GasLog Ltd. and its subsidiaries, an international owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) carriers, reported its financial results for the quarter and the year ended December 31, 2018.
Highlights of the Quarter and the Year
• Record quarterly Revenues, Profit, Earnings per share(1), record EBITDA(2), record Adjusted EBITDA(2), record Adjusted Profit(2) and record Adjusted Earnings per share(1)(2) of $188.6 million, $30.4 million, $0.14, $145.0 million, $145.0 million, $62.5 million and $0.54, respectively.
• Record annual Revenues, record Profit, Earnings per share(1), record EBITDA(2), record Adjusted EBITDA(2), record Adjusted Profit(2) and Adjusted Earnings per share(1)(2) of $618.3 million, $126.4 million, $0.47, $447.5 million, $447.7 million, $134.8 million and $0.57, respectively.
• Highest ever quarterly net pool performance from our vessels trading in the spot market under the LNG carrier pooling agreement (the “Cool Pool”) following a significant increase in LNG shipping spot rates and utilization.
• Signed two seven-year charter parties with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (“Cheniere”), for two newbuild LNG carriers. The vessels, 180,000 cubic meter (“cbm”) LNG carriers with dual fuel two stroke engine propulsion (“LP-2S”) and GTT Mark III Flex Plus containment systems, were ordered from Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (“Samsung”) and are scheduled for delivery in the second and third quarters of 2021.
• Completed the sale of the Methane Becki Anne to GasLog Partners LP (“GasLog Partners” or the “Partnership”) for $207.4 million on November 14, 2018 with attached multi-year charter to a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”).
• GasLog Partners completed a public offering of 8.500% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Fixed to Floating Rate Preference Units (the “Partnership’s Series C Preference Units”), raising gross proceeds of $100.0 million and net proceeds of $96.3 million.
• Modified the Partnership Agreement with GasLog Partners to reduce GasLog’s incentive distribution rights (“IDRs”) on quarterly distributions above $0.5625 per unit from 48% to 23% and waive IDRs on assets or businesses acquired by the Partnership from third parties in exchange for a cash consideration of $25.0 million.
• Special dividend of $0.40 per common share paid on December 17, 2018.
• Quarterly dividend of $0.15 per common share payable on March 14, 2019, an increase of 7.1% over the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Announced share repurchase programme of up to $50.0 million.
(1) Earnings/(loss) per share (“EPS”) and Adjusted EPS are net of the profit attributable to the non-controlling interests of $16.6 million and the dividend on preferred stock of $2.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 ($20.8 million and $2.5 million, respectively, for the quarter ended December 31, 2017) and net of the profit attributable to the non-controlling interests of $78.7 million and the dividend on preferred stock of $10.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 ($68.7 million and $10.1 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2017).
(2) EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Profit and Adjusted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures and should not be used in isolation or as a substitute for GasLog’s financial results presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). For the definitions and reconciliations of these measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS, please refer to Exhibit II at the end of this press release.
CEO Statement
Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “GasLog delivered another set of record results in the fourth quarter of 2018 driven in large part by very strong earnings from our spot vessels against a backdrop of extreme tightness in the LNG shipping market. These spot earnings, combined with our fleet growth during the year, our strong operational performance and strict cost control, delivered record annual results for Revenues, EBITDA and Profit and allowed us both to increase our common dividend by 7.1% and to declare our first special dividend in November.
During 2018, we continued to execute our growth strategy. We announced seven newbuild orders, six of which are committed to long-term charters, four with Cheniere and two with a wholly owned subsidiary of Centrica plc (“Centrica”). We are very pleased to continue to develop and strengthen our relationship with these two important customers.
GasLog Partners issued over $320.0 million of new equity in 2018, of which over $200.0 million was recycled to GasLog as consideration for the two dropdowns and the modification of the IDRs which will permanently reduce the Partnership’s expected cost of capital. The equity recycled to GasLog and our declining leverage mean that we are well placed to fund our newbuild vessels under construction.
The continued growth of our fleet, the improvement in spot earnings and our cost control measures mean we have made significant progress towards meeting our target of more than doubling consolidated annualized EBITDA over the 2017-2022 period.
While spot rates have recently moderated from fourth quarter peaks, in line with historical seasonal trends, we expect tightness in LNG shipping markets to return given forecast LNG supply growth through 2020 and relatively few uncommitted newbuild vessels delivering in that period.
As we look beyond 2020, additional shipping capacity will be required if consensus LNG demand and supply forecasts are realized. However, whilst we now believe that the LNG shipping market is heading towards a balanced state early next decade, the long-term secular growth of LNG supply and demand mean that, over the medium and long-term, GasLog will continue to serve a dynamic and growing industry.
