ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 23, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 fourth quarter and twelve months ended December 31, 2010.
Highlights:
- Net income of $4.3 million or $0.21 per share and $11.1 million or $0.51 per share for the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2010, respectively.
- Voyage Revenues of $29.1 million and $111.4 million for the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2010, respectively.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $13.2 million and $45.1 million for the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2010, respectively.
Fourth Quarter 2010 Results:
For the three months ended December 31, 2010, voyage revenues amounted to $29.1 million, an increase of $0.7 million, or 2.5%, compared to voyage revenues of $28.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2009. The net income for the three months ended December 31, 2010 was $4.3 million or $0.21 per share, an increase of $31.5 million, from net loss of $27.2 million or $(1.22) per share for the three months ended December 31, 2009.
For the three months ended December 31, 2010, the Company had a $1.3 million realized cash loss on interest rate swap arrangements, a $1.3 million unrealized non-cash profit on interest rate swap arrangements and foreign currency hedging arrangements, and a $0.6 million non-cash gain due to exchange rate movements on foreign currency deposits. This compares to a realized cash loss of $1.4 million and to an unrealized non-cash loss on interest rate swap arrangements and foreign currency hedging arrangements of $3.0 million, as well as a $9.9 million non-cash impairment loss on vessels held for sale and a $10.75 million loss in consideration of the previously announced agreement to cancel the acquisition of the Stealth Argentina on top of the already paid deposit for the three months ended December 31, 2009.
Voyage and operating expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2010 were $4.1 million and $9.7 million respectively, compared to $3.4 million and $10.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2009. The increase of voyage expenses was due primarily to the increased level of fleet operational utilization during the quarter under spot voyage charters.
Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended December 31, 2010 amounted to $13.2 million, an increase of $30.8 million from a loss of $17.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2009. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income and to Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities is set forth below.
An average of 38.0 vessels were owned by the Company in the three months ended December 31, 2010, earning an average time-charter equivalent rate of approximately $7,195 per day as compared to 42.8 vessels, earning an average time-charter equivalent rate of $6,399 per day for the same period of 2009.
Full Year 2010 Results
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2010, voyage revenues amounted to $111.4 million and net income was $11.1 million, a decrease of $1.6 million, or 1.4%, and an increase of $24.4 million respectively, from voyage revenues of $113.0 million and net loss of $13.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 net income included a profit on the sale of vessel in the second quarter of $1.0 million compared to a loss of $0.8 million on the sale of vessels in 2009. Net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009 also included an impairment loss of $9.9 million on vessels held for sale, plus a $10.75 million loss due to cancellation of the delivery of the Stealth Argentina on top of the already paid deposit, compared to zero for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010.
Basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.51 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 as compared to basic and diluted loss per share of $(0.60) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009.
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2010, the Company had a $6.1 million realized cash loss on interest rate swap arrangements, a $0.02 million unrealized non-cash gain on interest rate swap arrangements and foreign currency hedging arrangements, and a $1.7 million non-cash gain due to exchange rate movements on foreign currency deposits. This compares to a realized cash loss of $4.8 million and an unrealized non-cash loss on interest rate swap arrangements and foreign currency hedging arrangements of $1.5 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009.
Voyage expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 amounted to $13.7 million, an increase of $3.2 million, or 30.5%, from $10.5 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009. This increase was due to the higher number of vessels operating under spot voyage charters during the year. Operating expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 amounted to $38.3 million, an increase of $0.3 million, or 0.8%, from operating expenses of $38.0 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009.
Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 amounted to $45.1 million, an increase of $23.0 million, or 104.1%, from $22.1 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income and to Net Cash provided by operating activities is set forth below.
An average of 38.6 vessels were owned by the Company in the twelve months ended December 31, 2010, earning an average time-charter equivalent rate of approximately $7,064 per day as compared to 42.0 vessels, earning an average time-charter equivalent rate of $6,727 per day for 2009.
CEO Harry Vafias commented:
The fourth quarter of 2010 was another profitable quarter for our Company. Following two challenging quarters, we saw a marked improvement in demand for our core LPG segment in the last quarter of the year. This improvement was evidenced in our ability to arrange new long term charters, as previously announced, and in increased revenues from the vessels trading in the spot market. I believe that underpinning this demand are both seasonal and fundamental factors.
The Company's focus on the small LPG sector of the shipping industry, with a current fleet of thirty four gas carriers, has shielded us from the current challenging environment that persists in the dry bulk and tanker sectors, while our prudent strategy to arrange long term charters for our three product tankers and one aframax tanker has protected our revenue stream.
During 2010 the Company focused on strengthening its balance sheet and increasing its cash resources, by divesting five older vessels and at the same time cautiously diversified in the tanker sector with the addition to the fleet of one resale aframax tanker. At the same time we arranged twenty new charters of over one year duration at higher average rates than the previous ones which we consider to be a sign of a healthy market. We will continue to look for opportunities to sell selectively some of the older vessels in our fleet as we reach a milestone for the Company with the delivery of the first 4 Newbuilding LPG's carriers in 2011 and 1 in 2012. As previously announced, financing for all five Newbuilding vessels has been arranged as well as a 2 year time charter for the first one delivering at the end of this month.
