Stealthgas Inc. (NASDAQ: GASS), a ship-owning company serving the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry, announced today its unaudited financial and operating results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2023.

OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 1

• All-time record Net Income of $27.3 million for the six-month period corresponding to a basic EPS of $0.71. Strong profitability continued for the second quarter with Net Income of $10.5 million for the three- month period corresponding to a basic EPS of $0.27.
• About 80% of fleet days are secured on period charters for the remainder of 2023, with total fleet employment days for all subsequent periods generating approximately $90 million (excl. JV vessels) in contracted revenues.
• Concluded the previously announced sale of the Eco Czar, the Eco Nemesis, the Eco Texiana and the Eco Enigma. All four vessels were sold at a profit, two were delivered during Q2 23’ and two during Q3 23’.
• Entered into an agreement to sell two more vessels, the Eco Dream and Eco Green with forward delivery in January 2024.
• Initiated a share repurchase program of up to $15 million. Up to August 11, 2023, 1.1 million shares had been repurchased.
• Massively reduced debt by $104.9 million from $245.4 million as of March 31, 2023, net of deferred finance charges, to $140.5 million as of June 30, 2023.
• Revenues at $36.7 million for Q2 23’ despite having reduced the number of vessels in the fleet from 34 vessels at the end of Q2 22’ to 29 vessels at the end of Q2 23’.

Six Months 2023 Results:

1 EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS are non-GAAP measures. Refer to the reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable financial measure in accordance with GAAP set forth later in this release.

§ Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2023, amounted to $74.7 million, a decrease of $0.4 million, or 0.5%, compared to revenues of $75.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022, primarily due to reduction in the fleet size.

§ Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2023 were $7.5 million and $27.9 million, respectively, compared to $8.9 million and $26.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022. The $1.4 million decrease in voyage expenses was mainly due to the decrease in spot days and the lower prevailing bunker prices. The $1.7 million increase in vessels’ operating expenses despite the reduction in fleet size was primarily the result of cost overruns in certain cost categories like spares and crew and was more pronounced during the Q1 23’ and less so during Q2 23. Drydocking costs for the six months ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 were $2.6 million and $0.6 million, respectively. The costs for the six months ended June 30, 2023 mainly related to the completed drydocking of three of the larger handysize vessels, while the costs for the same period of last year related to the drydocking of one smaller vessel and to the drydocking preparation of three smaller vessels.

§ Depreciation for the six months ended June 30, 2023, was $12.6 million, a $1.5 million decrease from $14.1 million for the same period of last year, due to the decrease in the average number of our vessels.

§ Impairment loss for the six months ended June 30, 2023 was $2.8 million relating to two vessels, for which the Company has entered into separate agreements to sell them to third parties. Impairment loss for the six months ended June 30, 2022 was $0.5 million relating to one vessel, for which the Company had entered into an agreement to sell and subsequently delivered to its new owner.

§ Gain on sale of vessels for the six months ended June 30, 2023 was $2.9 million, which was primarily due to the sale of two of the Company’s vessels.

§ Interest and finance costs for the six months ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 were $5.1 million and $5.1 million respectively. Despite increases in interest rates during that period interest rate costs remained flat due to the decrease of our indebtedness.

§ Equity earnings in joint ventures for the six months ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 was a gain of $10.5 million and a gain of $3.6 million, respectively. The $6.9 million increase from the same period of last year is mainly due to a gain on sale of one of the Medium Gas carriers owned by one of our joint ventures.

§ As a result of the above, the Company reported a net income for the six months ended June 30, 2023 of $27.3 million, compared to a net income of $19.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022. The weighted average number of shares outstanding as of June 30, 2023 and 2022 was 38.1 million and 37.9 million, respectively. Earnings per share, basic and diluted, for the six months ended June 30, 2023 amounted to $0.71 and $0.70, respectively compared to earnings per share, basic and diluted, of $0.52 for the same period of last year.

§ Adjusted net income was $28.0 million, or $0.74 per share, for the six months ended June 30, 2023 compared to adjusted net income of $20.0 million, or $0.53 per share, for the same period of last year.

§ EBITDA for the six months ended June 30, 2023 amounted to $43.1 million. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income are set forth below.

§ An average of 31.4 vessels were owned by the Company during the six months ended June 30, 2023, compared to 35.5 vessels for the same period of 2022.

§ As of June 30, 2023, cash and cash equivalents (incl. restricted) amounted to $55.2 million and total debt amounted to $140.5 million.

Fleet Update Since Previous Announcement

The Company announced the conclusion of the following chartering arrangements (of three or more months duration):

·  A six months time charter for its 2011 built LPG carrier Gas Cerberus, until Dec 2023.
·  A six months time charter extension for its 2015 built LPG carrier Eco Green, until Dec 2023.

As of August 2023, the Company has total contracted revenues of approximately $90 million.

For the remainder of the year 2023, the Company has about 80% of fleet days secured under period contracts, with contracted revenues of approximately $43 million.
During Q2 23’, the previously announced sale of Eco Texiana and Eco Enigma was concluded, resulting in a profit of $2.9 million from the sale, while during the current quarter the Eco Czar and Eco Nemesis were also delivered to their new owners and the profits will be reflected in Q3 23’.

The Company also announced the sale of two vessels, the 2015 built Eco Dream and Eco Green to third parties. The vessels were sold with forward deliveries as they are currently on charters, and the sales are expected to be concluded in January 2024. The Company recognized an impairment loss of $2.8 million, while the sale proceeds will be reflected in the cashflow results at the time of delivery. Both vessels are unencumbered.

CEO Harry Vafias Commented

We continued operating in a firm market that underpinned yet another quarter of high profitability. So far for the first six months of 2023 we have reported the strongest performance on record, with an EPS of $0.71. During the second quarter we further divested assets in a rising market and will continue to diversify the fleet with the timely addition of bigger sized vessels. We were also largely focused on reducing debt, repaying $105million during the quarter alone, thus greatly reducing our interest rate expenses. At the same time our Board authorised us to repurchase shares that we started doing late in the previous quarter. Up to now we have repurchased over 1million common shares and will continue. We are at the fortunate position where we can deleverage, diversify, repurchase stock and maintain strong liquidity concurrently. Despite any seasonal fluctuations the market remains relatively firm and we expect and upturn in the winter months that are approaching. We remain positive for the medium-term outlook of the LPG shipping market.
Source: StealthGas