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• Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2014 were $3.1 million and $10.7 million, respectively, compared to $3.5 million and $8.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013. The reduction of $0.4 million in voyage expenses was due to a 35% decrease in spot market days compared to the first quarter of 2013. The $2.7 million increase in operating expenses was primarily the result of four vessels that were added to the fleet and were operating on time charters and of increased crewing costs from our vessels operating in Latin America. • Drydocking Costs for the three months ended March 31, 2014 were $0.4 million compared to $0.5 million for the same period last year. During the three months ended March 31, 2014, one vessel entered and completed drydock which was also the case during the same period of 2013. The decrease in the cost was due to the different locations of the drydocking shipyards. • Depreciation for the three months ended March 31, 2014 was $8.1 million, a $0.8 million increase from $7.3 million for the same period of last year. This increase was due to the additional depreciation for five vessels that joined the fleet during 2013. • Interest and finance costs for the three months ended March 31, 2014 were $2.1 million compared to $2.0 million for the same period of last year. • As a result of the above, net income for the three months ended March 31, 2014 amounted to $7.6 million, compared to net income of $6.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013. The weighted average number of shares outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2014 increased to 33.8 million compared to 20.6 million for the same period of last year, due to the public offering on April 30, 2013 and the offering on February 14, 2014. Earnings per share on a basic and diluted basis for the three months ended March 31, 2014 amounted to $0.23 compared to $0.31 for the same period of last year. • Included in the first quarter 2014 results are net losses from interest rate derivative instruments of $0.07 million. Interest paid on interest rate swap arrangements amounted to $0.6 million, or $0.02 per share, compared to $1.2 million for the same period of last year. Adjusted net income was $7.2 million or $0.21 per share for the three months ended March 31, 2014 compared to $5.3 million or $0.26 per share for the same period last year. • EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2014 amounted to $18.3 million. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income and EBITDA to Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA to Adjusted Net Income are set forth below. An average of 42.0 vessels were owned by the Company in the three months ended March 31, 2014, compared to 37.0 vessels for the same period of 2013. CEO Harry Vafias commented: The first quarter was another quarter of healthy profit for the Company. The freight market remained firm during the quarter. We managed to conclude a number of long term period charters for our vessels that depicts the charters sentiment and the strong fundamentals of our market. Our vessels that operate in the spot market were fully employed for this quarter. On March 28 we took delivery of the first LPG vessel under construction, the Eco Stream which has been chartered for eight years. Regarding our medium term strategy on February 11 and on April 30, we have successfully concluded secondary offerings of 3,398,558 shares of common stock and of 4,476,195 shares of common stock respectively, priced at $9.71 per share for the first offering and $10.50 per share for the latter offering. The total gross proceeds from the two offerings were approximately $80.0 million. We believe that the proceeds will allow us to grow faster predominantly with new high tech newbuildings, and we are currently actively seeking projects for the optimal deployment of the capital raised. Over the next two years we have already committed to grow the fleet by at least 17 LPG vessels and have significant financial firepower for further expansion. In the medium term we aim to control more than 25% of the international 3000-7500 cbm pressurised LPG market. This is an opportune time to take advantage of the positive fundamentals in our core LPG sector, a low orderbook coupled with increasing product supplies coming out of the Middle East and the US that we believe will prove to be positive for the freight markets in the years to come. With very low leverage, earnings visibility and trading well below our Net Asset Value we believe we are the best choice for the investors to invest in the promising LPG Market. About StealthGas INC. StealthGas INC. is a ship-owning company primarily serving the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector of the international shipping industry. StealthGas Inc. currently has a fleet of 39 LPG carriers with a total capacity of 189,559 cubic meters (cbm), three M.R. product tankers and one Aframax oil tanker with a total capacity of 255,804 deadweight tons (dwt). The Company has agreed to acquire 17 LPG carriers with expected deliveries by the end of 2015. Giving effect to the delivery of these acquisitions, StealthGas Inc.’s fleet will be composed of 56 LPG carriers with a total capacity of 273,959 cubic meters (cbm)STEALTHGAS INC’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and trade under the symbol “GASS”. StealthGas Inc. Press Release |
StealthGas Inc. reports first quarter 2014 financial and operating results