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 twelve months ended December 31, 2020.
OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS1
• Fleet utilization of 98.5% with 60 days of technical off hire mainly as a result of two drydockings completed within Q4 2020.
• Fleet operational utilization of 93.6% mainly due to a number of our ships having a presence in the spot market – equivalent to 28.7% of calendar days.
• Fleet calendar days, down by 2% quarter over quarter to 3,873 – the decrease attributable mostly to our strategic fleet contraction.
• About 50% of fleet days secured on period charters for the remainder of 2021 (74% for Q1 21’), with total fleet employment days for all subsequent periods (up until June 2024), generating approximately $81 million in contracted revenues. Including the JV time charters, total secured revenues amount to $92 million.
• Delivery of a 11,000 cbm newbuilding LPG vessel, the Eco Blizzard, on February 5, 2021 – thus completing our capital expenditure schedule.
• Sale of our oldest vessel the Gas Pasha (1995 built) on December 7, 2020 for further trading.
• Following our recent S&P activity, our average LPG fleet age (including our JV vessels) is 9 years.
• Voyage revenues of $37.3 million in Q4 ’20, an increase of $2.1 million compared to Q4 ’19 mostly due to a 50% reduction of bareboat activity where generated revenue is inherently lower and an increase of time charter revenues stemming from our larger LPG vessels.
• Net loss of $0.7 million in Q4 20’ corresponding to a net loss per share of $0.02 compared to net income of $0.5 million in Q4 ’19 corresponding to an EPS of $0.01.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $13.7 million in Q4 20’ compared to $15.1 million in Q4 ’19.
• Low gearing, as debt to assets stands at 37.3%, and quarter- over- quarter reduction in finance costs by $1.4 million.
• Total cash, including restricted cash, of $53.0 million as of December 31, 2020 – increased compared to the previous quarter end following the post-delivery financing of the LPG newbuilding Eco Alice.
• Adjusted net income of $1.1 million for Q4 20’ corresponding to an Adjusted EPS of $0.03 while for the year 2020 our Adjusted net income was $16.9 million corresponding to an Adjusted EPS of $0.44 – a good performance given difficult market conditions.
Twelve Months 2020 Results:
• Revenues for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 amounted to $145.0 million, an increase of $0.7 million, or 0.5%, compared to revenues of $144.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, due to higher revenues stemming from our time charter contracts along with a reduction of our bareboat activity, partially offset by the reduction of our fleet calendar days by 6.3% and the significant reduction in the calendar days of our charter-in vessels.
• Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 were $14.1 million and $53.3 million, respectively, compared to $17.0 million and $49.6 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019. The $2.9 million decrease in voyage expenses is mostly attributed to the 18.7% reduction in bunker costs due to low prevailing oil prices. The $3.7 million increase in vessels’ operating expenses is mostly due to fewer vessels on bareboat and increased crew costs faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Drydocking costs for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were $3.6 million and $1.1 million, respectively. The costs for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 mainly related to the drydocking of seven vessels, while the costs for the same period of last year related to the docking survey of one small LPG and the drydocking of two LPG vessels.
• General and Administrative expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 amounted to $2.3 million compared to $3.7 million for the same period of last year. This decrease is mainly attributed to the fact that for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 share based compensation expense was incurred, which was not the case for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 since all the shares awarded under our equity compensation plan vested in August 2019.
• Depreciation for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, was $37.5 million, a $0.2 million decrease from $37.7 million for the same period of last year, due to the decrease in the average number of our vessels.
• Impairment loss for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 was $3.9 million and related to four of our oldest vessels. The impairment loss for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $1.0 million and related to two vessels.
• Interest and finance costs for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were $14.1 million and $21.0 million, respectively. The $6.9 million decrease from the same period of last year is mostly due to the decline of LIBOR rates in 2020, along with the decrease of our indebtedness.
