Cadeler A/S Q1 FY2025 earnings call

• Newbuilds: Took delivery of Wind Maker and Wind Pace in Q1, 50% of the year's newbuild deliveries on schedule. Remaining newbuilds on track. Wind Ally expected to deliver around 7 - 9 weeks ahead of schedule. Wind Mover on track for completion by Q4 '25, Wind Ace by Q3 '26, Wind Apex by Q2 2027.
• Contract backlog: Continued to strengthen to over EUR 2.5 billion, with 100% reaching FID. Secured significant project in US starting in Q2 '25, signed contracts for Wind Mover utilization up to EUR 75 million, entered into contract for Wind Zaratan's O&M campaign in APAC, and signed reservation agreement for Polish waters installation of circa 30 turbines.
• Financials: Revenue EUR 65.5 million, EBITDA EUR 23.7 million, equity ratio 49.7%, utilization 79.4%. SG&A up due to organizational ramp-up. Overall financials in line with plan.
• Nexra division: Introducing O&M offering, aiming to create an O&M powerhouse with dedicated team and assets like Wind Zaratan and future shift of Wind Scylla to O&M space to drive fleet utilization.

In Q1 2025, Cadeler's financial performance was in line with expectations. Revenue was EUR 65.5 million, significantly up from the previous year. EBITDA was EUR 23.7 million, also significantly up. Equity ratio was 49.7%. Utilization was 79.4%. The company took delivery of two newbuilds, Wind Maker and Wind Pace, which are 50% of the newbuilds to be delivered this year and were on or ahead of schedule and budget. The contract backlog increased to over EUR 2.5 billion in the quarter, with 100% of the backlog having reached FID. Vessels were active in different regions globally, with growing demand for O&M services contributing to fleet utilization. For example, Wind Orca was busy with O&M and the He Dreiht project, Osprey was doing an O&M campaign and preparing for the Baltic power project, etc. Revenue contribution from different segments wasn't explicitly broken down by percentage in detail but overall the backlog and vessel activities were key performance indicators.

• Maintain full year outlook as in annual report: Revenue EUR 485 million to EUR 525 million, EBITDA EUR 278 million to EUR 318 million.
• 2025 has some foundation project revenue and costs recognized with lower margin compared to full project. 2025 may have positive impact from termination of vessel reservation agreement but needs analysis. Maintain newbuild and CapEx plan.

• Uncertainty in US offshore wind projects due to executive orders causing project delays or suspensions.
• Potential undersupply of capable vessels for turbines and foundations from 2028 and onwards due to increasing market demand.
• Uncertainty in specific projects like Hornsea 4, though backup plans are in place.

Q: Quick question on the offshore wind industry in general and contract quality. As I think you flagged quite well in the presentation, there's been some projects not progressing as planned and you had this preferred supplier agreement cancellation as well disclosed in this quarter. I understand it's hard to make comments for specific contracts, but could you help us shed some light on contract quality and protection in general for the industry and also if possible for your backlog?

A: Yeah. We believe that, everything that is in the backlog is very well protected from a contractual standpoint. We believe that we have been able to sign contracts with the right terms in them to both secure us, but also our clients for the delivery that they want. And hence, we believe that we are in a very good situation when it comes to that. And I think we have talked about this since the listing back in 2020, that contract quality is something we have worked with alongside, the whole, let's say, economical part of the contract. So far, it has always been a hand in hand thing, but we are focused on both. And I think that that is something that serves us well today.

Q: Touching on the Hornsea 4 project, since the announcement from Maersk on that project, there's been clearly some uncertainty in the capital markets related to utilization for one of your foundation vessels that I think most people expected to do this project. I know execution on this project was pretty far out in time, and it's still uncertain what will happen. But if replacement work is required from your perspective, can you tell us something about the comfort level and how we think about securing an alternative work for that vessel?

A: I think, that particular vessel is still on a contract with Orsted. As we said in the presentation, the long term agreement that we have with Orsted has not been terminated. That still continues. And hence, in principle, that vessel will continue to work for us for the duration of the contract until we hear anything different to that. But in general, what I can say to you is that, we never only work with one plan, so to speak, even, on a project where, in all fairness, we had high confidence as Hornsea 4. We always work with backup plans, and this is really some of the things that our sales team and our commercial team, they do incredibly well. They always have backup plans and different routes to goals should something work out differently. This is not new to us that things can shift in time and stuff like that. It has not done that recently for us, but we have tried it before. And I think the ability to shift focus, regroup, and then reassess, and then attack another opportunity, that is something that we can do and certainly a capability that is within the team. So I'm pretty confident that we will show a continued strong utilization of our fleet despite the fact that Hornsea 4 is currently delayed.

Q: Taking one step backwards to Hornsea 3, which is clearly ramping up as we speak. With respect to the margin contribution on this project before the vessel arrive, should we think about that being flattish at around the current levels? Or would it be fair to think there is also a gradual margin increase throughout the year before the vessel arrive late this year, early next year?

