Cadeler A/S (NYSE:CDLR) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Cadeler A/S (NYSE:CDLR) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript May 20, 2026

Cadeler A/S misses on earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $-0.09 EPS, expectations were $0.1495.

Operator: Good morning, and welcome to Cadeler’s Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation. Presenting today are Mikkel Gleerup, Chief Executive Officer; and Peter Brogaard, Chief Financial Officer. Please be reminded that the presenters’ remarks today will include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated. The risks and uncertainties that could cause Cadeler’s results to differ materially from today’s forward-looking statements include those detailed in Cadeler’s annual report on Form 20-F, on file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements made this morning are based on assumptions as of today, and Cadeler undertakes no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

This morning’s presentation includes both IFRS and certain non-IFRS financial measures. A reconciliation of non-IFRS financial measures to the nearest IFRS equivalent is provided in Cadeler’s annual report. The annual report and today’s earnings presentation available on Cadeler’s website at cadeler.com/investor. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this call is being recorded today. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. Mikkel Gleerup, you may begin.

Mikkel Gleerup: Thank you very much, and hello to everyone, and thank you for joining this Q1 2026 presentation from Cadeler. Just to start off the presentation, really a quarter that has been running exactly as expected. Financial performance in line with our expectations, continuing a robust backlog of work, standing currently at EUR 2.7 billion, which we believe provides a very solid earnings visibility for the company. Newbuild program on track. We named the second A-class vessel in April, and she is about to deliver in the next couple of months as per the schedule. The second — or the third rather, A-class vessel is delivering next year and is also on the schedule. We have continued with solid execution across the globe.

And I’m also very pleased to say that Wind Ally and Wind Orca are fully mobilized and first complete monopile foundation has been installed on Hornsea 3, which is very, very important and a very important milestone for 2026, and we have a little bit extra on that further in the presentation. Very strong utilization vessels operating across the world. And Nexra has secured utilization on multiple projects in APAC. And on the utilization, I would like just to quickly say that obviously we have many vessels that have been shifting between projects, so a lot of mobilization in the first quarter of the year, which has also been exactly as expected. In terms of commercial highlights, vessels continuing to execute on projects across the fleet. Really, a busy, busy, busy, quarter in terms of managing vessels coming off projects, starting new projects, and having other vessels coming in to take over on projects due to many different factors.

But really, overall, I would also say a quarter where we have been able to support our clients and to do what has been necessary to help them on their projects where they are currently engaged. Also very pleased to see that Wind Keeper has started its operation with Vestas and is performing on the project with Vestas as we speak. Next slide, please. On Hornsea 3, as I said, really from concept to delivery, we have had many, many questions over the course of the last four years where we have been in process towards the Hornsea 3 execution. A lot of planning is now finally coming to fruition. And it’s very pleasing to be able to say that we now have proof of concept on the project with the first full monopile installed, and also all the secondary components being installed on that and being commissioned and handed over to the client.

And actually, we have eight monopiles in the water as per today’s date. We have seven full secondary steel sets installed and five fully commissioned monopiles out there. So really, the project is going as per the plan. The equipment that we have invested in that we are using on the project is working as we expected it. And we are now slowly ramping up the speed on the project to get up to the speed where we want to be and to really make sure that there will be a smooth installation on this very, very important project, both for us and Cadeler, but certainly also for our clients. So very, very pleased to say that we have a proof of concept and that we are now delivering the full T&I foundation project. Still sitting on a very significant backlog across key markets.

EUR 2.7 billion backlog, as I said, already provides a very solid earnings visibility. We continue to operate in the U.S., in Europe and in APAC, and are really working on a lot of different opportunities for the future years. As we have said in this quarter also, we have executed a private placement for the investment in additional jack-ups for the future and also for a rock dumping installation vessel that we believe all will strengthen our portfolio and our ability to support the clients going forward. We have also projects that are not in the backlog, but where we are currently working, and projects that will be added to the backlog as and when they come to fruition. But all in all, I would say that we have been reaffirmed in our opinion since the beginning of the year that we are looking at a very, very busy ’26, ’27.

As we have also said, ’28 is a different year, but we remain in the same position as we were when we did the annual report. And for 2029, we are working on some very, very interesting prospects at the moment. When we look into the new decade, we are also seeing very interesting projects and also a lot of projects currently in what we call category high. So this is really the category where we are working already now intensively with the client and where we believe that our vessels will be busy in the beginning of the next decade. On the backlog, 82% of the backlog has reached FID. We believe that, that is a very, very solid number, and also gives us the earnings visibility that we really need as a company. We also see the start of Nexra and the foundation of Nexra starting to deliver contracts in Taiwan, which is, of course, very pleasing.

