Belships ASA

Report 1st quarter 2024

SIMPLIFYING THE BUSINESS AND 100 PER CENT PAYOUT

HIGHLIGHTS

• EBITDA of USD 31.3m including USD 4.7m from Lighthouse Navigation
• Net result of USD 15.7m
• Declared dividend of NOK 0.60 per share – 100 per cent pay out due to solid cash position
• TCE of USD 16 731 gross per day for owned fleet – 29 per cent outperformance of BSI-58
• Prepaid USD 13.5m of bank debt – increasing the number of debt free vessels to four
• 74 per cent of ship days in Q2 2024 are fixed at USD 16 700 gross per day
• 43 per cent of ship days in the next four quarters are fixed at USD 16 500 gross per day
• Cash breakeven for 2024 of about USD 10 900 per day per vessel
• Modern fleet of 40x Supra/Ultramax vessels including 10x newbuildings

Subsequent events
Belships has entered into an agreement to divest its stake of 50 per cent in Lighthouse Navigation Pte Ltd, which is a dry bulk operating company based in Asia. In exchange for these shares, Belships has acquired 33 per cent of the shares in Lighthouse Navigation Management AS, increasing Belships’ ownership to 67 per cent in the company which focuses on dry bulk operating in the Atlantic. In addition, Belships will receive a cash consideration of USD 14m which will be paid to Belships over the next 15 months. This transaction is aimed at focusing and simplifying Belships’ investment within dry bulk operating. Please see further information under ‘Lighthouse Navigation’ below.

Belships has expanded its newbuilding program with two new 64 000 dwt Ultramax bulk carriers which will be delivered in 2028. The vessels are leased on similar terms as previously announced transactions, and Belships is not required to make any down payments for these vessels. The agreements are conditional upon certain steps to be completed by the parties involved.

Belships has agreed to amend a USD 90m Term Loan Facility for six vessels, which is the only senior secured bank loan in the company today. Four vessels will remain debt free. The Loan Facility has an interest rate of SOFR+195 bps which is 55 bps lower than the previous facility. The loan matures in April 2029 and the first instalment is due in 2025. Furthermore, a new undrawn Accordion Tranche of USD 100m will be available. The lenders in the Loan Facility are DNB Bank, Nordea and Sparebank 1 SR-Bank.