A: There will be a gradual increase, but still healthy margins will come in 2026 when the business starts to install. But there will be both in terms of revenue and margins which towards the end of the year.

Q: So firstly, I just wanted a bit of help to understand 2Q in terms of contracted days relative to the first quarter. So obviously, you've got the two newbuilds with Wind Pace starting on contract in the second quarter, and you've also got Wind Maker likely to contribute a lot more meaningfully. So we'd expect to see a big step up in contracted days in the second quarter. But just wondering if you can give any more color there. And if you expect to see any planned maintenance or downtime on any of the seven vessels in the second quarter?

A: Yes, I think that is correct. It also goes for Zaratan. Zaratan started an O&M contract in Asia late in the quarter, and hence, she will also be having much more meaningful contribution in the second quarter. I think that that is completely correct, and that is also the thing that we would like to remind people when we take delivery of vessels. They're not working the day after in the open market because they have to, in many cases, to repatriate from, from the yard and then to where the project is. In case of Wind Maker, that was very fast because the project was in Asia. So we were mobilizing in Singapore and then back up to Taiwan to start the project, and hence, that was very fast. In terms of downtime, we do not expect any adverse downtime on the vessels. As we have also talked about in in one to one conversations, when you deliver vessels like this, are seeing teething issues, but I believe that it's under control and also that our operational team are handling it incredibly well together with our suppliers and hence we are still delivering to our clients and are comfortable around what we are seeing there.

Q: And then second question just on your order books. You mentioned that your order book for 2025 is substantially filled. But where there are small gaps, is it fair to assume those are towards the end of the year? Or are they kind of evenly spread through the year and that's what you will fill with O&M work?

A: I think the gaps that we currently have are either gaps that come from transiting to projects or let's say the very end of the year potentially on Zaratan. And I think that that is something that has very low likelihood to fill because of the weather situation there. But of course, how long we are working into Q4 is always a question on Zaratan in the Taiwanese water. But I think the remainder is really transiting to projects where, for example, Ally, it has been decided that she will not do any other work than Hornsea 3. So she is steaming directly back and preparing for being 100% ready for Hornsea 3, because we believe that that is a derisking of that project that is very, very important. So while we, on the other projects, have tried to do a bit of utilization prior to the project on Ally, we are focusing on being 100% ready when that project starts.

Q: And finally, just on O&M, so exciting to see your Nexra offering. Can you just tell us where you are in terms of sort of day rates in operations and maintenance at the moment? Are you still kind of on par with turbine installation rates?

A: I think if we look at the spot market, it's certainly at par with the installation market. If we look at the longer term contracts that are currently in the market, then I think that we are seeing rates that are slightly lower, but let's say with more visibility. So I think the offshore O&M market has, two sides to it. The spot market and the longer market. And we are, of course, let's say, have been building up to this. We have talked that in the last few quarters as well that that we believe that the O&M market needs more care from a company like us. And I think that that is something where we're now taking that step to show our clients that we are ready to embark on that journey with them to make sure we take good care of the turbines that have been installed and deliver more renewable power to the world together.

Q: First, want to touch a bit upon the new generation vessels that have entered operations now. So, yeah, Wind Peak, which have started installation work on Sofia and Wind Maker, which has started work on Shangwa [ph]. So can you give us some color on the performance of these new generation vessels so far? And I know it's still you have a limited time of operation, limited data so far, but are you achieving the enhanced installation rates to the tune and vision for those vessels?

A: Yes. I think we are. I think in all fairness, we have seen more issues on Peak than on the other vessels, but it's also the first that we have taken delivery of and we are getting acquainted with the systems, but also kind of like the spare parts strategy. What is it exactly that we need to have in the inventory for spare parts? We are working closely with our suppliers and I think that we are really seeing the benefits of the serial production of these vessels where we have a lot of similarities in terms of cranes, jacking systems, stuff like that across the fleet of the new builds. The Peak is performing well, but we can already see improvements to pace and also Maker, because of what we know now from Peak. So Peak maybe becomes a little bit the scapegoat, although she has a very strong technical uptime, but she becomes a little bit the scapegoat because we are learning from her and we are implementing it. So it's really about taking operational knowledge and transferring it to the new build team to ensure that we take that knowledge in while the vessel is still in in yard. And it is fair to say that we are seeing an improvement already.

Q: I see you have a really good order book growth year-over-year, but I noticed that there is not a lot of development from 31st of March until now. Are people sort of awaiting signing contracts with waiting for a little bit more certain market environment? Or how should we think about that?

A: I think in offshore wind, one has to be very careful not to compare too strictly on a few months because these contracts are in negotiation for a long time, and hence, it can be, you know, the contract negotiation happens at a certain point of time or an auction happens at a certain point of time. I think we more focus kind of like what is our target for the year and what we want to achieve in a year rather than what month it comes in at. And we will continue to report on the backlog in the same format so you guys can follow it. But I think what we try to convey to you guys in the backlog slide and in general on our market slides is that we still believe that the most capable assets will be very busy in the years to come.