Meren Energy Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

On Wednesday, Meren Energy (TSX: MER ) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below. APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit to learn more.

The full earnings call is available at Summary MER reported a strong start to 2026, with enhanced financial flexibility following the refinancing of its reserves-based lending facility, increasing liquidity to $366 million. The company declared two quarterly dividends totaling over $50 million and noted strong operational performance, particularly in its Nigerian assets. 4k barrels of oil equivalent per day, at the upper end of full-year guidance, with planned drilling campaigns in Nigeria set to commence in late 2026. Financially, Q1 EBITDAX was $100 million, with total revenue at $114 million.

Free cash flow was negative due to a significant working capital outflow. 5x, supported by a successful RBL refinancing. Strategically, the company is focusing on growth initiatives in Nigeria, with upcoming drilling campaigns and expansions anticipated in the Agbami field and Namibia's Venus project. The company is cautious about inorganic growth, emphasizing discipline in capital allocation and ensuring potential acquisitions meet high internal return hurdles.

MER maintains a robust hedging program for 2026, with a focus on swaps and collars to protect downside while allowing upside participation. Full Transcript OPERATOR My name is Shel and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to MER's first quarter 2026 results presentation. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session.

Please note that at any time participants on the webcast can submit questions using the Questions button on the webcast interface. This event is being recorded and the recording will be available for playback on the company's website. I will now pass the meeting to Mr. Shaheen Amini.

Please go ahead, Mr. Amini. Shaheen Amini, Head of Investor Relations and Communications Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us today for MER's first quarter 2026 results presentation.

My name is Shaheen Amini and I'm Head of Investor Relations and Communications at MER. I am joined today by Oliver Quinn, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Aldo Porosini, our Chief Financial Officer. We will begin with prepared remarks and then open up for questions. Before we get started, I remind everyone that remarks made during this session are subject to forward-looking statements which involve significant risk factors and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially.

More detail on these risks can be found in our regulatory filings on Sedar plus and on our website. The information discussed is made as of today's date and time and MER assumes no obligation to update or revise this information to reflect new events or circumstances. The Company's complete financial statements and related MD&A are available on the Company's website and on Sedar plus website. With that, I'll hand you over to Oliver.

Oliver, please go ahead. Oliver Quinn, President and CEO Thanks, Shaheen, and welcome again everyone. Thank you for joining us today for our Q1 call. Let me start on Slide 4, which really summarizes a very strong start to the year underpinned by a high level of operational performance in our production assets, complemented with an improvement in our financial flexibility and a continuation of our shareholder returns program.

In March, we refinanced our reserves-based lending facility, significantly enhancing our financial flexibility and crucially our ability to fund the deep hopper of organic growth opportunities across the business and at a very competitive cost of capital. Quarter-end liquidity post-refinancing has risen to $366 million. On the shareholder returns program, we've now declared two quarterly dividends year to date to a total of just over $50 million. Again, in our operations, our Nigerian assets performed above plan through the quarter, particularly supported by the post-turnaround recovery following planned Q4 2025 maintenance on the Agbami field.

On the commercial front, we've also successfully executed an amendment to our gas sales agreement for Agena and Akpo, securing higher gas prices and crucially, with an index that includes some exposure to LNG pricing. I'll now move to Slide 5 and our production performance for the quarter. 4 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, which is at the upper end of our full-year guidance. On an economic entitlement basis, production came in at 31,000, again comfortably within our guidance.

Looking across the assets, Akpo and Agena both performed in line with expectations through the period, continuing to deliver the steady, reliable base production we've come to expect from these high-quality fields. On Agbami, you'll recall we had an extensive planned maintenance exercise in the fourth quarter of last year which weighed on Q4 production. Since completion of the program, Agbami has been ramping back up through Q1 and is returning to anticipated production levels.

In terms of activity outlook for the remainder of 2026, we have progressed in line with the program outlined at our 2025 full-year results and with the joint venture partners across all three of our producing assets preparing to start drilling campaigns through late 2026. The rig for Agbami and Akija drilling campaign has been contracted and we expect to have a firm rig contract for Aegina and Akpo campaigns shortly. I'll now hand you over to Aldo to take you through the financials. Aldo Porosini, Chief Financial Officer Thanks, Oli