Mark Heine, CEO: "In the second quarter, we delivered positive cash flow and a higher margin, supported by revenue growth and the cost savings implemented over recent quarters. Although pricing pressure in marine site characterisation and Middle East disruptions weighed on performance, overall results improved year-on-year.
However, the decline in our backlog points to a challenging second half. As previously communicated, offshore wind markets in Europe are expected to recover, but a meaningful rebound in site characterisation activity levels is expected to take time, and the start-up of new projects remains slow. As a result, market overcapacity is leading to increased competition and pricing pressure. At the same time, tensions in the Middle East have escalated again. The volatility of current market conditions has reduced near-term visibility beyond what we would normally expect at this stage of the year, making it challenging to forecast full-year performance.
We continue to focus on what we can control, including rationalising our vessel fleet to further right-size our cost base to current markets, targeting additional annualised savings of EUR 50 million, and a continued emphasis on cash generation.
Recent contract awards, including a geophysical contract for the Greater Sunrise and Bayu Undan pipeline in Timor-Leste and a five-year contract for critical infrastructure mapping for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, reflect the trust our clients place in our expertise and capabilities. We continue to advance our Towards Full Potential strategy to ensure we are well positioned when market conditions improve, while adapting to current markets. We do this by focusing on programmes that speed up remote operations, increasing our fleet of uncrewed surface vessels, leveraging our GroundIQ® land site investigation solution, and further digitalising our workflows."