HiSET project. Petrobras continues to invest in technology and innovation. They always have. And we've always been right there beside them. And we're proud of that. And we will continue to do that. The most recent example of that, as I pointed out, is some work we're doing on all electric to retrofit. hydraulic equipment that exists on the sea floor today, which is completely, completely game changing. So look, an important relationship, very much focused on technology. In terms of their opportunity set, it remains robust and we remain selective. Beyond the Petrobras portfolio of opportunities in Brazil, we must remember there are many other operators now in Brazil. We have done IEPCI projects for some smaller independents, and we are executing IEPCI projects for some of the largest international companies in the world today. So the market remains a mix of integrated projects, which we benefit from, and non-integrated projects where we remain selective. and a lot of focus on technology and technology development. We're proud to be considered to be a trusted partner and the number one supplier to Petrobras.

speaker
Sebastian Erskine
Analyst, Rothschild

I appreciate that, Doug. And just a quick follow-up on the opportunities list. I noticed a couple in the changes in scope value on VAR Energy, kind of post the exclusive agreement with them and you, and then on ENI's kind of Coral Norte. Is that purely like a tree count increase or anything specific you can flag there? And kind of going forward, is this kind of typical in terms of a developer might look to change kind of quite late notice a scope and hence that increase in the value of the project?

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

No, and a good observation and an important question. And, you know, for a while there, we were seeing project sizes as they moved towards FID decrease. And that was either because operators decided to do them in phases or, you know, just the reservoirs themselves did not, let's say, pan out to be as prolific as they had originally anticipated. I think what you're seeing here is the quality of the reservoirs that are offshore, the increased technology that they're able to use in terms of evaluation is giving them greater certainty as they move into the field development phase and the FID phase of projects. So in one case, and I don't want to be specific because I would leave that to the client, but in one case they've actually added an additional reservoir to be tied in with the other reservoirs, which increased the scope of the project. And in other cases, it's just, again, the increased confidence in the quality of the reservoir. And look, underlying all of that, I do believe that there is an understanding that the market dynamic in subsea has changed dramatically. It's very concentrated, and they have a strong desire to secure our resources, giving our unique capability in doing integrated projects and are configured to order subsea 2.0.

speaker
Sebastian Erskine
Analyst, Rothschild

Appreciate that. Thanks very much for taking the time and congrats on a strong quarter. Thank you.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Victoria McCulloch with RBC. Please go ahead.

speaker
Victoria McCulloch
Analyst, RBC

Hi, thanks very much for taking questions this morning. So just firstly, it sounds well to carry on. VAR Energy's CEO commented about cost depreciation that he's seeing in the market. Obviously, that doesn't appear to be aligned, particularly with the upsizing of the scope that you mentioned for their projects in Norway. Now, I appreciate you're not responsible for the entirety of the project. So it's not, maybe this is outwith your scope, but maybe that helps us to kind of get your view on where pricing is in the market and, you know, You talked about it being a competitive environment, but your views on that would be interesting. Thanks.

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure, Victoria, and thank you for the question. Keep in mind, most, over 80% of our business is direct awarded to our company. So there is no pricing dynamic or competitive dynamic in that portion of our, the significant portion of our business. So that's what makes us just absolutely unique. Um, and something we're very proud of and something we work very hard. Uh, to earn from our clients every single day and almost always re uh, results in direct, uh, repeat direct awards. Um, so, you know, that's that, that changes that whole dynamic that you were describing, which I think would be more applicable to, you know, other parts of the industry or other companies and other parts of the industry, um, in regards to the actual opportunity that you're referencing. Look, our focus is on shortening the cycle time. So this isn't about unit cost. This isn't about a pricing. This is about shortening the cycle time. So one of the successes we've had with VAR and predecessor companies that we had a similar relationship with was allowing them to achieve first oil far sooner than they would by working with anyone else. And by accelerating time to first oil, the overall project returns are improved significantly. So I think you have to separate the two subjects. One is a unicost inflation, but more importantly, what is the project return? And focusing on the project returns is where we deliver value to our customers. That's why we get 80% direct awards. That's why they enter into these proprietary exclusive agreements with us. That's why they value us and give us repeat awards. So we're going to continue to focus on shortening the cycle time and improving their project economics. What's happening in the rest of, you know, from the rest of their supply chain, I can't comment. But that's our role. We take it very seriously. This isn't a pricing game. This isn't a supply and demand game. We are not an asset company. We think very differently. We're a technology company, and we're focused on improving their project returns while we share a portion of the economic value we create.

speaker
Victoria McCulloch
Analyst, RBC

Thanks. That's really helpful, Doug. And I think that aligns with sort of maybe the comments being misconstrued in that it wasn't necessarily deflationary on the sort of subsea side of pricing. So that's interesting to hear that you're aligned with my views on that one. And if I can ask a follow-up, not really connected, but interesting comments on the hybrid flexible pipe. Ex-Brazil, where would this be most, what markets would this most be attractive to sell into?

