CORE LAB REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2023 RESULTS

Core’s CEO, Larry Bruno stated, “Demand for Reservoir Description services continued to expand in the third quarter of 2023, with sequential improvement in both revenue and operating margins.  Execution of our long-term strategy to improve operational efficiencies through technological innovations, automation and digitalization is also yielding results, as Reservoir Description’s operating margins for the third quarter were 17%, the highest in three years.  As committed work volumes continue to build across our global laboratory network, these investments will produce superior, long-term incremental margins.  Production Enhancement’s third quarter financial performance was negatively impacted by a steeper-than-expected decline in U.S. land completion activity.  As a result, Core’s full company third quarter 2023 revenue was down slightly on a sequential basis.  However, despite the U.S. land headwinds, we achieved sequential and year-over-year improvement in operating income, operating margins and earnings per share.  Core remains focused on reducing debt and further strengthening our balance sheet, while at the same time working to increase our return on invested capital, which improved for the fourth consecutive quarter.”

Reservoir Description

Reservoir Description operations are closely correlated with trends in international and offshore activity levels, with approximately 80% of revenue sourced from projects originating outside the U.S.  Revenue in the third quarter of 2023 was $85,100,000, up over 2% sequentially and up 8% year-over-year.  Operating income on a GAAP basis was $13,000,000, while operating income, ex-items, was $14,100,000, yielding operating margins of 17%, up approximately 320 basis points sequentially and 590 basis points year-over-year.  Incremental margins exceeded 100% sequentially and 90% year-over-year.  The segment’s financial performance reflects improving client activity across the Company’s global network, as well as increased demand for analytical datasets from Core’s library of proprietary geological and petrophysical studies.

During the third quarter of 2023, Core’s Middle East clients continued their plans to expand future production capacity, increasing the need for evaluation of complex unconventional and conventional reservoirs. This emphasis is particularly pronounced in the characterization and development of unconventional reservoir targets, where determination of in-situ Gas-Oil-Ratio (“GOR”) is critical.  Given the complex fluid and fluid-flow behaviors of these low permeability reservoirs, the acquisition of GOR data from traditional downhole fluid samples may not be representative.  In line with these challenges, and under a collaborative agreement with Corsyde International (“Corsyde”), a team of Core Lab reservoir optimization specialists executed a successful, multi-trip, pressure core campaign for a Middle East National Oil Company.  Pressure cores allow for intervals of the target reservoir zone to be cut and safely brought to the surface, all while maintaining in-situ reservoir pressure.  This technology ensures that all three reservoir fluid phases are captured and maintained at reservoir pressure in the core barrel.  Upon reaching the surface, Core Lab and Corsyde specialists orchestrated meticulously-controlled depressurization processes to systematically capture all reservoir fluids.  The captured reservoir fluids were quantified and comprehensive compositional analyses were conducted.  The process enabled Core Lab specialists to accurately determine the in-situ GOR and hydrocarbon properties, providing data that will improve reservoir models, yield more accurate reserve calculations and allow the operator to optimize completion and production strategies.  This pressure core project exemplifies Core Lab’s commitment to delivering technological and data-driven solutions that enable its clients to navigate the complexities of reservoir evaluation and optimize production strategies.

Also during the third quarter of 2023, Halliburton Company (“Halliburton”) and Core Lab signed a strategic alliance in the U.S. to combine their industry-leading digital rock characterization and modeling services.  These digital solutions will help to accelerate clients’ reservoir evaluation programs while the traditional physical laboratory measurements required for determinative reserve calculations are in progress.  This collaboration combines Core Lab’s expertise in reservoir description and optimization technologies with Halliburton’s specialization in pore-scale digital rock analysis.  Together, Core Lab and Halliburton will seamlessly integrate best-in-class digital rock characterization technologies at nano, micro and macro levels, enabling U.S. clients to run pore-scale simulations in parallel with physical laboratory experiments.   Recently, Halliburton joined Core Lab’s Carbon Capture and Sequestration (“CCS”) Consortium.  This consortium, in conjunction with Dr. Birol Dindoruk of the University of Houston, allows technical teams from twelve member companies to share expertise and datasets related to assessing geological and engineering risks associated with subsurface injection of CO2.  One example of how the collaboration between Halliburton and Core Lab will benefit clients will be in the expedited delivery of digital rock characterization data on CCS projects that are progressing through time-sensitive subsurface evaluation and permitting processes.

