Globus Maritime Limited Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2008

Athens, Greece, March 20, 2009. Globus Maritime Limited ("Globus" or the “Company"), (AIM: GLBS), an owner and operator of Handymax and Panamax drybulk vessels, announced today its operating and financial results for the fourth quarter (“Q4-08”) and fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.

Full Year 2008 Highlights versus Full Year 2007

Gross Revenues of US$98.6 million versus US$41.0 million, an increase of 140%;

Net Revenues of US$91.9 million versus US$38.7 million, an increase of 137%;

An average of 7.9 vessels were owned and operated during the twelve months of 2008, earning an average daily Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) rate of US$32,736 per day, versus an average of 5.5 vessels owned and operated during the twelve months of 2007, earning an average TCE rate of US$19,702 per day;

Fleet utilization was 99.0% in 2008 versus 93.5% in 2007;

Operating Profit of US$51.6 million versus US$16.7 million, an increase of 209%;

EBITDA of US$69.2 million versus US$28.0 million, an increase of 147%;

Net Income of US$42.8 million versus US$12.0 million, an increase of 257%;

The 2008 results include: (i) a gain from the sale of a vessel of US$15.1 million, (ii) a non-cash unrealized loss on interest rate derivatives of US$1.4 million, and (iii) an impairment non-cash charge on fixed assets of US$20.2 million. Excluding the US$15.1 million gain from the sale of the vessel and the US$20.2 million impairment charge, Net Income was US$47.9 million;

Earnings per share basic of US$1.495 and diluted of US$1.481 calculated respectively on 28,650,255 and on 28,907,066 weighted-average number of shares for the full year ended December 31, 2008, compared to basic and diluted earnings per share of US$0.4713 on 23,785,402 for the full year 2007;

Net Cash from Operations of US$73.2 million versus US$31.9 million, an increase of 129%;

Cash Balances of US$65.3 million versus US$9.3 million.



Fourth Quarter 2008 Financial Highlights versus Fourth Quarter 2007

Gross Revenues of US$17.5 million, a 34% increase from US$13.1 million;

Net Revenues of US$15.2 million, a 23% increase from US$12.4 million;

An average of 7.5 vessels were owned and operated during Q4-08, earning an average TCE rate of US$22,672 per day, versus an average of 6.3 vessels owned and operated during Q4- 07, earning an average TCE rate of US$22,617 per day;

Operating Expenses of US$2.9 million, a 21% increase from US$2.4 million;

EBITDA of US$5.2 million, a 40% decrease from US$8.6 million;

Net Income of US$19.7 million which includes a US$15.1 million gain from the sale of a vessel but excludes (i) a US$1.4 million non-cash unrealized loss on interest rate derivatives and (ii) a non-cash impairment charge on fixed assets of US$20.2 million. Including these two non-cash items, the Company recorded a Net Loss of US$0.5 million.

Dividends

Globus’ dividend policy was set to reflect its long-term net income and cash flow potential, while maintaining an appropriate level of dividend yield taking into account the likely effects of the shipping cycle and the need to retain cash to reinvest in vessel acquisitions. The Company’s policy is to distribute a dividend twice per annum based on the Net Income of the corresponding six-month period, namely an interim and a final dividend based on the Net Income of the first and second halves of each year respectively. Furthermore, the Net Income which will be taken into account for such calculation will exclude any gain or loss on the sale of vessels and any unrealised gains or losses on derivatives.

Excluding the US$15.1 million gain from the sale of a vessel and the US$1.4 million unrealized loss on interest rate derivatives, the Company recorded adjusted Net Income of US$0.5 million for the six month period ended December 31, 2008 (“H2-08”). Based on this result the Directors do not recommend a final dividend for the fiscal year 2008. The elimination of the final dividend for the year 2008 reinforces the Company’s liquidity and is a step to optimize the use of the Company’s cash.

The interim dividend of GB 26.9 pence per share (or a total amount of US$14.3 million) paid in September 2008 will thus become the full dividend for the year 2008. This represents 33.4% of the Company's US$42.8 million Net Income for the year, and 49.1% of the US$29.1 million adjusted Net Income excluding the US$15.1 million gain from the sale of a vessel and the US$1.4 million unrealized loss on interest rate derivatives. It is also equivalent to an annualized dividend yield of 38.9% based on Globus' closing share price of GB 69 pence as at 19 March 2009.

Management Commentary

Commenting on the 2008 results, George Karageorgiou, Chief Executive Officer of Globus Maritime Limited, said: "We are pleased to report strong results for our second full year of operations. Our operating profit more than tripled in 2008 reflecting the higher number of vessels in the fleet and the fact that we took advantage of the historically high levels of the freight market during the first nine months of 2008.

