Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. (NYSE:ICD) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. (NYSE:ICD) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. (NYSE:ICD) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript February 28, 2024

Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. isn’t one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).

Operator: Good day. And welcome to the Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. Fourth Quarter and Year End 2023 Financial Results and Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today’s presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Philip Choyce, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Philip Choyce: Good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining us today to discuss ICD’s fourth quarter 2023 results. With me today is Anthony Gallegos, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind all participants that our comments today will include forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. A number of factors and uncertainties could cause actual results in future periods to differ materially from what we talk about today. For a complete discussion of these risks, we encourage you to read the company’s earnings release and our documents on file at the SEC. In addition, we refer to non-GAAP measures during the call. Please refer to the earnings release and our public filings for our full reconciliation of net loss to adjusted net loss, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA and for definitions of our non-GAAP measures. And with that, I’ll turn it over to Anthony for opening remarks.

Anthony Gallegos: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter 2023 earnings conference call. During my prepared remarks, I’ll talk about the current superspec rig market and progress we’ve made on some important strategic initiatives. Also, I’ll close out by talking about our plans for 2024. But first, just a few comments looking back on the fourth quarter and full year in which ICD achieved some meaningful accomplishments. Most important, we continued our fleet evolution towards 300 series specification and this trend was turbocharged in the back part of the year. To provide some context, we initiated our 200 series to 300 series conversion program about 18 months ago, and at the beginning of 2023, we had completed only one conversion and only 50% of our operating rigs met 300 series specification.

Since the beginning of 2023, however, we have transformed our operating fleet. Today, 90% of our operating rigs meet 300 series specifications, with five conversions having occurred since September 1st. Today, all but one of our former 200 series rigs operating today is a 300 series rig and budgeted for the remaining 200 series rig to be converted later this year, depending on customer requirements. I’d be remiss if I did not point out that we have received full cash payback or more during the initial contract term on the CapEx required for all of our 200 series to 300 series conversions to-date. And this fleet transformation paid significant dividends for ICD in 2023, as we navigated a severely depressed Haynesville gas market and an overall decline in the Permian rig count as well.