Production Enhancement

Production Enhancement operations, which are focused on complex completions in unconventional oil and gas reservoirs in the U.S., as well as conventional projects across the globe, posted third quarter 2023 revenue of $40,200,000, down approximately 10% sequentially, and 14% year-over-year.  Operating income on a GAAP basis was $1,500,000, while operating income, ex-items, was $1,600,000, yielding operating margins of 4%.  The sequential and year-over-year declines were tied to the reductions in U.S. onshore well completions, although product sales in the U.S. were flat sequentially.  Additionally, certain well diagnostic projects in the Gulf of Mexico were delayed, and some international product deliveries moved into October due to third-party logistical delays.    

During the third quarter of 2023, Core’s Production Enhancement segment was engaged by a client in the North Sea to provide plug and abandonment technologies to efficiently perforate heavy-walled 13-3/8″ diameter casing for cement wash and the subsequent plugging operations required for well abandonment.  Core provides solutions that leverage its expertise in energetics as an alternative to traditional casing section milling, which is slower and more costly.  Capitalizing on Core’s proprietary Plug and Abandonment Perforating System (“PAC™”), the Company’s ballistic engineering design team collaborated with the client to address the additional depth of controlled penetration required to create communication in the annular space between the 13-3/8″ casing and the 20″ outer casing string.  The PAC™-Extended Range Energetic System successfully accomplished the task.  Significantly, the Extended Range System was delivered with a 4-1/2″ gun.  This solution eliminated the need to run a secondary retrieval operation to remove the downhole restriction that would have been required for a larger diameter gun system.  Core’s expertise and technologies successfully created communication between the casing strings, maintained the integrity of the 20″ outer casing, and reduced rig time, all while allowing for the efficient recovery of the interior casing.  These advancements in PAC™ energetic system technologies not only contribute to the safety of offshore well abandonment, but also align with increasing global demand for cost-effective solutions in complex plug and abandonment applications. 

Also during the third quarter of 2023, Core’s completion diagnostics were deployed in an innovative application for a client exploring for helium resources in the Four Corners’ area of New Mexico.  The project utilized Core’s proprietary diagnostic technologies to assess well production and identify an optimum completion strategy.  Core’s Flow Profiler™ water-phase and gas-phase tracers were deployed into four stages of this vertical well, with unique tracers placed into each interval.  Water and gas tracer concentrations in flowback samples were collected at the surface, allowing for delineation of the most promising helium-producing intervals.  The operator also utilized Core’s Completion Profiler® to better characterize the gas production from each interval.  Through the use of Core’s technologies, the operator identified the most promising stratigraphic target for future helium-producing wells planned for this area.

Liquidity, Free Cash Flow and Dividend

Core continues to focus on maximizing free cash flow (“FCF”), a non-GAAP financial measure defined as cash from operations less capital expenditures.  For the third quarter of 2023, cash used in operations was approximately $200,000 and capital expenditures were $3,500,000, yielding negative FCF of $3,700,000.  Cash from operations for the third quarter of 2023 was negatively affected by the following items:

An additional $14,000,000 of cash used to fund working capital requirements.  Growth in inventory during the third quarter of 2023 was primarily caused by the lower-than-expected level of activity in the U.S. onshore market.  The U.S. onshore market is the largest market the Company serves with its product sales, and prolonged lead times associated with purchasing raw materials has resulted in the need to maintain higher levels of raw materials.  Additionally, the Company continued to build stock to serve large international projects which are planned for delivery later in 2023 and 2024.  The Company also carried approximately $5,000,000 less in accounts payable as of September 30, 2023 when compared to June 30, 2023. 
 Cash from operations for the third quarter of 2023 also includes $11,300,000 in cash tax payments.  Approximately $5,100,000 of these cash tax payments made during the third quarter of 2023 are expected to be recovered through a tax refund during the fourth quarter of 2023.

