ASKER, NORWAY (8 February 2018) - During 2017 TGS acquired a record-high amount of 3D data at historical low cost. At the same time the company achieved industry-leading financial returns and strong free cash flow development, paving the way for an increase of 33% of the quarterly dividend in Q1 2018. Market conditions support a strategy of counter-cyclical investment and in 2018 TGS expects to continue adding high volumes of data to its multi-client library at low unit costs, forming the basis for continued robust returns and cash flows going forward.
Based on the current plans TGS provides the following guidance for 2018:
- New multi-client investments of approximately USD 260 million
- Additional multi-client investments expected from sales of existing surveys with risk sharing arrangements
- Pre-funding of new multi-client investments expected to be approximately 45-50%
- Amortization expected to be approximately USD 310 million
"With its strong balance sheet, industry-leading cash flow and world class geoscience and project development expertise, TGS will continue to thrive in the current market conditions. Our library continues to grow and although the current base expectation is for relatively flat demand for seismic data in 2018, the risk is on the upside given the recent positive oil price trend," commented Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS.