Company: HLX
Filing Date: 2025-04-02
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001140361-25-011655
Chunk: 44

Company: HELIX ENERGY SOLUTIONS GROUP INC
Filing Date: 2025-04-02
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 44
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 for our NEOs, the Compensation Committee considers a number of factors, including job responsibilities, individual contributions, level of experience and benchmarking peer company data. Individual NEO base salaries are generally established at the December meeting of the Compensation Committee in the prior year. For 2024, the Compensation Committee determined the base salary for each of our NEOs would remain the same as it was for 2023. Prior to an increase in 2023, Mr. Kratz’s base salary had not changed since 2008, other than a temporary salary reduction in 2020 in response to the global pandemic and the subsequent restoration thereof.

| Base Salaries for 2024  |     |                  |     |                                 |
| Named Executive Officer |     | 2024 Base Salary |     | Percent Increase Year Over Year |
| Mr. Kratz               |     |         $800,000 |     | 0%                              |
| Mr. Sparks              |     |         $460,000 |     |                                 |
| Mr. Staffeldt           |     |         $440,000 |     |                                 |
| Mr. Neikirk             |     |         $400,000 |     |                                 |

Short-Term Cash Incentive Program Our STI program consists of a cash opportunity designed to reward employees, including our executive officers, for the achievement of certain stretch corporate goals. Payouts, if earned, are made in March of the year following the applicable performance year. We typically align our annual STI program for executive officers with that of our onshore workforce. The STI target for each executive officer is expressed as a percentage of base salary. Individual NEO STI targets are generally established at the December meeting of the Compensation Committee in the prior year (at the same time as base salary and long-term incentive awards), and STI program design and metrics are generally established at the Compensation Committee’s first regular meeting of the applicable year. In February 2024, the Compensation Committee approved the 2024 STI program

| Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. |     | 2025 Proxy Statement |     | 45 |

TABLE OF CONTENTS Compensation Discussion and Analysis

for Helix’s executive officers, reaffirmed that achieving a certain level of Adjusted EBITDA was again viewed as the key near-term financial objective for Helix and its shareholders, and established Adjusted EBITDA as the primary financial metric for determining 2024 STI performance. Further, in recognition of the continued importance of