ATHENS, GREECE, May 26, 2015. STEALTHGAS INC. (NASDAQ: GASS), a ship-owning company primarily serving the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry, announced today its unaudited financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015.
First quarter 2015 Results:
- § Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 amounted to $35.7 million, an increase of $1.8 million, or 5.3%, compared to revenues of $33.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014, primarily due to the higher number of vessels in the 2015 period.
- § Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2015 were $4.3 million and $11.7 million, respectively, compared to $3.1 million and $10.7 million, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The $1.2 million increase in voyage expenses was primarily due to the higher number of vessels under spot charters in the 2015 period. The $1.0 million increase in vessels’ operating expenses was primarily the result of the increase in the number of vessels operated under time charters in the 2015 period, including five vessels that were added to the fleet and one vessel that came off bareboat charter.
- § Drydocking Costs for the three months ended March 31, 2015 were nil as no vessels were drydocked during the period, compared to one vessel that was drydocked during the same period of last year at a cost of $0.4 million. Overall, in 2015, the Company has scheduled for two vessels to be drydocked.
- § Depreciation for the three months ended March 31, 2015, was $8.4 million, a $0.3 million increase from $8.1 million for the same period of last year. This increase was due to the additional depreciation for five vessels joining the fleet from the second quarter of 2014 until the first quarter of 2015 which was partly offset by the decrease in depreciation caused by our Company’s decision to sell and lease back in Q4 2014 two of our LPG vessels, the Gas Cathar and the Gas Premiership.
- § It is noted that our Company’s decision to sell and lease back in Q4 2014 two of our LPG vessels, the Gas Cathar and the Gas Premiership, is also a factor that affected depreciation charges for Q1 2015.
- § Included in the first quarter 2015 results are net losses from interest rate derivative instruments and foreign currency hedging arrangements of $0.06 million. Interest paid on interest rate swap arrangements amounted to $0.41 million, and net gains from change in fair value of the same interest rate derivative instruments and foreign currency hedging arrangements amounted to $0.35 million.
- § As a result of the above, the Company had net income for the three months ended March 31, 2015 of $5.8 million, compared to net income of $7.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The weighted average number of shares for the three months ended March 31, 2015 increased to 42.0 million compared to 33.8 million for the same period of last year, due to the offerings of a total of 8.0 million shares in May and August of 2014 and the repurchase of 1.8 million shares. Earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2015 amounted to $0.14 compared to earnings per share of $0.23 for the same period of last year.
- § Adjusted net income was $5.8 million or $0.14 per share for the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $7.2 million or $0.21 per share for the same period of last year.
- § EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2015 amounted to $16.7 million. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income and EBITDA to Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA to Adjusted Net Income are set forth below.
- § An average of 45.9 vessels were owned by the Company during the three months ended March 31, 2015, compared to 42.0 vessels for the same period of 2014.
- § As of March 31, 2015, cash and cash equivalents amounted to $127.5 million and total debt amounted to $323.0 million. During the three months ended March 31, 2015 debt repayments amounted to $23.4 million.
Share Repurchase Program
Since November 2014 to date, the Company has repurchased a total of 1, 876, 536 shares at an average price of$ 6.2 per share for a total consideration of $ 11.7 million.
Fleet Update
The Company took a strategic decision to divest in April 2015, two of its oldest vessels, 4, 109 cbm, built 1991, LPG carrier, Gas Kaizen, and 3, 211 cbm, built 1990, LPG carrier Gas Crystal for demolition. Total proceeds were $2.1 million for Gas Kaizen and Gas Crystal en bloc.
On April 14, 2015, the Company took delivery of a 5, 000 cbm, 2015 built, eco LPG carrier – Eco Enigma, while on April 30, 2015, the Company took delivery of a 3, 500 cbm, 2015 built eco LPG carrier- Eco Royalty (now named B GAS SUPERIOR), both from Japanese shipyards.
The Company also announced the conclusion of the following chartering arrangements:
- A four month time charter for its 5, 000 cbm, 1997 built, LPG carrier, Gas Monarch, to a national oil company until July 2015.
