Globus Maritime Limited, a dry bulk shipping company, reported yesterday its unaudited consolidated operating and financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2012. The Company's Board of Directors also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.085 per share for the three-month period ended March 31, 2012. Summary of First Quarter 2012 ("Q1-12") Results versus First Quarter 2011 ("Q1-11")  • Revenue of $9.5 million versus $8.5 million, a 12% increase;
• Net Revenue of $9.3 million versus $7.5 million, a 24% increase;
• Adjusted EBITDA of $6.0 million versus $4.9 million, an increase of 22%; adjusted EBITDA is a measure not in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). See a later section of this press release for a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures;
• Total comprehensive income of $1.7 million versus $2.2 million, a 23% decrease;
• Basic earnings per share of $0.16, calculated on 10,117,600 weighted average number of shares compared to $0.30, calculated on 7,289,688 weighted average number of shares;
• An average of 7.0 vessels were owned and operated during Q1-12 compared to 5.0 vessels owned and operated during Q1-11. Average Time Charter Equivalent ("TCE") for Q1-12 was $14,764 per day compared to $18,012 per day for Q1-11; and
• Fleet utilization was 99.4% versus 99.5%; fleet utilization is further defined in a later section of this press release.
Dividend Declaration
For the three-month period ended March 31, 2012, the Company's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend on its common shares of $0.085 per share, payable on or about May 31, 2012 to shareholders of record on May 25, 2012.
The Company has 10,141,499 shares of common shares issued and outstanding as of today.
The Company is continuing the policy of paying out a variable quarterly dividend in excess of 50% of the net income of the previous quarter, subject to any reserves the Board of Directors may from time to time determine is required. The declaration and payment of dividends, if any, will always be subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors of the Company. The timing and amount of any dividends declared will depend on, among other things: our earnings, financial condition and anticipated cash requirements and availability, additional acquisitions of vessels, restrictions in our debt arrangements, the provisions of Marshall Islands law affecting the payment of distributions to shareholders, required capital and drydocking expenditures, reserves established by our board of directors, increased or unanticipated expenses, a change in our dividend policy, additional borrowings future issuances of securities, or as a result of losses in connection with actions of the former charterer of the "Star Globe" for which we are currently in arbitration proceedings to recover, and other factors, many of which will be beyond our control. We can give no assurance that dividends will be paid in the future.
Current Fleet Deployment
The "Tiara Globe" was on a time charter ("T/C") at the gross rate of $20,000 per day with Transgrain Shipping ("Transgrain") that began in February 2010 and expired in early March 2012. The item "trade receivables" on our Statement of Financial Position includes an amount of approximately $0.8 million for outstanding hire and damages from Transgrain and a sub-charterer. Globus has initiated arbitration proceedings. The vessel is currently trading in the spot market.
The "River Globe" was on a T/C at the gross rate of $14,500 per day with Allied Maritime Inc. that began in May 2011 and expired in early March 2012. The vessel is currently trading in the spot market.
The "Star Globe" completed her employment at $15,600 per day gross with Allied Maritime Inc. ("Allied") in February 2012. As previously announced, Allied delivered the vessel in a location outside the redelivery area required under the charter, and did not replenish the quantity of bunkers required under the charter. The Company has initiated arbitration proceedings to recover an amount of approximately $1.7 million as a debt and/or damages by Allied. The vessel is currently on a short time charter at $13,000 per day gross to Pacific Basin that began in February 2012 and is scheduled to expire this week, following which the vessel will be drydocked in China.
As of the day of this press release, we have secured under fixed employment approximately 57% of our fleet days for the rest of 2012, 45% for 2013, and 29% for 2014.
Management Commentary
George Karageorgiou, Chief Executive Officer of Globus, stated:
"We are pleased to report a net income of $1.7 million for the first quarter of 2012, continuing our profitability against a backdrop of weakening charter rates and the global economic turmoil during the period. This can be attributed to the low operating expenses required to maintain our fleet, a result of our efficient in-house technical and commercial management.
"This being said, it is our position that in the prevailing weak charter market, it is more beneficial to trade any vessels coming off previous charters in the spot market while we are looking for short to medium term employment up to 1 year. Current rates for 2-3 year charters limit the upside potential for younger vessels, such as ours.
"We have scheduled the drydockings for the 'Star Globe,' 'River Globe,' and 'Sun Globe' throughout this calendar year. We view this as a prudent investment of time which will allow us to have the maximum number of our vessels available for charter in what we expect to be a better rate environment in 2013, as the excess supply of dry bulk tonnage subsides."
Elias Deftereos, Chief Financial Officer of Globus, added:
"Our results for the reporting period reflect the difficult and at times contentious market conditions. The figure of 'other current assets' on our Statement of Financial Position includes an amount of approximately $2.5 million for which we are in arbitration against previous charterers.
"At the end of March 2012, total bank debt outstanding was $110.0 million, while our restricted and unrestricted cash balances exceeded $9.3 million. Our Net Debt (being total debt less cash) to Total Capitalization (Net Debt plus Total Equity) came to 41.8%, a moderate figure for our industry."
Source: Globus Maritime