And our ambitions on Nexra continues to be strong, and we continue to see that our main market for Nexra is the plus 11, 12-megawatt segment where we believe that we have a very good foundation to play for the main components replacements for the bigger turbine sets in the industry. We also have preferred supply agreement that is not included in the backlog and where we currently are negotiating with a client for installation in ’28. In terms of the progress on the newbuilds, the Wind Ace, we expect the delivery in the beginning of the third quarter this year. We have basically done most of the material work there, but we are still having some tests plannned for the vessel between now and the delivery, and we believe that we are in a very, very good position to deliver this vessel on schedule and on budget.

We had the naming ceremony this year, and we were proud to have Ms. Lisa Western, naming the vessel for us. The Wind Apex, as we also talked about on the annual report, we expect the Wind Apex to deliver in Q2 ’27. And we have been negotiating with the yard to manage early delivery of this vessel because we are working with the client for the Wind Apex immediately after it’s returned to Europe and where it will likely start a job for a client here in Europe. A few pictures from the naming ceremony on Wind Ace, a very big day for us as a team. Second, foundation installation vessel delivered and the vessel will — after its delivery from the shipyard return to Europe, for the full mobilization for the East Anglia Two project that we are commencing next year.

And obviously, we are already starting to take the learnings from the Hornsea 3 project and implementing them into the EA2 project, so we can ensure that our clients gets the best possible product from Cadeler. On the financial highlights, I will hand over to you now, Peter.

Peter Hansen: Thank you very much. Yes, for Q1 ’26, revenue was EUR 124.7 million as compared to EUR 65.5 million last year. Equity ratio 47.6%, and the adjusted utilization 77.7%, which is satisfactory for us. We adjust the utilization for transfer from yard and planned dry docks, and we had Zaratan not on hire in Q1. So this is really what is expected. Market cap is EUR 2.3 billion. EBITDA was EUR 47 million as compared to EUR 23.7 million. Net profit minus EUR 7 million impacted, as also communicated at the annual report by interest on our bank facilities. We are now in the territory where we have delivered 10 vessels on the fleet and only two vessels under construction. Hence, more of the borrowing costs go to the P&L than we saw in previous quarters.

Backlog, as mentioned by Mikkel EUR 2.7 billion strong backlog. Three months’ daily average turnover, EUR 7.7 million. We have adjusted for the private placement that we did the 26th of March. If we look at the P&L, I think it’s important to emphasize that it is exactly as planned by us and totally in line with our own expectations. It goes for all the lines, for both revenue and the cost lines. It was as expected, and we regard it as a strong start to the year. Of course, revenue increase as compared to last year because we have three vessels on water. Cost of sales goes up, also due to the bigger fleet goes up. Of course, relatively more than revenue because that we had some — we had three vessels in transit. We had vessels going from one project to another.

And we also had a delayed revenue recognition on the Wind Ally on the Hornsea 3 project. I think it’s important to explain that according to IFRS, we can not start revenue recognition on a project before we start installing. So Wind Ally has been mobilizing for the Hornsea 3 project in Q1, but we have not taken any revenue in. That will be done later. Of course, we earn revenue on the contract under the mobilization, but cannot be taken to revenue in the P&L. SG&A increased to last year, but again, a modest increase that shows again, the picture that we have explained at previous quarters that we did early a man-up of the organization to enable a bigger fleet, but also a foundation project. And that now shows the scalability of our organization.

So the early investments now pays off. Finance net continued to be up against last year, but due to this, more is allocated to P&L than to the CapEx on the business. OpEx per day is EUR [ 40,837 ] per day, and that is a little bit higher than it will be the rest of the year due to mobilization on Ally and Zaratan, and there was some smaller one-off expenses in OpEx in Q1. Balance sheet, strong balance sheet, of course, increased by the equity is increased by the capital raise we did at 26th of March. And also lifting the equity ratio from 44% to 48%. CapEx program, it’s a slide we have shown in the past to demonstrate that we are able to finance the expansion of the fleet that we have planned. So as you can see, we have signed committed financing for A-class with Wind Ace.

We are in the advanced discussions with the banks to launch the Apex financing in Q2, here in Q2 ’26. Expect to sign early Q3 for the vessels that is delivered next year. So in total, we have EUR 641 million available funding for that and net of the outstanding installments. There’s a net funding of EUR 218 million. And we have not — in this roll of forward, we have not taken in the cash that we have on the balance sheet and the available facilities that we have not drawn on. So cash and available liquidity as per 31st of March was EUR 221 million, and available liquidity EUR 369 million. Of course, then we also have not — that should also cover the payment on the first installment on the T-class vessels one signed and ordered and the sour rock installation vessel that we have announced in connection with the private placement.