- A six month time charter for its 5, 000 cbm, 2015 built, LPG carrier, Eco Enigma, to a national oil company from July 2015 until December 2015.
- A six month time charter for its 3, 500 cbm, 2015 built, LPG carrier, Eco Lucidity from May 2015 to November 2015 to an international trading house.
- A two year time charter extension for its 5, 000 cbm, 2011 built, LPG carrier, Gas Cerberus, to an international trading house until July 2017.
- A four months’ time charter extension for its 3, 500 cbm, 2006 built, LPG carrier, Gas Alice from May 2015 to August 2015 to an international trading house.
With these charters the Company has increased the contracted revenues to approximately $238 million. Total voyage days of our fleet are 66% covered for the remainder of 2015 and 37% covered for 2016.
Additionally, the previously reported period charter for our single Aframax tanker SPIKE, will bring a total of $22 million EBITDA over its five year duration excluding the profit split element.
CEO Harry Vafias commented
We are pleased with our performance during the first quarter of 2015 as our Company marked record revenues, surpassing $35.5 million, in spite of the difficult market environment of the small LPG segment. Indeed declining freight rates in conjunction with low oil prices, have had a negative impact on freight rates for small LPG carriers and therefore this quarter and compared to the first quarter of 2014, our fleet operational utilization fell to 95.6% and our spot market days increased. Our Company continues its steady performance focusing on low leverage and reducing our ships’ break even through this challenging environment. We are proceeding with our fleet renewal program consisting of top quality eco gas carriers and since the beginning of 2015 to date we have added to our fleet three modern Eco LPG Newbuildings while scrapping our two oldest vessels thus lowering our average fleet age to 10.3 years. Within 2015 we expect the delivery of another seven Eco LPG carriers mainly from Japanese yards.
In addition, our chartering strategy has been proven once again successful as we managed within the first quarter of 2015 to expand the fleet employment for the year to 66% and increase our secured revenues to $238 million up to 2022 ($220 in Q4 2014). Most importantly we have proven to the market that our conservative philosophy works in both good and bad times
Our current outlook for the remaining of 2015 is for LPG charter rates to likely mark a further small decrease and inevitably we anticipate this to exert pressure on the weaker owners thus seeing an increase of demolition. Our strong balance sheet, with a ratio of debt to total assets of 34%, our strong liquidity and ongoing profitability puts us in a position to address any challenges that might arise in the future.
About STEALTHGAS INC.
Headquartered in Athens, Greece, StealthGas Inc. is a ship-owning company primarily serving the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry. StealthGas Inc. currently controls a fleet of 44 LPG carriers, including two chartered in vessels, with a total capacity of 214, 051 cubic meters (cbm), three M.R. product tankers and one Aframax oil tanker with a total capacity of 255, 804 deadweight tons (dwt). The Company has further agreed to acquire 13 LPG carriers with expected deliveries ranging from June 2015 to December 2017. Giving effect to the delivery of these acquisitions, StealthGas Inc.’s LPG fleet, including the chartered in vessels will be composed of 61 vessels with a total capacity of 352, 451 cubic meters (cbm). StealthGas Inc.’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and trade under the symbol “GASS”.
Fleet Data:
The following key indicators highlight the Company’s operating performance during the first quarters ended March 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015.
| FLEET DATA |
Q1 2014 |
Q1 2015 |
||||
| Average number of vessels (1) |
42.0 |
45.9 |
||||
| Period end number of vessels in fleet |
43 |
46 |
||||
| Total calendar days for fleet (2) |
3, 784 |
4, 312 |
||||
| Total voyage days for fleet (3) |
3, 750 |
4, 301 |
||||
| Fleet utilization (4) |
99.1% |
99.7% |
||||
| Total charter days for fleet (5) |
3, 417 |
3, 603 |
||||
| Total spot market days for fleet (6) |
333 |
698 |
||||
| Fleet operational utilization (7) |
98.3% |
95.6% |
||||
1) Average number of vessels is the number of owned vessels that constituted our fleet for the relevant period, as measured by the sum of the number of days each vessel was a part of our fleet during the period divided by the number of calendar days in that period.
