Scorpio Tankers Inc. reported its results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020. The Company also announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share on the Company’s common stock.
Results for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
For the three months ended December 31, 2020, the Company had a net loss of $76.3 million, or $1.41 basic and diluted loss per share. For the three months ended December 31, 2020, the Company had an adjusted net loss (see Non-IFRS Measures section below) of $56.6 million, or $1.04 basic and diluted loss per share, which excludes from the net loss (i) $2.8 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted share, of losses recorded on the extinguishment of debt during the period, which resulted from the refinancing of certain credit facilities and lease financing arrangements, and (ii) impairment charges of $16.8 million, or $0.31 per basic and diluted share.
For the three months ended December 31, 2019, the Company had net income of $12.0 million, or $0.22 basic and $0.21 diluted earnings per share. For the three months ended December 31, 2019, the Company’s adjusted net income (see Non-IFRS Measures section below) was $12.8 million, or $0.23 basic and diluted earnings per share, which excludes from net income a $0.7 million, or $0.01 per basic and diluted share, write-off of deferred financing fees.
Results for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company had net income of $94.1 million, or $1.72 basic and $1.67 diluted earnings per share. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company had an adjusted net income (see Non-IFRS Measures section below) of $114.0 million, or $2.09 basic and $2.02 diluted earnings per share, which excludes from net income (i) a $1.0 million, or $0.02 per basic and diluted share, gain recorded on the Company’s repurchase of its Convertible Notes due 2022 during the third quarter of 2020, (ii) $4.1 million, or $0.07 per basic and diluted share, of losses recorded on the extinguishment of debt during the year, which resulted from the refinancing of certain credit facilities and lease financing arrangements, and (iii) impairment charges of $16.8 million, or $0.31 per basic and $0.30 per diluted share.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company had a net loss of $48.5 million, or $0.97 basic and diluted loss per share. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company’s adjusted net loss (see Non-IFRS Measures section below) was $47.0 million, or $0.94 basic and diluted loss per share, which excludes from the net loss a $1.5 million, or $0.03 per basic and diluted share, write-off of deferred financing fees.
Declaration of Dividend
On February 17, 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per common share, payable on or about March 15, 2021 to all shareholders of record as of March 2, 2021 (the record date). As of February 17, 2021, there were 58,093,147 common shares of the Company outstanding.
Summary of Fourth Quarter and Other Recent Significant Events
Below is a summary of the average daily Time Charter Equivalent (“TCE”) revenue (see Non-IFRS Measures section below) and duration of contracted pool voyages and time charters for the Company’s vessels thus far in the first quarter of 2021 as of the date hereof (See footnotes to “Other operating data” table below for the definition of daily TCE revenue):
Below is a summary of the average daily TCE revenue earned by the Company’s vessels in each of the pools during the fourth quarter of 2020:
• In January 2021, the Company entered into a note distribution agreement with B. Riley Securities, Inc., as sales agent, pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time, up to $75.0 million of additional aggregate principal amount of its 7.00% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2025 (the “Senior Notes due 2025”). Since its inception, the Company has issued $7.6 million aggregate principal amount of Senior Notes due 2025 under the program, resulting in $7.4 million in aggregate net proceeds (net of underwriters commissions and expenses). See “Distribution Agreement of Additional Senior Notes due 2025” below for additional information.
• The Company has committed financing to increase liquidity by approximately $20.8 million, consisting of:
• $18.9 million from the refinancing of two vessels (after the repayment of existing debt).
• $1.9 million from the drawdown of financing for a scrubber that has been previously paid for and installed (i.e. there are no additional payments needed in order to drawdown these funds).
• All of the above funds are expected to be drawn down before the end of the first quarter of 2021.
• The Company is also in discussions with financial institutions to further increase liquidity by up to $61.2 million in connection with the refinancing of 15 vessels.
• In addition to the above, the Company has $20.0 million of additional liquidity available (after the repayment of existing debt) from previously announced financings that have been committed. These drawdowns are expected to occur at varying points in the future as these financings are tied to scrubber installations on the Company’s vessels.
• The Company has $204.1 million in cash and cash equivalents as of February 17, 2021.
• The Company recorded an aggregate impairment charge to certain of its vessels and goodwill of $16.8 million as of December 31, 2020. Under IFRS, impairment losses are calculated as the excess of a vessel’s carrying amount over its recoverable amount. Recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s (i) fair value less costs to sell and (ii) value in use. Value in use is determined by discounting the estimated future cash flows of each vessel to their present value using a discount rate that reflects the risks specific to the asset. At December 31, 2020, the Company’s value in use calculations for certain of the MRs in its fleet were below their carrying amounts which resulted in an impairment charge of $14.2 million. The recoverable amount of goodwill is tested in a similar manner, and the Company’s testing of the carrying value of its goodwill relating to its LR1 reportable segment (which arose from the Company’s acquisition of Navig8 Product Tankers Inc. in 2017), resulted in an additional impairment charge of $2.6 million.
