Belships ASA

Report 4th quarter 2023

STRONG RESULTS, IMPROVED OUTLOOK

HIGHLIGHTS

• EBITDA of USD 40.8m including USD 9.6m from Lighthouse Navigation
• Net result of USD 22.6m
• Declared dividend of NOK 0.60 per share
• TCE of USD 18 449 gross per day for owned fleet – 30 per cent outperformance of BSI58
• Prepaid USD 13.2m of bank debt – increasing the number of debt free vessels
• 81 per cent of ship days in Q1 2024 are fixed at USD 17 000 gross per day
• 42 per cent of ship days in the next four quarters are fixed at USD 16 700 gross per day
• Cash breakeven for 2024 of about USD 10 900 per day per vessel
• The newest Supra/Ultramax fleet with 38 ships including eight newbuildings

Subsequent events
In January, Belships made a further debt repayment of USD 13.5m, increasing the number of unencumbered vessels to four.

Belships has entered into agreements to charter out three Ultramax vessels on index-linked contracts for periods of minimum one year each. The vessels will earn a premium of between 116-120 per cent of the Baltic Supramax Index. The vessels will be delivered in February-March, after they have completed existing fixed-rate contracts. This brings the total number of vessels on floating index-linked contracts to nine and is considered attractive due to an improved market outlook.

Financial results commentary
Belships reports a net result of USD 22.6m for Q4 2023 compared to USD 15.3m in Q3 2023. The improved net result is caused by strong contract coverage, and increased contributions from the vessels on index-linked contracts. Lighthouse Navigation delivered another solid quarter with an EBITDA contribution of USD 9.6m.

Time charter equivalent earnings (TCE) in the quarter was USD 18 449 gross per vessel per day. In comparison, the Baltic Supramax Index (BSI-58) averaged USD 14 159 gross per day. The outperformance is due to a high number of fixed period time charter contracts at levels above current market rates.

Ship operating expenses amounted to USD 5 403 per vessel per day in Q4 2023 in line with USD 5 300 per vessel per day guided in estimated cash breakeven for 2023. Full year operating expenses amounted to USD 5 239 per vessel per day.

Fleet status
The fleet sailed without significant off-hire with a total of 2 743 on-hire vessel days in Q4 2023.

Since December, Belships vessels have not transited the Red Sea, and none of our vessels have been involved in any related incidents.

Contract coverage		Q1 2024	Q2 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Fixed-rate contracts		81%	42%	28%	21%
Average fixed-rate (USD/day)		17 000	16 300	16 500	16 000
Open/Index-linked contracts		19%	58%	72%	79%
		100%	100%	100%	100%