“Since the last quarter of 2008, we operate in a challenging environment as the result of the economic slowdown that followed the global financial crisis. The sudden and almost complete elimination of letters of credit, which have traditionally served as the main financing mechanism for the movement of cargos, lead to a dramatic reduction in the volume of goods transported and thus to a collapse of spot freight rates and asset values.

“We have adapted our strategy to the rapidly changing market conditions and took several defensive initiatives aimed to increase our liquidity, decrease our debt and lower our operating break-even levels, providing Globus with critical competitive advantages. We sold the vessel “Ocean Globe” in order to maintain a strong balance sheet with a low level of debt. As a result of our cautious strategy, we ended the year with a fleet of seven vessels with a weighted average age of 11.6 years, below the industry average, and US$65.3 million in cash.

“The situation in the global shipping market is starting to change but we still think it is early to tell if the recent resurgence in activity indicates a sustainable trend. Globally, industries have been de-stocking for the last six months and therefore there will come a need for re-stocking. Also, there are hints that the global trade finance freeze is starting to thaw and consequently commodity trade volumes are slowly rising. The concerted government efforts around the world to inject liquidity into the financial markets and stimulate their economies through infrastructure development programs should ultimately have an effect. Urbanization and industrialization especially in China and also in India may temporarily slow down but are irreversible trends in the long run.

“At the same time, the higher rate of scrapping and the reduction of the newbuilding orderbook, as financing is harder to get, are expected to have a positive effect on fleet supply, leading to a healthier balance between vessel supply and demand.

“Management remains committed to utilizing our strong liquidity to seek opportunities to take advantage of the current market weakness in the drybulk industry. In pursuing future growth, we will continue to adhere to a strict set of return criteria related to earnings and cash flow accretion as well as return on capital."

Elias Deftereos, Chief Financial Officer of Globus Maritime, added: “We are pleased that, amid challenging market conditions, we generated steady cash flow. Our results for the fourth quarter 2008 were impacted by a US$20.2 million impairment charge, a non-cash item, which we took on the M/V “Tiara Globe” and the M/V “River Globe”, our latest dry bulk acquisitions in December 2007. Our results during Q4-08 were also negatively affected by non-cash unrealized losses on interest rate derivatives.

“During the fourth quarter and year to date Globus implemented proactive measures to increase the Company's financial flexibility. Given the drop in vessel values, we have received a waiver from one of our lenders on the minimum asset coverage covenants in our loan agreement. We have also pledged an amount of cash in favour of our second lender ensuring that we will not be affected by the current volatility in asset values.

“At the end of 2008, our net debt to book capitalization stood at 43%, a modest level for our industry, and our cash reserves had grown to US$65.3 million. As of the date of this release, our scheduled debt repayments are US$18.3 million in the remaining of 2009 and US$16.2 million in 2010. The suspension of our final dividend for 2008 will further enhance our liquidity and financial strength.

“We remain alert to opportunities. We believe that our modest leverage and strong liquidity position are significant competitive advantages especially in today's market environment."

REVIEW OF THE FOURTH QUARTER ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2008

Gross Revenues during Q4-08 reached US$17.5 million as compared to US$13.1 million in Q4- 07 reflecting the higher number of vessels in the fleet. Net Revenues during Q4-08 reached US$15.2 million, representing a 23% increase over the US$12.4 million during the last quarter of 2007.

The M/V “Ocean Globe”, a Handymax bulk carrier of 43,189 DWT built in 1995 was sold and delivered to her new owners, an unaffiliated third party, on November 12, 2008. The Company received the amount of US$37.0 million in cash, from which Globus repaid US$16.1 million to Deutsche Schiffsbank. After costs related to this sale, the Company booked a US$15.1 million profit on the sale.

The M/V “Sea Globe” finished its time charter with COSCO in early December 2008 and was subsequently dry docked in China. Following the completion of these scheduled repairs, the vessel has been trading on the spot market.

Certain vessel operating costs were reduced during Q4-08 and average daily Operating Expenses were US$4,175 per vessel, the lowest quarter of the year, and very close to the figure of US$4,167 recorded in the comparable quarter in 2007.

General and administrative expenses reached US$0.6 million, a 63% reduction from US$1.6 million during the comparative period of 2007 as the staff bonus for the year 2007 was expensed in full during Q4-07.

The US$ 0.5 million loss on the fourth Quarter includes the following two non cash items: 1) In November 2008 the Company entered into two interest rate SWAP agreements for US$25 million in total, or 16% of its total debt outstanding of US$157.6 million. As interest rates fell even more, at December 31, 2008 the two agreements had a total value of US$1.4 million in favour of the SWAP counterparties.

