SLB Announces First-Quarter 2025 Results; Remains Committed to Return a Minimum of $4 Billion to Shareholders in 2025

Published: 2025-04-28 09:08:19 ET SLB

HOUSTON - SLB (NYSE: SLB) today announced results for the first-quarter 2025.

Core Benefiting from Late-Cycle Customer Spend and Growth in International Unconventional Markets

'In the Core, we continue to see rising demand for production solutions as customers seek to offset declines and maintain or grow production from maturing assets. This is an area that will continue to present strong opportunities for SLB. As a result, Production Systems revenue grew 4% and expanded pretax operating margins by 197 bps year on year, with strong demand for surface production systems, completions, and artificial lift. In addition, Reservoir Performance was supported by strong international unconventional stimulation and intervention activity although it was offset by lower evaluation activity.

'Overall, the combined revenue of the Core divisions was down 4% year on year, as growth in Production Systems was more than offset by declines in Reservoir Performance and Well Construction. Despite the year-on-year decline, our diversified portfolio and broad market position helped to offset lower rig activity,' Le Peuch said.

Digital and AI Growth Increasingly Decoupled from Upstream Cycle Dynamics

'The energy industry is focused on efficiency and performance, and our customers are recognizing the opportunity to unlock value from their data. As a result, operators are increasing their digital capabilities, strengthening partnerships with technology companies, and investing in digital and AI solutions.

'This is translating into highly accretive revenue growth, and as a result, our quarterly digital revenue grew 17% year on year, contributing to a 6% increase in Digital & Integration revenue over that same period.

'When we designed our strategy around three engines of growth, we envisioned digital leading the second phase of revenue expansion, complementing our leading offering in the Core. Today, that vision is materializing, and we will continue to enhance our leadership in AI, cloud computing and digital operations,' Le Peuch said.

Committing to Return a Minimum of $4 Billion to Shareholders in 2025

'SLB is committed to returning more than 50% of its free cash flow to our shareholders, and we will materially exceed this target in 2025. We continue to have confidence in our ability to generate strong cash flow in the current environment and will return a minimum of $4 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases this year.

'The industry may experience a potential shift of priorities driven by changes in the global economy, fluctuating commodity prices and evolving tariffs - all of which could impact upstream oil and gas investment and, in turn, affect demand for our products and services. In this uncertain environment, we remain committed to protecting our margins, generating strong cash flow and delivering consistent value to our customers and shareholders in 2025,' Le Peuch concluded.

Other Events

On February 2, 2025, SLB entered into an agreement to purchase the operations of Interactive Network Technologies, Inc. (INT), a global leader in energy data visualization. INT provides data visualization technology that empowers geoscientists, engineers and data scientists with the desktop and web-based domain data visualization required to make business and operational decisions. Incorporating this technology directly into the Delfi digital platform and Lumi data and AI platform will further enhance the ability of asset teams to accelerate data driven insights via a single, unified interface.

Under the previously announced accelerated share repurchase (ASR) transaction, SLB entered into agreements to repurchase $2.3 billion of its common stock commencing on January 13, 2025, and ending no later than May 31, 2025. The ASR was completed on April 7, 2025, and SLB received a total of 56.8 million shares of its common stock, of which 47.6 million were received in January and the remaining 9.2 million shares were received in April. These shares were repurchased by SLB at an average price of $40.51, representing the volume-weighted average price of SLB's common stock during this period less a discount.

In April 2024, SLB and ChampionX announced that they entered into a definitive agreement for SLB to purchase ChampionX. The combined portfolios will drive customer value through deep industry expertise and digital integration, as well as enhanced equipment life and production optimization. On April 10, 2025, SLB announced that the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has agreed to consider SLB's proposed actions to address concerns around the ChampionX acquisition as part of the CMA's Phase 1 review. SLB is pleased with this further progress and will continue its collaboration with the CMA and other regulators toward an anticipated closing in the second quarter or early third quarter of 2025.

On April 17, 2025, SLB's Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.285 per share of outstanding common stock, payable on July 10, 2025, to stockholders of record on June 4, 2025.

About SLB

SLB (NYSE: SLB) is a global technology company driving energy innovation for a balanced planet. With a global presence in more than 100 countries and employees representing almost twice as many nationalities, we work each day on innovating oil and gas, delivering digital at scale, decarbonizing industries, and developing and scaling new energy systems that accelerate the energy transition. Find out more at slb.com.

Conference Call Information

SLB will hold a conference call to discuss the earnings press release and business outlook on Friday, April 25, 2025. The call is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. To access the call, which is open to the public, please contact the conference call operator at +1 (833) 470-1428 within North America, or +1 (404) 975-4839 outside of North America, approximately 10 minutes prior to the call's scheduled start time, and provide the access code 114893. At the conclusion of the conference call, an audio replay will be available until May 2, 2025, by dialling +1 (866) 813-9403 within North America, or +1 (929) 458-6194 outside of North America, and providing the access code 541892. The conference call will be webcasted simultaneously at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/581727555 on a listen-only basis. A replay of the webcast will also be available at the same website until May 2, 2025.