2) Total calendar days are the total days the vessels were in our possession for the relevant period including off-hire days associated with major repairs, drydockings or special or intermediate surveys.
3) Total voyage days for fleet reflect the total days the vessels were in our possession for the relevant period net of off-hire days associated with major repairs, drydockings or special or intermediate surveys.
4) Fleet utilization is the percentage of time that our vessels were available for revenue generating voyage days, and is determined by dividing voyage days by fleet calendar days for the relevant period.
5) Total charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels in our fleet operated on time or bareboat charters for the relevant period.
6) Total spot market charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels in our fleet operated on spot market charters for the relevant period.
7) Fleet operational utilization is the percentage of time that our vessels generated revenue, and is determined by dividing voyage days (excluding commercially idle days) by fleet calendar days for the relevant period.
Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS:
Adjusted Net income represents Net Income before loss on derivatives excluding swap interest paid, impairment loss, share based compensation and unrealized exchange differences. EBITDA represents net income before interest, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA before impairment loss, share based compensation, loss on derivatives, excluding swap interest paid, and unrealized exchange difference. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are not recognized measurements under U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS may not be comparable to that reported by other companies in the shipping or other industries. In evaluating Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income, you should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation.
EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are included herein because they are a basis, upon which we assess our financial performance. They allow us to present our performance from period to period on a comparable basis and provide additional information on fleet operational results. We also use EBITDA to assess our liquidity position and believe it represents useful information for investors regarding a company’s ability to service and/or incur indebtedness.
| (Expressed in United States Dollars, except number of shares) |
First Quarter Ended March 31st, |
|
|
2014 |
2015 |
|
| Net Income – Adjusted Net Income | ||
| Net income |
7, 632, 078 |
5, 831, 920 |
| Loss on derivatives |
69, 505 |
59, 691 |
| Less swap interest paid |
(607, 006) |
(409, 246) |
| Unrealized exchange gain |
(1, 089) |
(23, 959) |
| Share based compensation |
72, 155 |
305, 335 |
| Adjusted Net Income |
7, 165, 643 |
5, 763, 741 |
| Net income – EBITDA | ||
| Net income |
7, 632, 078 |
5, 831, 920 |
| Plus interest and finance costs incl. swap interest paid |
2, 672, 867 |
2, 623, 240 |
| Less interest income |
(74, 697) |
(126, 236) |
| Plus depreciation |
8, 090, 675 |
8, 370, 572 |
| EBITDA |
18, 320, 923 |
16, 699, 496 |
| Adjusted Net income -Adjusted EBITDA | ||
| Adjusted Net Income |
7, 165, 643 |
5, 763, 741 |
| Plus interest and finance costs incl. swap interest paid |
2, 672, 867 |
2, 623, 240 |
| Less interest income |
(74, 697) |
(126, 236) |
| Plus depreciation |
8, 090, 675 |
8, 370, 572 |
| Adjusted EBITDA |
17, 854, 488 |
16, 631, 317 |
| EPS – Adjusted EPS | ||
| Net income |
7, 632, 078 |
5, 831, 920 |
| Adjusted net income |
7, 165, 643 |
5, 763, 741 |
| Weighted average number of shares |
33, 751, 847 |
42, 037, 738 |
| EPS – Basic and Diluted |
0.23 |
0.14 |
| Adjusted EPS |
0.21 |
0.14 |
StealthGas Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Income
(Expressed in United States Dollars, except number of shares)
|
First Quarter Ended March 31, |
||||||||
|
2014 |
