GasLog Partners LP, an international owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) carriers, today reported its financial results for the three-month period and the year ended December 31, 2021.

Highlights

Repurchased $6.0 million of preference units in the open market in the fourth quarter of 2021, bringing the total amount of preference units repurchased to $18.4 million during 2021.
Repaid $17.3 million of debt in the fourth quarter of 2021, bringing total debt repayment (excluding the prepayment pursuant to the sale and leaseback of the GasLog Shanghai) to $108.1 million during 2021.
Recognized a non-cash impairment loss of $104.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 on the book values of the five steam turbine propulsion (“Steam”) vessels of the Partnership, built in 2006 and 2007.
Quarterly Revenues, Profit/(loss), Adjusted Profit(1) and Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $88.2 million, ($70.8) million, $30.7 million and $64.2 million, respectively.
Annual Revenues, Profit/(loss), Adjusted Profit(1) and Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $326.1 million, $5.7 million, $99.8 million and $230.6 million, respectively.
Quarterly Earnings/(loss) per unit (“EPU”) of ($1.50) and Adjusted EPU(1) of $0.45.
Annual EPU of ($0.47) and Adjusted EPU(1) of $1.39.
Declared cash distribution of $0.01 per common unit for the fourth quarter of 2021.
CEO Statement

Paolo Enoizi, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The fourth quarter was another period of strong operational and financial performance for the Partnership. We have delivered for our customers amidst continued COVID-19 difficulties with 100% fleet uptime and zero lost-time incidents, while our continued cost optimization and rechartering activities helped improve our profitability, as well as our overall liquidity position, with approximately $146.0 million of cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year.

We keep focusing on debt repayments and improving the breakeven rates of the Partnership, while successfully executing our strategy and making progress towards our target leverage metrics. Furthermore, we repurchased an additional $6.0 million of preference units in the open market during the fourth quarter, bringing the total amount of preference units repurchased to $18.4 million during 2021 and further improving the fleet’s all-in free cash flows.

As we look ahead to 2022, we expect to continue with our capital allocation strategy, which will enhance our competitiveness and position the Partnership for continued success in the spot and short-term market for LNG shipping.”

There were 1,380 and 5,320 available days for the quarter and the year ended December 31, 2021, respectively, as compared to 1,360 and 5,333 available days for the quarter and the year ended December 31, 2020, respectively.

Management classifies the Partnership’s vessels from a commercial point of view into two categories: (a) spot fleet and (b) long-term fleet. The spot fleet includes all vessels under charter party agreements with an initial duration of less than (or equal to) five years (excluding optional periods), while the long-term fleet comprises all vessels with charter party agreements of an initial duration of more than five years (excluding optional periods).

Revenues increased by $3.2 million, from $85.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, to $88.2 million for the same period in 2021. The increase is mainly attributable to the improved performance of our spot fleet in the fourth quarter of 2021, in line with the ongoing improvement of the LNG shipping market observed in 2021 and the short-term charters we entered into.

Vessel operating costs decreased by $0.6 million, from $19.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, to $18.9 million for the same period in 2021. The decrease in vessel operating costs is mainly attributable to a decrease of $1.0 million in technical maintenance expenses, primarily in connection with increased maintenance needs of the fleet in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2021. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in other operating expenses. Daily operating costs per vessel (after excluding calendar days for the Solaris, the operating costs of which are covered by the charterers) decreased from $15,127 per day for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, to $14,695 per day for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

General and administrative expenses decreased by $1.5 million, from $5.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, to $3.5 million for the same period in 2021. The decrease in general and administrative expenses is mainly attributable to a decrease of $0.8 million in administrative services fees, driven by cost-reduction initiatives, and an additional decrease of $0.5 million in legal and professional fees. As a result, daily general and administrative expenses decreased from $3,615 per vessel per day for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, to $2,543 per vessel per day for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

The increase in Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $5.2 million, from $59.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 as compared to $64.2 million in the same period in 2021 is mainly attributable to the increase in revenues of $3.2 million and an aggregate decrease of $2.1 million from reduced operating expenses and general and administrative expenses, as discussed above.

