Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (“NGS” or the “Company”) a leading provider of natural gas compression equipment, technology, and services to the energy industry, announced financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The Company also updated its prior guidance for the full year, increasing its outlook for both Adjusted EBITDA and growth capital expenditures.
Second Quarter 2024 Highlights
Rental revenue of $34.9 million, an increase of 45% when compared to the second quarter of 2023 and 4% sequentially.
Net income of $4.3 million, or $0.34 per basic share, as compared to $0.5 million, or $0.04 per basic share in the comparable year-ago period.
Adjusted EBITDA of $16.5 million, compared to $9.9 million in the second quarter of 2023 and essentially flat sequentially. Please see Non-GAAP Financial Measures - Adjusted EBITDA, below.
Rented horsepower at quarter end of 454,568, a 22% increase over prior year.
Horsepower utilization of 82.3%, up 370 basis points from last year.
Management Commentary and Outlook
“We delivered significant top and bottom-line growth this quarter, along with a material increase in net cash provided by operating activities, as we further grow and optimize our business,” said Justin Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer. “We continue to witness a strong market for oil production, particularly in the Permian Basin, and compression demand remains robust. As such, we are taking advantage of our industry position, innovative compression units, and strong customer relationships to increase investments in our large horsepower fleet as we look to drive growth in rental fleet horsepower, rental revenue, and cash flow.”
Jacobs continued, “We are also pleased to report the recent signing of new contracts with blue chip customers which will help us further diversify our customer mix and generate strong returns in the years ahead. Our material increase to guidance for growth capital expenditures partially reflects these contracts. as a significant portion of the spend on these new units will occur in 2025. Importantly, this expected increase in growth capital expenditures, enabled by our recent Credit Facility expansion, is entirely related to large horsepower compression investments, including a significant portion of electric driven compression units. Consistent with our recent growth in horsepower, all of these new contracts are long-term with return on invested capital projected above our target rate of 20%. We remain bullish on natural gas compression and the opportunities ahead, and we believe this higher level of investment will lead to meaningful and sustainable value creation for all NGS stakeholders.”
Corporate Guidance — 2024 Updated Outlook
The Company today provided updated guidance for the 2024 Fiscal Year ending December 31, 2024. Based on its first half performance and outlook for the remainder of the year, the Company now expects Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $64 million to $68 million, an increase from its previously announced outlook of $61 million to $67 million. Note the Company entered Fiscal Year 2024 anticipating Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $58 million to $65 million.
The Company has also increased its expected 2024 growth capital expenditures largely due to the aforementioned major contracts that were recently secured. The Company now anticipates 2024 growth capital expenditures to be in the range of $60 million to $80 million, an increase from its previously announced guidance of approximately $40 million to $50 million. The wide range of the guidance is solely a function of the timing of investments as the Company is still determining the precise split of the spend between 2024 and 2025; to reiterate, all of the new units are already under long-term contracts with customers. Maintenance capital expenditures remain unchanged and are anticipated to be in the range of $8 million to $11 million. Similarly, the Company’s target return on invested capital remains unchanged at 20%.
FY 2024 Outlook
Adjusted EBITDA $64 million - $68 million
Growth Capital Expenditures $60 million - $80 million
Maintenance Capital Expenditures $8 million - $11 million
Target Return on Invested Capital At least 20%
Jacobs concluded, “We have multiple pathways to build on our industry-leading growth and drive shareholder value: fleet optimization, asset utilization (both unutilized units and non-cash assets), fabricating new rental units, and accretive mergers and acquisitions. We are executing against each of these and showing demonstrable progress. Given our strong balance sheet and expanded Credit Facility, we fully intend to take advantage of the opportunities to continue significant growth beyond 2024.”
2024 Second Quarter Financial Results
Revenue: Total revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2024, increased 42.8% to $38.5 million from $27.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. This increase was due primarily to an increase in rental revenues. Rental revenue increased 44.9% to $34.9 million in the second quarter of 2024 from $24.1 million in the second quarter of 2023 due to the addition of higher horsepower packages and pricing improvements. As of June 30, 2024, we had 1,242 rented units (454,568 horsepower) compared to 1,249 rented units (372,596 horsepower) as of June 30, 2023, reflecting a 22.0% increase in total utilized horsepower. Sequentially, total revenue increased to $38.5 million in the second quarter of 2024 compared to $36.9 million in the first quarter of 2024 due to a 4% increase in rental revenues and a 93.3% increase in aftermarket service revenue primarily related to services for setting and installing new units.
Gross Margins: Total gross margins, including depreciation expense increased to $13.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, compared to $6.5 million for the same period in 2023 and $14.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. Total adjusted gross margin, exclusive of depreciation expense, for the three months ended June 30, 2024, increased to $21.0 million compared to $12.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023, and $21.1 million for the first quarter of 2024. These increases in year over year performance primarily are attributable to increased rental revenues and a continuation of our relatively high rental adjusted gross margin.
Operating Income: Operating income for the three months ended June 30, 2024, was $8.5 million compared to operating income of $0.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023, and operating income of $9.3 million, during the first quarter of 2024.
Net Income: Net income for the three months ended June 30, 2024, was $4.3 million, or $0.34 per basic share compared to a net income of $0.5 million or $0.04 per basic share for the three months ended June 30, 2023, and $5.1 million or $0.41 per basic share for the first quarter of 2024. The increase in net income during the second quarter of 2024 was mainly due to increased rental revenue and rental gross margin. Sequentially, the net income decline of $(0.8) million was primarily due to higher rental costs and increased SG&A costs during the second quarter of 2024.
Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA increased 66.6% to $16.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, from $9.9 million for the same period in 2023. This increase was primarily attributable to higher rental revenue and rental adjusted gross margin. Sequentially, adjusted EBITDA decreased 2.5% to $16.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $16.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024.
Cash Flows: At June 30, 2024, cash and cash equivalents were approximately $3.6 million, while working capital was $40.3 million. For the six months of 2024, cash flows from operating activities were $31.1 million, while cash flows used in investing activities was $27.9 million. Cash flow used in investing activities included $28.3 million in capital expenditures.
Debt: Outstanding debt on our revolving credit facility as of June 30, 2024, was $163 million. Our leverage ratio at June 30, 2024, was 2.51 and our fixed charge coverage ratio was 2.68. The Company is in compliance with all terms, conditions and covenants of the credit agreement.
Selected data: The tables below show revenue by product line, gross margin and adjusted gross margin for the three trailing five quarters. Adjusted gross margin is the difference between revenue and cost of sales, exclusive of depreciation.