2015 |
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
| Revenues | ||||||||
| Revenues |
31, 450, 716 |
33, 242, 168 |
||||||
| Revenues – related party |
2, 433, 750 |
2, 433, 750 |
||||||
| Total revenues |
33, 884, 466 |
35, 675, 918 |
||||||
| Expenses | ||||||||
| Voyage expenses |
2, 700, 724 |
3, 821, 073 |
||||||
| Voyage expenses – related party |
413, 725 |
432, 331 |
||||||
| Charter hire expenses |
— |
1, 031, 908 |
||||||
| Vessels’ operating expenses |
9, 697, 564 |
10, 676, 563 |
||||||
| Vessels’ operating expenses – related party |
979, 770 |
1, 024, 564 |
||||||
| Drydocking costs |
363, 016 |
— |
||||||
| Management fees – related party |
1, 276, 700 |
1, 510, 280 |
||||||
| General and administrative expenses |
665, 117 |
923, 828 |
||||||
| Depreciation |
8, 090, 675 |
8, 370, 572 |
||||||
| Total expenses |
24, 187, 291 |
27, 791, 119 |
||||||
| Income from operations |
9, 697, 175 |
7, 884, 799 |
||||||
| Other (expenses)/income | ||||||||
| Interest and finance costs |
(2, 065, 861) |
(2, 213, 994) |
||||||
| Loss on derivatives |
(69, 505) |
(59, 691) |
||||||
| Interest income |
74, 697 |
126, 236 |
||||||
| Foreign exchange (loss)/gain |
(4, 428) |
94, 570 |
||||||
| Other expenses, net |
(2, 065, 097) |
(2, 052, 879) |
||||||
| Net income |
7, 632, 078 |
5, 831, 920 |
||||||
| Earnings per share | ||||||||
| – Basic and diluted |
0.23 |
0.14 |
||||||
| Weighted average number of shares | ||||||||
| -Basic and diluted |
33, 751, 847 |
42, 037, 738 |
||||||
StealthGas Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Expressed in United States Dollars)
|
December 31, |
|
March 31, |
||||||
|
|
2014 |
2015 |
||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||
| Assets | ||||||||
| Current assets | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents |
129, 114, 803 |
127, 520, 443 |
||||||
| Receivables from related party |
104, 476 |
— |
||||||
| Trade and other receivables |
3, 211, 563 |
3, 697, 229 |
||||||
| Claims receivable |
70, 273 |
164, 312 |
||||||
| Inventories |
2, 958, 666 |
2, 771, 121 |
||||||
| Advances and prepayments |
1, 386, 003 |
1, 362, 098 |
||||||
| Restricted cash |
2, 896, 677 |
4, 898, 975 |
||||||
| Vessel held for sale |
— |
1, 978, 551 |
||||||
| Total current assets |
139, 742, 461 |
142, 392, 729 |
||||||
| Non current assets | ||||||||
| Advances for vessels under construction and acquisitions |
88, 965, 085 |
81, 984, 536 |
||||||
| Vessels, net |
711, 352, 845 |
715, 814, 028 |
||||||
| Other receivables |
228, 494 |
628, 494 |
||||||
| Restricted cash |
2, 500, 000 |
2, 500, 000 |
||||||
| Deferred finance charges, net of accumulated | ||||||||
| amortization of $2, 868, 432 and $3, 013, 508 |
3, 090, 918 |
2, 945, 842 |
||||||
| Total non current assets |
806, 137, 342 |
803, 872, 900 |
||||||
| Total assets |
945, 879, 803 |
946, 265, 629 |
||||||
| Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity | ||||||||
| Current liabilities | ||||||||
| Payable to related party |
4, 941, 896 |
4, 322, 916 |
||||||
| Trade accounts payable |
8, 843, 593 |
8, 798, 907 |
||||||
| Accrued and other liabilities |
3, 903, 027 |
5, 315, 452 |
||||||
| Deferred income |
6, 892, 328 |
7, 183, 901 |
||||||
| Fair value of derivatives |
583, 368 |
1, 722, 519 |
||||||
| Current portion of long-term debt |
42, 614, 213 |
46, 306, 317 |
||||||
| Total current liabilities |
67, 778, 425 |
73, 650, 012 |
||||||
| Non current liabilities | ||||||||
| Fair value of derivatives |
1, 873, 295 |
599, 338 |
||||||
| Customer deposits |
— |
1, 820, 700 |
||||||
| Deferred gain on sale and leaseback of vessels |
775, 741 |
727, 650 |
||||||
| Deferred income |
172, 428 |
— |
||||||
| Long-term debt |
282, 889, 640 |
276, 726, 963 |
||||||
| Total non current liabilities |
285, 711, 104 |
279, 874, 651 |
||||||
| Total liabilities |
353, 489, 529 |
353, 524, 663 |
||||||
| Stockholders’ equity | ||||||||
| Capital stock |
442, 850 |
442, 850 |
||||||
| Treasury stock |