Last but not least we welcome our new Chief Financial Officer Mr. Konstantinos Sistovaris who replaced Mr. Andrew Simmons. We wish him all the best and we are certain that he will exceed our expectations.
Conference Call details:
On February 23, 2011 at 11:00 am EST, the company's management will host a conference call to discuss the results and the company's operations and outlook.
Participants should dial into the call 10 minutes before the scheduled time using the following numbers: 1888 935 4577 (US Toll Free Dial In) or 0800 028 1299 (UK Toll Free Dial In).
In case of any problems with the above numbers, please dial +1 212 444 0412 (US Toll Dial In), or +44 (0)20 7806 1953 (Standard International Dial In). Please quote "7676423".
A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available until March 2, 2011 by dialing 1866 932 5017 (US Toll Free Dial In), 0800 358 7735 (UK Toll Free Dial In) or +44 (0)207 111 1244 (Standard International Dial In). Access Code: 7676423#
Slides and audio webcast:
There will also be a live-and then archived webcast of the conference call, through the STEALTHGAS INC. website ( www.stealthgas.com ). Participants to the live webcast should register on the website approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the webcast.
Fleet Profile and Fleet Deployment:
The table below shows the Company's fleet development and deployment as of today:
LPG Carrier Fleet
Tanker Fleet
- F.P.: Fully-Pressurized
- S.R.: Semi-Refrigerated
- M.R.: Medium Range
(1) Earliest date charters could expire.
(2) Gas Evoluzione is deployed from November 2010 under a time charter until August 2011. The Charterer has an option declarable in April 2011 to extend the charter for a further three months.
About STEALTHGAS INC.
Headquartered in Athens, Greece, STEALTHGAS INC. is a ship-owning company primarily serving the liquified petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry. STEALTHGAS INC. currently has a fleet of 34 LPG carriers with a total capacity of 155,204 cubic meters (cbm), three M.R. product tankers and one Aframax oil tanker. The company has also entered into agreements to acquire five new building LPG carriers with expected delivery from February 2011 through May 2012. Once these acquisitions are completed, STEALTHGAS INC.'s fleet will be composed of 39 LPG carriers with a total capacity of 185,204 cubic meters (cbm), 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".
Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance and may include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although STEALTHGAS INC. believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, STEALTHGAS INC. cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including changes in charter hire rates and vessel values, charter counterparty performance, changes in demand that may affect attitudes of time charterers to scheduled and unscheduled dry dockings, changes in STEALTHGAS INC.'s operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, ability to obtain financing and comply with covenants in our financing arrangements, or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents and political events or acts by terrorists.
Risks and uncertainties are further described in reports filed by STEALTHGAS INC. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Fleet Data:
The following key indicators highlight the Company's operating performance during the fourth quarters ended December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2010.
The following key indicators highlight the Company's operating performance during the twelve months ended December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2010.
1) Average number of vessels is the number of 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 time charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels in our fleet operated on time 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.
8) Time charter equivalent, or TCE, is a measure of the average daily revenue performance of a vessel on a per voyage basis. Our method of calculating TCE is consistent with industry standards and is determined by dividing voyage revenues (net of voyage expenses) by voyage days for the relevant time period. Voyage expenses primarily consist of port, canal and fuel costs that are unique to a particular voyage, which would otherwise be paid by the charterer under a time charter contract, as well as commissions. TCE is a standard shipping industry performance measure used primarily to compare period-to-period changes in a shipping company's performance despite changes in the mix of charter types (i.e., spot charters, time charters and bareboat charters) under which the vessels may be employed between the periods.
9) Vessel operating expenses, which include crew costs, provisions, deck and engine stores, lubricating oil, insurance, maintenance and repairs, is calculated by dividing vessel operating expenses by fleet calendar days for the relevant time period.
10) Total operating expenses, or TOE, is a measurement of our total expenses associated with operating our vessels. TOE is the sum of vessel operating expenses and general and administrative expenses. Daily TOE is calculated by dividing TOE by fleet calendar days for the relevant time period.
Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation:
Adjusted EBITDA represents net earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and amortization of fair value of acquired time charters. Adjusted EBITDA does not represent and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or cash flow from operations, as determined by the United States generally accepted accounting principles, and our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to that reported by other companies in the shipping or other industries.
Adjusted EBITDA is included herein because it is a basis upon which we assess our financial performance and liquidity position and because we believe that it presents useful information to investors regarding a company's ability to service and/or incur indebtedness.
Adjusted EBITDA reconciliation for the fourth quarters ended December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2010:
Adjusted EBITDA reconciliation for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2010:
CONTACT: Konstantinos Sistovaris Chief Financial Officer STEALTHGAS INC. 011-30-210-6250-001 E-mail: sistovaris@stealthgas.com