2) The current market conditions, including the disruptions in the global credit markets, have broad effects on participants in a wide variety of industries. Since mid-August 2008, the charter rates in the dry bulk charter market have fallen significantly, and the values of dry bulk vessel have also declined. The Company have concluded that the recoverable amount for two of the vessels was lower than their carrying values, and recognized a total impairment charge of US$20.2 million being US$2.2 million for the River Globe and US$18.0 million for the Tiara Globe.

REVIEW OF THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2008

Fleet Deployment

Since December 2007 the M/V “Tiara Globe” is employed under a time charter to Korea Lines Corp at the gross rate of US$66,000 per day for a minimum of 24 months. Since July 2007 the M/V “Island Globe” is employed under a time charter to DS Norden at the gross rate of US$30,000 per day for a minimum of 23 months. Since her delivery from the shipyard in December 2007, the newbuilding M/V “River Globe” has been trading on the spot market.

The M/V “Lake Globe” finished its time charter with Atlas Shipping in mid-February 2008 and has since been trading on the spot market.

The M/V “Ocean Globe” finished its time charter with COSCO in early February 2008, and traded on the spot market until the delivery to her new owners in November 2008.

The sharp contraction of global trade since Q4-08 due to the economic slowdown and the credit crunch has greatly affected the shipping industry. Three vessels were delivered back to us from their previous Charterers at the earliest possible dates.

The M/V “Coral Globe” finished its time charter with STX Pan Ocean in late November 2008 and has since been trading on the spot market.

The M/V “Gulf Globe” finished its time charter with COSCO in early December 2008 and has since been trading on the spot market.

The M/V “Sea Globe” finished its time charter with COSCO in early December 2008 and was subsequently dry docked. Following the completion of these scheduled repairs, the vessel has been trading on the spot market.

An average of 7.9 vessels were owned and operated during the twelve months of 2008, earning an average daily Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) rate of US$32,736 per day, versus an average of 5.5 vessels owned and operated during the twelve months of 2007, earning an average TCE rate of US$19,702 per day.

The Company will determine the best option for the employment of the vessels in the spot or time charter market based on the prevailing conditions. Given the current difficult market circumstances we believe that our dry bulk carrier vessels open for re-chartering will be chartered at significantly lower rates compared to the previous rates. However, thanks to the Company’s policy of accelerated debt repayment implemented from the beginning of our operations, the reduced cash break-even level will be a benefit to the Company.

Revenues

As a result of the prevailing market rates and the increase in the number of vessels in the Company’s fleet, Gross Revenues during 2008 increased by 140% to US$98.6 million from US$41.0 million. Net Revenues during 2008 reached US$91.9 million, representing a 137% increase from the US$38.7 million in 2007.

Vessel Operating Expenses

As a result of the increase in the number of vessels in the Company’s fleet, Operating Expenses during the year 2008 reached US$12.5 million, versus US$7.6 million in 2007, a 64% increase. There were 2,878 ownership days in 2008, giving an average daily Operating Expense figure of US$4,356 per vessel per day, compared to 2,017 ownership days in 2007 and US$3,787 average Operating Expenses per vessel per day in 2007, a 15% increase. This increase is due to higher crew costs, higher prices for lubricants, and the strengthening of the Euro in the first part of the year. Despite this increase, we maintain one of the lowest operating cost structures among the listed shipping companies which, we believe, is one of our advantages.
The breakdown of our Operating for the year is as follows: Crew expenses 48%; repairs and spares 13%; stores 14%; insurances 12%; lubricants 9%; and Other 4%. We continue to focus on controlling and reducing our costs while ensuring safe operations for our fleet.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and Administrative expenses for the FY 2008 were US$4.1 million, or 37% higher than the US$3.0 million during the comparative period due to costs associated with higher employee non-cash compensation and other employee related costs.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Net Income

EBITDA for 2008 reached US$69.2 million versus US$28.0 million in 2007. Adjusted EBITDA for the FY 2008 was US$75.7 million excluding the following items: (i) gain from the sale of a vessel of US$15.1 million, (ii) non-cash unrealized loss on interest rate derivatives of US$1.4 million, and (iii) non-cash impairment charge on fixed assets of US$20.2 million. Net income for 2008 reached US$42.8 million, an increase of 257% from the US$12.0 million during 2007. Excluding the US$15.1 million gain from the sale of the vessel and the US$20.2 million impairment charge, Net Income was US$47.9 million. Basic earnings per share of US$1.495 calculated on 28,650,255 weighted-average number of shares and diluted earnings per share of US$1.481 calculated on 28,907,066 weighted-average number of shares for the full year ended December 31, 2008, compared to basic and diluted earnings per share of US$0.4713 on 23,785,402 for the full year 2007.