Forward-Looking Statements

This first-quarter 2025 earnings press release, as well as other statements we make, contain 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which include any statements that are not historical facts. Such statements often contain words such as 'expect,' 'may,' 'can,' 'believe,' 'predict,' 'plan,' 'potential,' 'projected,' 'projections,' 'precursor,' 'forecast,' 'outlook,' 'expectations,' 'estimate,' 'intend,' 'anticipate,' 'ambition,' 'goal,' 'target,' 'scheduled,' 'think,' 'should,' 'could,' 'would,' 'will,' 'see,' 'likely,' and other similar words. Forward-looking statements address matters that are, to varying degrees, uncertain, such as statements about our financial and performance targets and other forecasts or expectations regarding, or dependent on, our business outlook; growth for SLB as a whole and for each of its Divisions (and for specified business lines, geographic areas, or technologies within each Division); oil and natural gas demand and production growth; oil and natural gas prices; forecasts or expectations regarding energy transition and global climate change; improvements in operating procedures and technology; capital expenditures by SLB and the oil and gas industry; our business strategies, including digital and 'fit for basin,' as well as the strategies of our customers; our capital allocation plans, including dividend plans and share repurchase programs; our APS projects, joint ventures, and other alliances; the impact of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine on global energy supply; access to raw materials; future global economic and geopolitical conditions; future liquidity, including free cash flow and future results of operations, such as margin levels. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changing global economic and geopolitical conditions; changes in exploration and production spending by our customers, and changes in the level of oil and natural gas exploration and development; the results of operations and financial condition of our customers and suppliers; the inability to achieve our financial and performance targets and other forecasts and expectations; the inability to achieve our net-zero carbon emissions goals or interim emissions reduction goals; general economic, geopolitical, and business conditions in key regions of the world; the ongoing conflict in Ukraine; foreign currency risk; inflation; changes in monetary policy by governments; tariffs; pricing pressure; weather and seasonal factors; unfavorable effects of health pandemics; availability and cost of raw materials; operational modifications, delays, or cancellations; challenges in our supply chain; production declines; the extent of future charges; the inability to recognize efficiencies and other intended benefits from our business strategies and initiatives, such as digital or new energy, as well as our cost reduction strategies; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements, including those related to offshore oil and gas exploration, radioactive sources, explosives, chemicals, and climate-related initiatives; the inability of technology to meet new challenges in exploration; the competitiveness of alternative energy sources or product substitutes and other risks and uncertainties detailed in this press release and our most recent Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC').

This press release also includes forward-looking statements relating to the proposed transaction between SLB and ChampionX, including statements regarding the benefits of the transaction and the anticipated timing of the transaction. Factors and risks that may impact future results and performance include, but are not limited to, and in each case as a possible result of the proposed transaction on each of SLB and ChampionX: the ultimate outcome of the proposed transaction between SLB and ChampionX; the ability to operate the SLB and ChampionX respective businesses, including business disruptions; difficulties in retaining and hiring key personnel and employees; the ability to maintain favorable business relationships with customers, suppliers, and other business partners; the terms and timing of the proposed transaction; the occurrence of any event, change, or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the proposed transaction; the anticipated or actual tax treatment of the proposed transaction; the ability to satisfy closing conditions to the completion of the proposed transaction; other risks related to the completion of the proposed transaction and actions related thereto; the ability of SLB and ChampionX to integrate the business successfully and to achieve anticipated synergies and value creation from the proposed transaction; the ability to secure government regulatory approvals on the terms expected, at all or in a timely manner; litigation and regulatory proceedings, including any proceedings that may be instituted against SLB or ChampionX related to the proposed transaction, as well as the risk factors discussed in SLB's and ChampionX's most recent Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K filed with or furnished to the SEC.

If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize (or the consequences of any such development changes), or should our underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those reflected in our forward-looking statements. Forward-looking and other statements in this press release regarding our environmental, social, and other sustainability plans and goals are not an indication that these statements are necessarily material to investors or required to be disclosed in our filings with the SEC. In addition, historical, current, and forward-looking environmental, social, and sustainability-related statements may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. Statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release, and SLB disclaims any intention or obligation to update publicly or revise such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Additional Information about the Transaction with ChampionX and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed transaction with ChampionX, SLB filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 on April 29, 2024 (as amended, the 'Form S-4') that includes a proxy statement of ChampionX and that also constitutes a prospectus of SLB with respect to the shares of SLB to be issued in the proposed transaction (the 'proxy statement/prospectus'). The Form S-4 was declared effective by the SEC on May 15, 2024. SLB and ChampionX filed the definitive proxy statement/prospectus with the SEC on May 15, 2024 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/87347/000119312524139403/d818663d424b3.htm), and it was first mailed to ChampionX stockholders on or about May 15, 2024. Each of SLB and ChampionX may also file other relevant documents with the SEC regarding the proposed transaction. This document is not a substitute for the Form S-4 or proxy statement/prospectus or any other document that SLB or ChampionX may file with the SEC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT MAY BE FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders can obtain free copies of the Form S-4 and the proxy statement/prospectus and other documents (if and when available) containing important information about SLB, ChampionX and the proposed transaction, through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with, or furnished to, the SEC by SLB will be available free of charge on SLB's website at https://investorcenter.slb.com. Copies of the documents filed with, or furnished to, the SEC by ChampionX will be available free of charge on ChampionX's website at https://investors.championx.com. The information included on, or accessible through, SLB's or ChampionX's website is not incorporated by reference into this communication.

Contact:

James R. McDonald

SVP, Investor Relations & Industry Affairs, SLB

Tel: +1 (713) 375-3535

Email: [email protected]

Media

Josh Byerly

SVP of Communications, SLB

Tel: +1 (713) 375-3407

Email: [email protected]

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