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Good question. We are still kind of exploring that and considering that ourselves. But you could, come to the conclusion that it could not only be applicable in all existing markets for flexible pipe, but could increase the total market for flexible pipe. So what do I mean by that? Brazil has clearly been a key market and a key driver for flexible pipe technology. And as a matter of fact, Petrobras has built an entire ecosystem, including vessels, onshore support, investment in products to make the hybrid flexible pipe or the flexible pipe market interesting in many, many ways. And they benefited from this because one very interesting attribute of flexible pipe is you can reuse it. You can use it for a while in one field, move it to another field. You can't do that with a rigid pipe. A rigid pipe, by definition, only has X length and can only be used in one application. So it's much better over the long term to be used in a project. Flexible pipe is used globally. It's used in many of the, when I went around the world earlier talking about all of the existing basins and activity in some of the new basins, I can tell you our architecture and part of the unique opportunity and differentiation that we bring, including shortening the cycle time, is because of flexible pipe. So, yeah, it's actually quite broad. Now, why do I say hybrid flexible pipe could be used anywhere where conventional flexible pipe could be used? Because it actually has a very positive attribute, which I, you know, hinted to or I guess directly addressed in my script, which is weight and the weight of the. Weight factors into everything. It factors into the manufacturing cost, the transportation cost, most importantly into the cost of installation. The heavier, the bigger the vessel, the bigger the crane, the more costly the vessel is. We don't think that way. We're trying to drive reduction in cycle time and improved economics for our customers. I'm not trying to sell bigger boats. So we're out there really being disrupted to the boat industry and to the vessel industry by thinking about it as what can we do to make this product lighter, simpler, could be installed with a much lower cost vessel as an example. And in addition to that, the lack of the durability of the product and the design life of the product will be greater than conventional flexible pipe. So if you think about all of that, you could say, well, why couldn't it be used anywhere and why wouldn't it be used anywhere and why wouldn't it soon start to displace some rigid pipe applications? And I think those are all viable challenges and opportunities for us and why we have invested so much and continue to be strong believers that this will truly be a disruptive technology.

speaker
Victoria McCulloch
Analyst, RBC

Thanks very much. Really appreciate the color you've provided.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

Our final question will come from the line of Saurabh Pant with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

speaker
Saurabh Pant
Analyst, Bank of America

Hi, good morning, Doug.

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Good morning.

speaker
Saurabh Pant
Analyst, Bank of America

Doug, I think at the top of the Q&A, I heard a short and sweet yes to Dave's question on $10 billion for subsea 2026 potential, right? So that was fantastic. And maybe I'll ask another question on life beyond 25, right? But this time maybe on the margin front. I know it's hard to guide numerically, right? But... Doug, how should we think about where subsea margins can go? Because there are a ton of moving pieces, right? Subsea 2.0, just more integrated work, more backlog roll off, right? Just maybe help us think about potential margins and what are the moving pieces for us there, please.

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure. So for all of the reasons that you stated, in addition to a very robust backlog that we continue to grow, and the new inbound opportunities that we talked about are continued to be accretive to the backlog margins, we would anticipate further growth in our EBITDA margin for sub-C in 2026.

speaker
Saurabh Pant
Analyst, Bank of America

Right. That's fantastic. That makes a ton of sense. And then maybe one follow-up question on what you said in your prepared remarks, Dago, on the all-electric side of things, right, especially the – uh opportunity to replace hydraulics on current projects right that sounds like a pretty big opportunity over a longer duration of time right maybe just talk to that doug how big could that opportunity be how quickly could that manifest right and in what regions sure so and let me expand on that just a little bit um you know in my prepared remarks i talked about all electric not being a one-size-fits-all so like everything else when we looked at the development

speaker
Doug Pferdehirt
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

We wanted to have something that was scalable and configurable that we could apply across multiple different purposes and solutions to help meet our customers' needs. So the initial focus was on new oil and gas production, and then we very quickly realized that probably a bigger market was going to be the carbon capture and storage market, which is where we then focused on, which was our CO2.0 treatment. Again, configurable and designed for the CO2 application, and it led to the award from BP for the Northern Endurance Partnership, which is the first all-electric subsea field development. And why is electric important there? Because the emitters are onshore, so they're going to capture the CO2 onshore, but then it needs to be transferred 145 kilometers offshore to be stored safely and permanently in a subsea structure. So you can only get that done by using an all-electric solution because being able to control hydraulics over 145 kilometers would not be economically viable. And now what we're working on, and I'm not going to say too much because this is an active R&D program for us and one that we're extremely excited about, is how do we address the existing problems? market that's out there today, that huge install base that I talk about that we have well over 50% of. But how do we address 100% of that market, meaning not only our own equipment, and go out and find a way to retrofit? They're all hydraulics. Everything down there is hydraulics today and hydraulically operated. And hydraulics, over time, they do deteriorate and it could lead to a situation where where valves aren't operating appropriately to design, which typically then results in the well either being shut in and abandoned, or the well being shut in, the tree being recovered from the seafloor, brought back to the onshore facility, retrofitted, or I shouldn't say retrofitted, but repaired, and then taken back offshore and reinstalled. That's a six, nine, 12, 15-month process. So in other words, you've shut in production for quite an extended period of time. As opposed to, let's just play make-believe for a moment. If there was a company that was an industry leader in robotics, an industry leader in automation and control, and an industry leader in all electric, if we could find a way to send a robot down there to actually retrofit an existing tree and remove the hydraulic controls and put on electric actuation whilst not having to stop production for any more than the short period of time, you know, a couple of days that that process may take. That's a game changer. So you bet. We're very excited.

speaker
Saurabh Pant
Analyst, Bank of America

Right, right. Now we need to start flying by wire subsea, Doug. That makes a ton of sense. Thank you, Doug. I'll stand it back.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

And I will now turn the call back over to Matt Seinsheimer for any closing comments.

speaker
Matt Seinsheimer
Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development

This concludes our conference call. A replay of the call will be available on our website beginning at approximately 3 p.m. New York time today. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the investor relations team. Thank you for joining us. Regina, you may end the call.

speaker
Regina
Conference Operator

This will conclude today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

Disclaimer

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