SLB (NYSE: SLB) today announced results for the fourth-quarter and full-year 2024.
- Fourth-quarter revenue of $9.28 billion increased 1% sequentially and 3% year on year
- Fourth-quarter GAAP EPS of $0.77 decreased 7% sequentially but was flat year on year
- Fourth-quarter EPS, excluding charges and credits, of $0.92 increased 3% sequentially and 7% year on year
- Fourth-quarter net income attributable to SLB of $1.10 billion decreased 8% sequentially and 2% year on year
- Fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $2.38 billion increased 2% sequentially and 5% year on year
- Fourth-quarter cash flow from operations was $2.39 billion and free cash flow was $1.63 billion
- Board approved a 3.6% increase in quarterly cash dividend to $0.285 per share
- Full-year revenue of $36.29 billion increased 10% year on year
- Full-year GAAP EPS of $3.11 increased 7% year on year
- Full-year EPS, excluding charges and credits, of $3.41 increased 14% year on year
- Full-year net income attributable to SLB of $4.46 billion increased 6% year on year
- Full-year adjusted EBITDA of $9.07 billion increased 12% year on year
- Full-year cash flow from operations was $6.60 billion and free cash flow was $3.99 billion
Consistent Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Performance Despite Macro Headwinds
'2024 was a strong year for SLB as we successfully navigated evolving market conditions to deliver revenue and EBITDA growth, margin expansion and solid free cash flow,' said SLB Chief Executive Officer Olivier Le Peuch.
'Year on year, revenue increased by 10% and adjusted EBITDA grew by 12%, while we generated $3.99 billion in free cash flow, enabling us to return $3.27 billion to shareholders and reduce net debt by $571 million. These results demonstrate SLB’s ability to deliver consistent financial performance despite moderating upstream investment growth, driven by our global scale, unmatched digital offerings and ongoing focus on cost optimization.
'Our full-year results were highlighted by 12% international revenue growth. This performance was led by the Middle East & Asia and Europe & Africa, which grew 18% and 13%, respectively. The Middle East & Asia achieved record revenues, while growth in Europe & Africa was bolstered by the acquired Aker subsea business. Excluding this acquired business, international revenue increased 7% year over year, outperforming the rig count over the same period.
'Sequentially, fourth-quarter revenue grew slightly, driven by digital sales in North America and higher activity in the Middle East, Europe and North Africa. On a divisional basis, Digital & Integration led revenue performance, driven by increased demand for digital products and solutions, while Production Systems benefited from strong backlog conversion as customers continued to invest in maximizing recovery from existing assets,' Le Peuch said.
Production and Recovery Becoming a Pathway to Long-Term Outperformance
'On a full-year basis, our Core divisions — Reservoir Performance, Well Construction and Production Systems — delivered 9% revenue growth, led by 24% growth in Production Systems, largely due to the subsea acquisition. Production Systems grew 9% organically due to double-digit increases in surface systems, completions and artificial lift. Reservoir Performance also delivered 9% growth, underpinned by strong stimulation and intervention activity in the production space.
'Our fit-for-basin approach, domain expertise and integration capabilities have established us as the performance partner of choice for addressing the operating challenges our customers face throughout the life cycle of their assets. As operators across the industry increasingly prioritize production and recovery, our strengths are more critical than ever.
'With the anticipated completion of our announced acquisition of ChampionX, we are set to further strengthen our production and recovery capabilities, enabling us to deliver even greater value to our customers. This strategic acquisition will also enhance the resilience of the SLB portfolio, providing some stability against the cycles in the years to come.
Digital Continues to Deliver Highly Accretive Growth with AI and Autonomous Operations Gaining Traction
'Digital & Integration revenue increased 10% year on year, driven by 20% growth in digital, which reached $2.44 billion for the year. Accelerated adoption of our digital technologies marked a milestone year, highlighted by strategic collaborations with cross-industry leaders, the launch of the Lumi™ data and AI platform, new Performance Live™ centers to enable remote operations, and the achievement of fully autonomous drilling operations.
'AI is the X factor for our industry, and I am confident that SLB will continue to be a leader in this area, enabling us to deliver sustained outperformance for our customers, partners and shareholders,' Le Peuch said.
Long-Term Fundamentals Will Support Oil and Gas Investment
'While upstream investment growth will remain subdued in the short term due to global oversupply, we anticipate the oil supply imbalance will gradually abate. Global economic growth and a heightened focus on energy security, coupled with rising energy demand from AI and data centers will support the investment outlook for the oil and gas industry throughout the rest of the decade.
'In our Core business, we are making unmatched contributions to the discovery, development and extraction of oil and gas reserves, fueling global energy supply. We have the leading offering in Digital. And we are pursuing a meaningful opportunity in New Energy and decarbonization, where we have established a differentiated market position. Together, this is laying a strong foundation for our business, and SLB is poised to create enduring value for our customers and shareholders,' Le Peuch said.
Total Return to Shareholders Increasing to $4 Billion in 2025
'SLB remains committed to expanding EBITDA margins, generating strong cash flows, and increasing returns to shareholders. Given our confidence in the business outlook and our ability to continue generating strong cash flows, we are pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has approved a 3.6% increase to our quarterly dividend. Additionally, as we believe our stock is undervalued relative to the strength of our business, we entered into accelerated share repurchase (ASR) transactions to repurchase $2.3 billion of our company’s common stock. This positions us to increase total return to shareholders from $3.3 billion in 2024 to a minimum of $4 billion in 2025,' Le Peuch concluded.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250115789214/en/
Source: SLB