Still, we do our hedging policy, which we strict follow, is 50% of U.S. dollar exposure is hedged and 50% of interest exposure hedged for the first five years of the expected facilities. This is a financial overview. If we should focus on what has happened since annual report. We have extended the RCF that was supposed to terminate in June ’26. We have extended it for 18 months to ’27. And we are in advanced negotiation on the accordion on the corporate loan that we have with HSBC. EUR 80 million, we expect to sign that here in Q2. And the reason for this is it is to have a reasonable buffer when we are looking at the available liquidity. So we are 100% sure that we could go through the coming years and the CapEx program with the current financing.

The full year outlook remains the same. It’s unchanged. There’s nothing we have seen from the performance in Q1 or on to date that is not according to plan. Hence, of course, we maintain the outlook for the year. The timing of the year is something that has maybe surprised some, but we have always planned with a somewhat weaker Q1 in terms of revenue and income. And then Q2, Q3, Q4 will be bigger quarters in terms of revenue and income. And in total, the outlook for the full year outlook is unchanged. I will hand back to you, Mikkel.

Mikkel Gleerup: Thank you very much, Peter. In terms of market outlook, a slight repetition of what we saw in around the annual report. But what we are adding here is that we believe that the recent geopolitical tensions are increasingly pointing toward a higher demand for locally produced energy, energy security and affordability. And we believe that offshore wind will play a massive role in the whole outbuild of at least the European energy system, and we can already start to see the trends of that coming our way. Also with auctions in Europe that have momentum as one of the award criteria, where we see that coming fast to the grid with a certain supply chain is something that is given a positive impact on the award criteria.

And that’s something we like to see because it’s also something that is playing both in the direction of us as a company, but also for our clients. And we do believe that, as I said already, that we are in a very strong situation at the moment, with two very strong years ahead of us here with ’26 and ’27. At ’28, that is, as we talked about during the annual report presentation, and then at ’29, where we see a lot of interesting stuff that we are currently discussing with clients. So then we come into the next decade. And in the next decade, I think that the number of projects we see in the various years there, whether you look at the various consultant reports or whether we talk to the clients, we can see that there is a very, very significant amount of projects that needs to be installed as we move into the next decade.

And that is what we are trying to prepare for together with our clients to make sure that we at least have a solution to what our clients need from us. And we also see the projects that previously were uncertain or projects that were delayed, they are now back with a firm timeline and will be also tendered in the various rounds that we see across Europe. So all in all, I think we are moving into a positive territory with also the utilities saying that it looks like a very strong comeback for offshore wind in Europe in the coming years. So I think that all in all, also Auction Round 8 still move forward and still something that we are waiting to see. The impact for — but I think that it’s really something where we believe that there are some clients that are lined up to take an award in the U.K. Round 8.

Yes, please. We still believe in what we have discussed in the previous presentations regarding supply and demand. It is driven by the factors like increased outbuild, as we have seen from North Sea Summit, various tender rounds across Europe. I think it’s also important that not everything is as it seems to be. And I think that we have seen examples of that yesterday, where there was announcements from Germany that maybe were overinterpreted by some and then was corrected later during the day. And I think that, that is the situation we are in offshore wind, very small changes create a lot of noise, but sometimes it’s important to read what’s in the fine print of these announcements. But we believe that the supply and demand imbalance is certainly present, both on average, but also if we look especially into the next decade.

And also, as I said, driven by new projects that are coming, but also driven to a certain degree for the demand from other areas, in particular, O&M that is taking some demand — that has some demand that takes some supply away, but also some of the vessels that are simply falling out of the market due to age. And that is something that we see very, very clearly. So we executed a successful private placement, where we raised around EUR 175 million, and we believe that, that really unlocks the potential for us to go ahead with the two proposed T-class newbuilds and the acquisition of a scour protection vessel. And why did we do that? We have spoken to lots of investors since, and thanks for all the support from the investors. We were massively oversubscribed on the deal and is really grateful for the support we see in the market.

We believe in a structural vessel undersupply, and we believe that with the delivery window we have decided for, that we will be prepared for a very strong market uptick when these vessels deliver. And we can already see now that our clients are coming to us for these vessels because they are featuring something that nobody else can offer at this stage. And we believe that the experience we have with delivering vessels and also the relationship we have built up with the whole supply chain on the vessels, but also the shipyards have given us an access to a very, very competitive pricing model on these vessels, which is of course incredibly important when you have to live with them for 25 years after delivery. We also are looking into the scour protection asset, as we have already discussed.