• Equity gain in joint ventures for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was $2.7 million and $0.5 million, respectively. The $2.2 million increase from the same period of last year is mainly due to the profitability of the three secondhand (2010 built) 35,000 cbm medium gas carriers which operated under a joint venture arrangement since Q1 ‘20.
• As a result of the above, the Company reported net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 of $12.0 million, compared to net income of $2.1 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019. The weighted average number of shares outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 was 38.4 million and 39.8 million, respectively. Earnings per share for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 amounted to $0.31 compared to earnings per share of $0.05 for the same period of last year.
• Adjusted net income was $16.9 million, or $0.44 per share, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 compared to adjusted net income of $4.3 million, or $0.11 per share, for the same period of last year.
• EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 amounted to $63.4 million. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income are set forth below.
• An average of 41.6 vessels were owned by the Company during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, compared to 42.6 vessels for the same period of 2019.
• As of December 31, 2020, cash and cash equivalents amounted to $38.2 million and total debt amounted to $351.8 million. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 debt repayments amounted to $41.8 million.
Fleet Update Since Previous Announcement
The Company announced the conclusion of the following chartering arrangements:
• A three year time charter extension for its 2014 built LPG carrier, the Eco Elysium, to a Major Energy Conglomerate until June 2024.
A two year time charter for its 2011 built LPG carrier, the Gas Myth, to a Major International Chemical Producer until January 2023.
A one year time charter for its 2014 built LPG carrier, the Eco Corsair, to an Oil Major until February 2022.
A one year time charter for its 2015 built LPG carrier, the Eco Enigma, to a Major International Trading House until January 2022.
A one year time charter for its 2014 built LPG carrier, the Eco Royalty, to an Oil Major until February 2022.
A one year time charter for its 2014 built LPG carrier, the Eco Loyalty, to an Oil Major until February 2022.
A six months time charter for its 2008 built Product Tanker, the Clean Thrasher, to an Energy Trader until August 2021.
A four months time charter for its 2016 built LPG carrier, the Eco Nical, to an International LPG Trader until June 2021.
A three months time charter for its 2015 built LPG carrier, the Eco Czar, to an International LPG Trader until May 2021.
A two months time charter for its 2016 built LPG carrier, the Eco Dominator, to an International LPG Trader until March 2021.
With these charters, the Company has total contracted revenues of approximately $81 million.
Total anticipated fleet days of our fleet is approximately 50% covered for the remainder of 2021.
Board Chairman Michael Jolliffe Commented
The year 2020 will always be remembered globally for precarious reasons and the shipping world was not spared. With regards to the segment we operate in, LPG demand marked a decline and rates for the majority of the sub-segments we operate in were soft- particularly during the second half of 2020. The tanker market was affected as well as, currently, rates are at very low levels in the shipping cycle. On top of that, we were hit with the bankruptcy of one of our charterers which had to redeliver four of our ships earlier than was agreed.
Nevertheless, with an Adjusted Net Income of almost $17 million, corresponding to an Adjusted EPS of $0.44 generated in 2020, we feel positive for 2021.
Looking ahead, we recognize that market turbulence due to the COVID-19 pandemic might last – possibly even throughout the whole of 2021. However, we can leverage upon our strengths including our solid cash base and balance sheet, our low gearing and the significant operating leverage we have, as including our JV vessels we operate a fleet of 50 ships.
As our shares trade at low levels, we strongly believe that this is an opportunity for potential investors as we have a long standing record of a sturdy and prudent company with a strong position in the segment in which we operate in.
StealthGas Inc. is a ship-owning company primarily serving the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry. StealthGas Inc. has a fleet of 50 vessels. The fleet is comprised of 46 LPG carriers, including eight Joint Venture vessels. These LPG vessels have a total capacity of 436,692 cubic meters (cbm). The Company also owns three M.R. product tankers and one Aframax oil tanker with a total capacity of 255,804 deadweight tons (dwt). StealthGas Inc.’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and trade under the symbol “GASS.”