(7, 541, 264) |
(13, 113, 078) |
||||||
| Additional paid-in capital |
499, 862, 062 |
500, 167, 397 |
||||||
| Retained earnings |
99, 919, 646 |
105, 751, 566 |
||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss |
(293, 020) |
(507, 769) |
||||||
| Total stockholders’ equity |
592, 390, 274 |
592, 740, 966 |
||||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity |
945, 879, 803 |
946, 265, 629 |
||||||
StealthGas Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Expressed in United States Dollars)
|
First Quarter Ended March 31st, |
||||||||||
|
|
2014 |
2015 |
||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
| Cash flows from operating activities | ||||||||||
| Net income for the period |
7, 632, 078 |
5, 831, 920 |
||||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash | ||||||||||
| provided by operating activities: | ||||||||||
| Depreciation |
8, 090, 675 |
8, 370, 572 |
||||||||
| Amortization of deferred finance charges |
168, 780 |
145, 076 |
||||||||
| Amortization of deferred gain on sale and leaseback of vessels |
— |
(48, 091) |
||||||||
| Unrealized exchange differences |
(1, 089) |
(23, 959) |
||||||||
| Share based compensation |
72, 155 |
305, 335 |
||||||||
| Change in fair value of derivatives |
(537, 501) |
(349, 555) |
||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||||
| (Increase)/decrease in | ||||||||||
| Trade and other receivables |
939, 057 |
(885, 666) |
||||||||
| Claims receivable |
— |
(583, 643) |
||||||||
| Inventories |
102, 842 |
187, 545 |
||||||||
| Advances and prepayments |
73, 218 |
23, 905 |
||||||||
| Increase/(decrease) in | ||||||||||
| Balances with related parties |
336, 573 |
(514, 504) |
||||||||
| Trade accounts payable |
1, 154, 450 |
473, 247 |
||||||||
| Accrued and other liabilities |
495, 496 |
353, 582 |
||||||||
| Deferred income |
(656, 366) |
119, 145 |
||||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities |
17, 870, 368 |
13, 404, 909 |
||||||||
| Cash flows from investing activities | ||||||||||
| Insurance proceeds |
40, 410 |
489, 604 |
||||||||
| Vessels acquisitions and advances for vessels under construction |
(27, 055, 490) |
(7, 829, 757) |
||||||||
| Proceeds from sale of vessels, net |
— |
1, 058, 843 |
||||||||
| Increase in restricted cash account |
(1, 385, 461) |
(2, 002, 298) |
||||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities |
(28, 400, 541) |
(8, 283, 608) |
||||||||
| Cash flows from financing activities | ||||||||||
| Stock repurchase |
— |
(6, 089, 747) |
||||||||
| Net proceeds from common stock issuance |
31, 885, 501 |
— |
||||||||
| Customer deposits received |
— |
1, 820, 700 |
||||||||
| Loan repayments |
(10, 614, 248) |
(23, 395, 573) |
||||||||
| Proceeds from long-term debt |
17, 150, 000 |
20, 925, 000 |
||||||||
| Net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities |
38, 421, 253 |
(6, 739, 620) |
||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash |
1, 089 |
23, 959 |
||||||||
| Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents |
27, 892, 169 |
(1, 594, 360) |
||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year |
86, 218, 517 |
129, 114, 803 |
||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period |
114, 110, 686 |
127, 520, 443 |
||||||||
Stealth maritime corp. is happy to announce that mr Lambros Babilis has been appointed CEO of the company with immediate effect. Mr Babilis has studied Naval Architecture and Mechanical Engineering in National Technical University of Athens, has been since 2000 a long serving employee of the group and has climbed the ranks quickly to become group COO. The shareholders have decided that he is the right person to lead the company that was founded in 1999 and now controls 21 tankers evenly split between aframaxes and product tankers. In addition stealth maritime manages technically and commercially abt 50 gas carriers for stealthgas, the listed subsidiary of the group. Mr Babilis is deputy chairman of stealthgas as well.