Core expects cash from operations to strengthen and the Company to generate positive free cash in future quarters.  At the end of the third quarter of 2023, Core’s net debt increased by $5,600,000 from prior quarter-end to $164,400,000, and the Company’s leverage ratio increased slightly to 1.92.  The Company will continue applying future free cash towards reducing debt until the Company reaches its target leverage ratio (calculated as total net debt divided by trailing twelve months adjusted EBITDA) of 1.5 times or lower.

On July 26, 2023, Core’s Board of Supervisory Directors (“Board”) announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.01 per share of common stock, which was paid on August 28, 2023 to shareholders of record on August 7, 2023.  

On November 1, 2023, the Board approved a cash dividend of $0.01 per share of common stock payable on December 4, 2023 to shareholders of record on November 13, 2023.   

Return On Invested Capital

The Board and the Company’s Executive Management continue to focus on strategies that maximize return on invested capital (“ROIC”) and FCF, factors that have high correlation to total shareholder return.   Core’s commitment to an asset-light business model and disciplined capital stewardship promote capital efficiency and are designed to produce more predictable and superior long-term ROIC.

The Board has established an internal metric to demonstrate ROIC performance relative to the oilfield service companies listed as Core’s Comp Group by Bloomberg, as the Company continues to believe superior ROIC will result in higher total shareholder return.  Using Bloomberg’s formula to reflect Core’s financial performance in the third quarter of 2023, the Company’s ROIC improved to 13.6%.

Industry and Core Lab Outlook and Guidance

Based on constant dialogue with the Company’s global client base, Core Lab maintains its constructive outlook on international upstream activity for 2024 and beyond, as increasing levels of investment will be required to maintain and grow hydrocarbon production.  The Company anticipates operator spending on long-cycle upstream projects in both onshore and offshore environments will continue to expand displaying an added level of sustainability for this upcycle.  In the near-term, the global crude-oil market may remain volatile due to global recession fears, the extent and timing of China’s economic recovery, and the uncertainties related to conflicts in Russia-Ukraine and the Middle East.  Globally, crude-oil production growth continues to face constraints due to prolonged underinvestment, as well as the loss of production due to natural decline from existing fields.   

Core continues to anticipate a multi-year international recovery supported by increased spending on exploration in many regions across the globe and expanded development of existing fields to fortify crude-oil and natural gas reserves. This underlies Core’s outlook for continued improvement in international onshore and offshore activity, with on-going projects around the globe, most notably across the Middle East, South Atlantic Margin, certain areas of Asia Pacific and West Africa.  Turning to the U.S., onshore activity in 2023 has been lower than expected as reflected by the decreased U.S. rig and frac spread counts. Core sees sequential U.S. onshore completion activity to be slightly down due to typical year-end seasonality as operators complete their 2023 spending plans.  

Core projects Reservoir Description’s fourth quarter 2023 revenue to range from $84,000,000 to $86,000,000 and operating income of $11,600,000 to $13,300,000.  While Core expects its international revenue to increase sequentially in several geographic regions, the on-going Russia-Ukraine conflict and more recent conflict in the Middle East are causing some disruption to the movement and trade of crude oil.  These two geopolitical situations have created uncertainties with respect to trading patterns of crude oil and derived products and the associated laboratory assay services.  These situations have and may continue to adversely impact Core’s Reservoir Description segment’s operations in Russia, Ukraine, Europe, and the Middle East.  Despite these geopolitical uncertainties, client commitments on long-term international projects have improved nicely year-over-year.  However, the pace at which these long-term projects are executed by Core’s clients may vary from quarter to quarter as momentum builds.  Core’s Production Enhancement segment fourth quarter 2023 revenue is estimated to range from $41,000,000 to $46,000,000 and operating income of $2,200,000 to $4,000,000.  Growth in Production Enhancement international sales and well diagnostic projects in the Gulf of Mexico are expected to offset a projected decline in U.S. onshore revenue.          

The Company’s fourth quarter 2023 revenue is projected to range from $125,000,000 to $132,000,000 and operating income of $13,800,000 to $17,300,000, yielding operating margins of approximately 12%.  EPS for the fourth quarter of 2023 is expected to be $0.17 to $0.23. 

The Company’s fourth quarter 2023 guidance is based on projections for underlying operations and excludes gains and losses in foreign exchange.  Fourth quarter 2023 guidance also assumes an effective tax rate of 20%.

Earnings Call Scheduled