The Partnership recognized an aggregate non-cash impairment loss of $104.0 million with respect to its five Steam vessels for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), as compared to an aggregate impairment loss of $5.1 million for the same period in 2020. The principal factors that led to the recognition of a non-cash impairment loss in the fourth quarter of 2021 included the differences of the ship broker estimates of our Steam vessels’ fair market values compared to their carrying values, as well as reduced expectations of the long-term rates for these older technology vessels.

Financial costs decreased by $0.6 million, from $10.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 to $9.4 million for the same period in 2021. The decrease in financial costs is primarily attributable to a decrease in interest expense on loans of $1.5 million, mainly due to the reduced debt balances year-over-year, partially offset by an increase of $0.5 million in amortization and write-off of deferred loan issuance costs, as a result of the GasLog Shanghai debt prepayment pursuant to the sale and leaseback transaction completed in October 2021. During the quarter ended December 31, 2020, we had an average of $1,316.2 million of outstanding indebtedness with a weighted average interest rate of 2.5%, compared to an average of $1,137.7 million of outstanding indebtedness with a weighted average interest rate of 2.4% during the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

Loss on derivatives decreased by $2.0 million, from a loss of $0.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 to a gain of $1.8 million for the same period in 2021. The decrease is attributable to an increase of $2.0 million in unrealized gain from the mark-to-market valuation of derivatives which were carried at fair value through profit or loss.

The decrease in profit of $93.4 million, from a profit of $22.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 to a loss of $70.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 is mainly attributable to an increase in impairment loss of $98.9 million ($104.0 million recognized in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to $5.1 million recognized in the fourth quarter of 2020), partially offset by the increase of $5.2 million in Adjusted EBITDA(1), as discussed above.

The increase in Adjusted Profit(1) of $4.8 million, from $25.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 to $30.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, is mainly attributable to the increase of $5.2 million in Adjusted EBITDA(1), as discussed above.

As of December 31, 2021, we had $145.5 million of cash and cash equivalents, out of which $72.6 million was held in current accounts and $72.9 million was held in time deposits with an original duration of up to three months.

As of December 31, 2021, we had an aggregate of $1,085.8 million of borrowings outstanding under our credit facilities, of which $99.3 million was repayable within one year, and an aggregate of $55.9 million of lease liabilities mainly related to the sale and leaseback of the GasLog Shanghai, of which $10.3 million was payable within one year.

As of December 31, 2021, our current assets totaled $161.1 million and current liabilities totaled $175.5 million, resulting in a negative working capital position of $14.4 million. Current liabilities include $28.3 million of unearned revenue in relation to hires received in advance as of December 31, 2021 (which represents a non-cash liability that will be recognized as revenues after December 31, 2021 as the services are rendered).

Sale and Leaseback of the GasLog Shanghai

On October 26, 2021, GasLog Partners completed the sale and leaseback of the GasLog Shanghai, a 155,000 cubic meter (“cbm”) tri-fuel diesel electric propulsion (“TFDE”) LNG carrier, built in 2013, with a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDBL”), releasing $20.5 million of incremental net liquidity (net sale proceeds less debt prepayment) to the Partnership. The vessel was sold and leased back under a bareboat charter with CDBL for a period of five years with no repurchase option or obligation, resulting in the recognition of a loss on disposal of $0.6 million. The vessel remains on its charter with a subsidiary of Gunvor Group Ltd. (“Gunvor”).

Preference Unit Repurchase Programme

In March 2021, the Partnership established a preference unit repurchase programme (the “Repurchase Programme”), which authorized the
repurchase of preference units through March 31, 2023. In the three months ended December 31, 2021, GasLog Partners repurchased and
cancelled 130,093 8.200% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Fixed to Floating Rate Preference Units (the “Series B Preference Units”) and 114,548 8.500% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Fixed to Floating Rate Preference Units (the “Series C Preference Units”) under the Repurchase Programme, for an aggregate amount of $6.0 million, including commissions.

In the year ended December 31, 2021 and since inception of the Repurchase Programme, GasLog Partners has repurchased and cancelled an aggregate of 464,429 Series B Preference Units and 269,549 Series C Preference Units at a weighted average price of $25.00 per preference unit for both Series. The total amount repaid during the period for repurchases of preference units was $18.4 million, including commissions.
Source: GasLog Partners