Shearwater Geoservices AS (“Shearwater”) published its second quarter 2025 results. Revenue was USD 133.8 million compared to USD 214.2 million in the second quarter 2024. EBITDA was USD 11.9 million compared to USD 80.1 million in the second quarter 2024.
Key takeaways:
- Lower activity impacted financial performance, as expected
78% utilisation for the active fleet of eight vessels supported by projects initiated in earlier periods
- Successfully completed multi-client data acquisition for second season at Pelotas Basin, Brazil
- Awarded first contract under TotalEnergies global capacity agreement
- Implemented measures to increase balance sheet resilience
Backlog of USD 319 million at end-June
Irene Basili, CEO of Shearwater, comments on the second quarter results:
“As expected, marine seismic activity declined during the second quarter. Still, we delivered robust fleet utilisation of 78%, supported by projects starting in earlier periods with vessels rolling off contract towards quarter-end. We completed multi-client data acquisition for the second season in Brazil’s Pelotas Basin, which is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s most promising exploration regions. The survey is in line with our disciplined and focused growth strategy within the segment.
Recent client contracts awarded in the third quarter are encouraging, confirming the market positioning Shearwater has achieved in the competitive OBN (ocean-bottom node) market. Still, year-to-date order intake has been muted. We continue to experience low visibility as clients remain cautious, affecting fleet scheduling. There are no clear indications of a step change in the marine seismic market, and we expect the flattish trend seen over the past three years to continue into next year, however with quarterly variations.
Navigating this soft market outlook, we focus on optimising operations and financial performance. We maintain a proactive and disciplined fleet management strategy, leveraging a flexible operating model to adjust the active fleet. In the quarter, we have proactively taken steps to conserve capital and adapt the organisation to the expected activity level. Combined, these measures are expected to improve free liquidity by more than USD 60 million over the next twelve-month period, with several of the measures yielding immediate effect. The initiatives are in line with our strategy from the outset, with Shearwater designed to absorb the inherent short-term volatility of the seismic industry.
Our strategic direction remains consistent and focused. Longer-term, the oil and gas industry needs to rebuild reserves to sustain output and support energy security. This will require increased investments in marine seismic data acquisition and imaging. Our active role as industry consolidator has strategically positioned us to scale with demand as client’s investments in seismic data increases, owning a fully invested fleet of high-end seismic acquisition vessels capable of serving all market segments.”
Webcast and conference call
CEO Irene Waage Basili and CFO Andreas Hveding Aubert will today at 15:00 CEST host a webcast and conference call followed by Q&A.