Costamare Inc. Reports Results for First Quarter
Ended March 31, 2013
Athens, Greece, April 24, 2013
Costamare Inc. (“Costamare” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CMRE) today reported unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.
Financial Highlights
• Voyage revenues of $91.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013.
• Voyage revenues adjusted on a cash basis $94.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $61.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013.
• Net income of $24.7 million or $0.33 per share for the three months ended March 31, 2013.
• Adjusted net income of $21.9 million or $0.29 per share for the three months ended March 31, 2013.
New Business Developments
• Sold the 1984-built, 3,584 TEU containership MSC Austria for demolition for approximately $7.9 million. The vessel was delivered to its buyers on April 24, 2013. The sale of the MSC Austria resulted in a book gain of approximately $4.0 million.
• Agreed with MSC to replace the 1981-built, 3,876 TEU containership MSC Kyoto in the charter party of the MSC Austria which was sold for demolition.
• Entered into an agreement to charter the 1996-built, 1,504 TEU containership Prosper to COSCO, for a period of approximately one year at a daily rate of $7,350. The vessel was delivered to its charterers on April 16, 2013.
• Exercised the option to extend the charter of the 1995-built, 1,162 TEU containership Zagora with MSC for a further period of two years starting from May 1, 2013. The daily rate for the first year of the extension was set at $5,700, based on the closest category on the ConTex Index.
Dividend Announcements
• On April 10, 2013, the Company declared a dividend for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013, of $0.27 per share, payable on May 8, 2013, to stockholders of record at the close of trading of the Company’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on April 24, 2013. This will be the Company’s tenth consecutive quarterly dividend since it commenced trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Mr. Gregory Zikos, Chief Financial Officer of Costamare Inc., commented:
“During the first quarter of the year, the Company delivered positive results.
In accordance with our newbuilding program, we took delivery of the first two 9,000 TEU newbuild containership vessels. Both vessels commenced their 10-year charters with MSC. This addition, along with the remaining eight vessels currently on order and scheduled for delivery within the next 10 months, will contribute in excess of $1.3 billion of contracted revenues throughout the duration of their charters.
Taking advantage of attractive demolition rates, we sold the 1984-built, 3,584 TEU containership MSC Austria for approximately $7.9 million. The sale resulted in a book gain of approximately $4.0 million.
On the chartering side, the Company has no ships laid up. We recently entered into an agreement to charter the 1996-built, 1,504 TEU containership Prosper to COSCO, for a period of approximately one year at a competitive daily rate of $7,350.
In a challenging market we have minimized our re-chartering risk. The charters for the vessels opening in 2013 and 2014 account for approximately 4% and 3% of our 2013 and 2014 contracted revenues, respectively.
Finally, on April 10, 2013, we declared a dividend for the first quarter of $0.27 per share. Consistent with our dividend policy, we continue to offer an attractive dividend, which we consider to be sustainable based on the size of our contracted cash flows, the quality of our charterers and the prudent amortization of our debt.
We believe that going forward, a containership market under pressure provides us with the opportunity to expand opportunistically in a low rate and asset values environment.
Full report at: www.costamare.com
About Costamare Inc.
Costamare Inc. is one of the world’s leading owners and providers of containerships for charter. The Company has 38 years of history in the international shipping industry and a fleet of 56 containerships, with a total capacity of approximately 328,000 TEU, including eight newbuild containerships on order. Costamare Inc.’s common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CMRE.”
Costamare Inc. press release