Distribution Agreement of Additional Senior Notes due 2025
In January 2021, the Company entered into a note distribution agreement (the “Distribution Agreement”) with B. Riley Securities, Inc., as sales agent (the “Agent”), under which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time, up to an additional $75.0 million aggregate principal amount of its Senior Notes due 2025 (the “Additional Notes”).
Any Additional Notes sold will be issued under the Indenture pursuant to which the Company previously issued $28.1 million aggregate principal amount of the Senior Notes due 2025 on May 29, 2020 (the “Initial Notes”). The Additional Notes will have the same terms as (other than date of issuance), form a single series of debt securities with and have the same CUSIP number and be fungible with, the Initial Notes immediately upon issuance, including for purposes of notices, consents, waivers, amendments and any other action permitted under the Indenture. The Senior Notes due 2025 are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “SBBA.”
Sales of the Additional Notes may be made over a period of time, and from time to time, through the Agent, in transactions involving an offering of the Senior Notes due 2025 into the existing trading market at prevailing market prices.
Since inception of this program, the Company has sold 302,566 Additional Notes for aggregate net proceeds (net of underwriting commissions and expenses) of $7.4 million.
Diluted Weighted Number of Shares
The computation of earnings or loss per share is determined by taking into consideration the potentially dilutive shares arising from (i) the Company’s equity incentive plan, and (ii) the Company’s Convertible Notes due 2022. These potentially dilutive shares are excluded from the computation of earnings or loss per share to the extent they are anti-dilutive.
The impact of the Convertible Notes due 2022 on earnings or loss per share is computed using the if-converted method. Under this method, the Company first includes the potentially dilutive impact of restricted shares issued under the Company’s equity incentive plan, and then assumes that its Convertible Notes due 2022, which were issued in May and July 2018, were converted into common shares at the beginning of each period. The if-converted method also assumes that the interest and non-cash amortization expense associated with these notes of $2.9 million and $13.9 million, during the three months and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, were not incurred. Conversion is not assumed if the results of this calculation are anti-dilutive.
The Company’s basic weighted average number of shares outstanding were 54,265,313 for the three months ended December 31, 2020. There were 55,117,113 weighted average shares outstanding including the potentially dilutive impact of restricted shares, and 59,100,976 weighted average shares outstanding under the if-converted method. Since the Company was in a net loss position, the potentially dilutive shares arising from both the Company’s restricted shares, and under the if-converted method, were anti-dilutive for purposes of calculating the loss per share. Accordingly, basic weighted average shares outstanding were used to calculate both basic and diluted loss per share for this period.
The Company’s basic weighted average number of shares outstanding were 54,665,898 for the year ended December 31, 2020. There were 56,392,311 weighted average shares outstanding including the potentially dilutive impact of restricted shares, and 61,182,447 weighted average shares outstanding under the if-converted method. The calculation of diluted earnings per share for this period was calculated by including the potentially dilutive impact of restricted shares. The calculation of diluted earnings per share under the if-converted method was anti-dilutive on the basis that under this computation, the interest and non-cash amortization expense associated with these notes of $13.9 million is assumed to have not been incurred.
COVID-19
Since the beginning of calendar year 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has spread throughout the world and has resulted in numerous actions taken by governments and governmental agencies in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the virus. These measures have resulted in a significant reduction in global economic activity and volatility in the global financial and commodities markets (including oil).
Initially, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sharp reduction of economic activity and a corresponding reduction in the global demand for oil and refined petroleum products. This period of time was marked by extreme volatility in the oil markets and the development of a steep contango in the prices of oil and refined petroleum products. Consequently, an abundance of arbitrage and floating storage opportunities opened up, which resulted in record increases in spot TCE rates during the second quarter of 2020. These market dynamics led to a build up of global oil and refined petroleum product inventories. In June 2020, the underlying oil markets stabilized and global economies began to recover, albeit at a slow pace. These conditions led to the gradual unwinding of excess inventories and thus a reduction in spot TCE rates. Spot TCE rates have remained subdued ever since, as the continuation of the unwinding of inventories, coupled with tepid demand for oil, have had an adverse impact on the demand for our vessels.
We expect that the COVID-19 virus will continue to cause volatility in the commodities markets. The scale and duration of these circumstances is unknowable but could have a material impact on our earnings, cash flow and financial condition in 2021. An estimate of the impact on our results of operations and financial condition cannot be made at this time.
$250 Million Securities Repurchase Program
In September 2020, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a Securities Repurchase Program to purchase up to an aggregate of $250 million of the Company’s securities which, in addition to its common shares, currently consist of its Senior Notes due 2025 (NYSE: SBBA), which were issued in May 2020, and Convertible Notes due 2022, which were issued in May and July 2018. No securities have been repurchased under this program since its inception through the date of this press release.