And for us, it’s really a strategic enabler, but it’s also something where we, to a very large extent, will be our own client. We will be offering this product to our clients as part of the foundation installation. And we also believe that, that will also be a de-risking of our foundation projects because we do not become solely depending on other companies providing this service to us or to our clients. And we believe that all in all, that is a better strategy, both for us and for our clients. And I would also like to say in this forum that the decision to go into that area is a decision that has been taken together with our clients who had a desire for us to be playing a role in this space. And hence, we also expect that we will soon be able to announce utilization on such a vessel when the whole process towards the vessel has been finalized.

And I think that — all in all, the additional assets will allow us to continue to be flexible and have an integrated solution for our clients, which should all in all, allow Cadeler to get a higher than fair share of the market, but also something that we believe is driving a premium when we are executing a project, because we are able to give the client the flexibility but also a redundancy that we believe is pretty unique for our industry. And in terms of how the market looks like, we — in this presentation are just showing how the whole market is looking, not discounting anything in terms of capability or efficiency. But have added the two T-class vessels as potential vessels to be constructed on top of the fleet and are yet again manifesting being the largest company of our kind in the industry with a very, very solid asset base that is in very, very high demand from the clients.

So all in all, as Peter said, and as I said, a quarter that has performed as we expected, and we have continued to build the company for a future that we believe will be very, very busy. So key investment highlights, as we already talked about, largest and most capable versatile fleet, which really means redundancy for the clients. And redundancy means a lot. If we look at where clients historically have had issues on their project, it’s really when the redundancy is not existence. And that leads me to the next point with strong relationship with our clients. I am arguing that we have very, very strong relations. We are constantly in touch with our clients to make sure that they get the service from us that they expect, and we are always trying to be proactive and helping when something is not going to plan.

And we have a leading industry position. As I said, we believe that, that will lead to a higher than fair share of market. We are working globally and we can work everywhere. And we also now have experience in working in every region where offshore wind is currently playing a role. We believe in a structural undersupply and an increasing market demand. And all in all, we are building the fleet to handle that and to make sure that we return maximum value to our investors. Very strong track record and backlog — and a backlog that we will continue to build over the coming quarters. And with that said, I think that we are going into the Q&A.

Q&A Session

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Jamie Franklin from Jefferies.

Jamie Franklin: Firstly, I just wanted to ask on utilization and how to think about the rest of the year. Is it fair to assume a sort of similar profile that we saw in 2025 with utilization ramping up at a similar sort of magnitude in 2Q, 3Q? And maybe given that we’re now halfway through the second quarter, are you able to give a bit more clarity on the kind of a range of utilization we might expect, or if there are any specific factors that would result in 2Q vessel utilization being lower year-on-year?

Mikkel Gleerup: I think that you’re right in your first statement that we expect that utilization is coming up in the following quarters of this year. Which is also given by the fact that we maintain our guidance and with the Q1 being as per expectation. So we are completely in line with that. We can also say that Q1 has been defined very much by vessels being swapped around, being in dry dock and preparing for projects. And that is work that has been done now, and we only have very little of that left for the remainder of the year. So hence, we believe that the utilization will be strong for the remainder of the year.

Jamie Franklin: And then maybe thinking about cash flow through the remainder of 2026. I believe that most of the remaining CapEx this year is obviously due in the third quarter with the final installment on Wind Ace. So I just wanted to confirm that and whether there’s any additional CapEx to think about through the remainder of this year, please?

Peter Hansen: Yes, definitely, there is with Wind Ace, and we also have an installment on this year on the Wind Apex, around EUR 90 million. And then we expect also to sign the yard contract on the T-Class vessels this year, and there we also need to pay the first installment. That we don’t know exact what, but it could probably be to the tune of EUR 110 million or something for both vessels. So that is the main components that we have in CapEx. Of course, there’s also some on Wind Keeper that will be finalized, but most of that was in Q1. So we mentioned very little rest of the year on that one. And then yes, there will also be something on the foundation project. So that is the run through of that.

Jamie Franklin: Okay. Very helpful. And then finally, you touched on Wind Apex and the potential for early delivery. At last results, you said it could be up to one month early. So is the — is that still the timeframe you’re sort of thinking about? And would there be any additional cost to the yard associated with early delivery? And if so, is that expected to be funded by the clients?

Mikkel Gleerup: Yes. So it’s correct. We expect that the Wind Apex is now delivering towards the end of April, very early start of May. And that is already confirmed and signed with the shipyard. And there is a small associated cost with that, that is being part of the project negotiation with the client. Yes, that’s correct.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] We appear to have no further questions at this time. Thank you so much for your participation. I will now hand the floor back to Mikkel Gleerup for any closing remarks.

Mikkel Gleerup: Thank you very much for listening in on this Q1 presentation. We are looking forward to a year that will very much be defined by execution and also, the assets that we have discussed since the private placement. Thanks for the support from every investor that are supporting us. We are looking forward to a very strong year, 2026. Thank you.