Tetra Technologies reports Q4 EPS 3c, consensus 6c

Reports Q4 revenue $153.1M, consensus $150.1M. Brady Murphy, CEO, stated, “2023 was a historical year for TETRA with numerous financial records and strategic milestones achieved that will have a significant impact for the Company for years to come. Financial highlights for the year include 2.4 times growth in income from continuing operations, 37% growth in Adjusted EBITDA, 710 basis points improvement in return on net capital employed to 20.5%1, 2.7 times improvement in cash flow from operations and a conversion rate of nearly 40% of Adjusted EBITDA to adjusted free cash flow. Excluding the impact of working capital, our total year 2023 adjusted free cash flow was the highest since 2015 demonstrating progress on generating cash. As of December 2023, our net leverage ratio was 1.13X and liquidity was $126 million. Recent strategic milestones achieved include: the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission (“AOGC”) unanimously approving the 6,138-acre Evergreen Brine Unit, a combination of TETRA and Saltwerx (a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil) brine leases for the purpose of future bromine and lithium production, and completing a lithium and bromine resource report for the Evergreen Brine Unit. Due to the richness of the lithium concentration and the favorable Smackover reservoir properties, the resource report estimated 22 tons per acre of total lithium resources for the Evergreen Brine Unit, which is believed to be the highest to date of any lithium brine resource in the U.S. for which a SK-1300, NI-43-101 or JORC-compliant technical report summary has been published. We also completed the engineering design for our first commercial produced water beneficial re-use project with a planned deployment later this year. And in January 2024, we further strengthened our balance sheet by refinancing, extending, and expanding our term loan, at a more attractive interest rate than our prior term loan. We enter 2024 with a strong and growing base business, a solid balance sheet, over $200 million of liquidity (following the term loan refinancing and inclusive of a $75 million delayed draw feature to fund our bromine project), with a constructive outlook for our products and services. We anticipate further growth in 2024 and expect to continue to generate strong free cash flow from our base business to fund investments in our Arkansas projects. The combination of these plus advances with our produced water beneficial re-use solution, our Arkansas resource position and strategic partnerships provides us the opportunity to continue to drive long-term shareholder value.”