Cash Flow

Net cash provided by operating activities for the twelve months ended December 31, 2008 and 2007, was US$73.2 million and US$31.9 million, respectively. The increase was primarily due to the operation of a larger fleet and a higher TCE during the period.

Adjustments to reconcile net income to operating cash flows include the US$15.1 million gain from the sale of the M/V Ocean Globe, the US$1.4 million non-cash loss on interest rate derivatives, the US$20.2 million non-cash impairment charge on fixed assets, and US$0.8 million in non-cash share-based payment to the Directors of the Company.

Net cash provided from investing activities was US$24.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2008 as compared to net cash used in investing activities of US$184.7 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2007. While for 2007 the cash was mostly used for vessel acquisitions, during 2008, cash provided from investing activities primarily relates to the proceeds from the sale of the M/V Ocean Globe in the amount of US$36.7 million, offset by investing US$10.0 million in a Time Deposit for four months.

Net cash used in financing activities for the twelve months ended December 31, 2008 was US$72.9 million as compared to net cash provided by financing activities of US$159.8 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2007. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2008, net cash used in financing activities mainly consisted of the drawdown of the new loan of US$85.0 million from Deutsche Schiffsbank in March, offset by the repayment of US$120.6 million of bank debt (including the full repayment of the 2006 HSH Nordbank credit facility in March), the payment of both the 2007-final dividend plus the 2008-interim dividends totalling US$18.5 million, and the pledge of a deposit of US$21.4 million.

Scheduled Vessel Repairs

1. the M/V “Tiara Globe” underwent her scheduled repairs during Q1-08 and Q2-08;
2. the M/V “Island Globe” completed her scheduled repairs during Q2-08;
3. the M/V “Sea Globe” completed her scheduled repairs during Q4-08.

The US$2.8 million cost of these scheduled repairs was funded with cash from operations and will be amortized over the next two and a half years.

The M/V “Gulf Globe” is scheduled for dry-docking in Q2-09, while the M/V “Lake Globe” and M/V “Coral Globe” are scheduled for repairs during Q3-09 and Q4-09 respectively. We budget 20 days per dry docking per vessel. Actual length will vary based on the condition of each vessel, yard schedules, and other factors.

Depreciation and Dry Dock Amortization Expenses

Depreciation of fixed assets reached US$17.4 million in 2008 versus US$10.2 million during 2007. The Company continues the policy to depreciate vessels over a useful life of 25 years, on a straight line basis down to their scrap value calculated at their lightweight at US$200 per tonne.

Dry Dock Amortization reached US$1.6 million in 2008 as compared to US$1 million in 2007.

Interest and Finance Expenses
Interest and Finance expenses increased to US$7.7 million versus US$5.6 million in 2007 due to the higher number of vessels. Interest income reached US$1.0 million, 67% higher than the US$0.6 million in 2007 due to the higher cash balances.

Following the sale of the M/V “Ocean Globe” on November 12, 2008 for US$37.0 million in cash before commissions and other costs related to the sale, Globus has repaid US$16.1 million to Deutsche Schiffsbank. A quarterly instalment of US$1.8 million plus interest was also paid to this bank on December 29, 2008, which reduced the debt outstanding to this bank to US$62.6 million.

Update on Credit Facilities

The global economic conditions during the fourth quarter of the 2008, including the significant disruptions in global trade and the slowdown in the availability of credit, had broad effects on our industry. Since September 2008, the spot and time charter rates in the dry bulk market have fallen significantly, and as a result the market values of dry bulk vessels also declined. This sharp correction of vessel values caused a breach of the collateral maintenance covenants in our two bank loans, for which the Company took the following actions ensuring that it will not be affected by the current volatility in asset values:

1. The Company obtained a waiver from Credit Suisse which is valid until January 31, 2010;
and
2. As agreed with Deutsche Schiffsbank, the Company pledged an amount of US$21.4 million in favour of the bank. The US$62.6 million is included as a Current Liability on the Balance Sheet.

Further to the above steps, on February 12, 2009, the Company voluntarily prepaid the amount of US$3.9 million to Deutsche Schiffsbank, against instalments due in 2009, and thus reduced its debt outstanding to this bank from US$62.6 million to US$58.7 million. This amount was paid from the pledged cash deposit in favour of the bank, which now stands at US$17.6 million.

About Globus Maritime Limited

Globus is a global provider of seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, including among others iron ore, coal, grain, cement, and fertilizers, along worldwide shipping routes. The Company owns and operates five Handymax vessels and two Panamax vessels, with a weighted average age of approximately 11.7 years as at February 28, 2008 and a total carrying capacity of 372,369 dwt. Six of the seven vessels are geared.

Globus is listed on the AIM of the London Stock Exchange under ticker GLBS. Jefferies International Limited is acting as nominated adviser and broker to the Company.

Globus Maritime Limited