Baltic Trading Limited reported its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012.The following financial review discusses the results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2011.Second Quarter 2012 and Year-to-Date Highlights •Declared a $0.05 per share dividend payable on or about August 22, 2012 to all  shareholders of record as of August 15, 2012 based on Q2 2012 results;
•    Recorded a net loss of $3.7 million, or $0.16 basic and diluted net loss per share for the second quarter.
Financial Review: 2012 Second Quarter
The Company recorded a net loss for the second quarter of 2012 of $3.7 million, or $0.16 basic and diluted net loss per share. Comparatively, for the three months ended June 30, 2011, the Company recorded a net loss of $0.4 million, or $0.02 basic and diluted net loss per share.
EBITDA was $1.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 versus $4.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011.
John C. Wobensmith, President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, "During the second quarter, we continued to employ our fleet of modern vessels on spot market-related time charters with multi-national companies while maintaining a cost-effective operating platform and strong capital structure. We also declared a dividend of $0.05 per share for the second quarter, representing our ninth consecutive dividend since going public in March 2010. As we maintain our focus on distributing a substantial portion of our cash flows to shareholders, we intend to continue to implement our fleet deployment strategy and generate significant operating leverage when the freight rate environment improves."
Baltic Trading Limited's revenues decreased to $7.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 compared to $9.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011 due to lower spot market rates achieved by our vessels during the second quarter of 2012.
The average daily time charter equivalent, or TCE, rates obtained by the Company's fleet was $8,802 per day for the three months ended June 30, 2012 as compared to $12,423 for the three months ended June 30, 2011. The decrease was due to lower spot rates achieved by the vessels in our fleet during the second quarter of 2012 versus the second quarter of 2011. Continued deliveries of newbuilding vessels coupled with lower growth rates of imported commodities in emerging market economies through the first half of 2012 were the main contributors of reduced rates, which affected the earnings of our vessels. The effect of these contributors was partially offset by increased scrapping of older tonnage.
Total operating expenses were $10.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 compared to $9.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011. Vessel operating expenses increased to $4.3 million from $3.8 million during the comparative period primarily due to the timing of purchases of spare parts and higher crew related expenses. General, administrative and technical management fees decreased to $1.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 from $1.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011, primarily due to a decrease in non-cash compensation. Depreciation and amortization expenses were $3.7 million for the second quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2011.  
Daily vessel operating expenses, or DVOE, increased to $5,214 per vessel per day for the second quarter of 2012 from $4,615 per vessel per day for the same quarter last year, mainly due to the timing of purchases of spare parts and higher crew related expenses. We believe daily vessel operating expenses are best measured for comparative purposes over a 12 month period in order to take into account all of the expenses that each vessel in our fleet will incur over a full year of operation. Based on estimates provided by our technical managers and management's expectations, we expect DVOE for the second half of 2012 to be $5,300 per vessel per day on a weighted average basis.
Financial Review: First Half 2012
The Company recorded a net loss of $8.1 million or $0.37 basic and diluted net loss per share for the six months ended June 30, 2012, compared to a net loss of $2.0 million or $0.09 basic and diluted net loss per share for the six months ended June 30, 2011. Voyage revenues decreased to $13.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2012 compared to $19.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011 due to lower spot market rates achieved by our vessels during the first half of 2012. EBITDA was $1.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2012 versus $7.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011. TCE rates obtained by the Company decreased to $8,158 per day for the six months ended June 30, 2012 from $11,979 per day for the six months ended June 30, 2011 mainly due to lower rates achieved for our vessels during the first six months of 2012 as compared to the prior year period. Total operating expenses were $19.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2012 compared to $19.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011, and daily vessel operating expenses per vessel were $5,001 versus $4,731 in the comparative periods, mainly due to the timing of purchases of spare parts and higher crew related expenses.  
Dividend Announcement and Policy
The Company's Board of Directors declared a dividend for the second quarter of 2012 of $0.05 per share payable on or about August 22, 2012 to all shareholders of record as of August 15, 2012.  Our dividend policy is to pay a variable quarterly dividend equal to our Cash Available for Distribution, during the previous quarter, subject to any reserves our board of directors may from time to time determine are required. The application of the formula in our policy would not have resulted in a dividend for the second quarter of 2012.  However, our Board of Directors nonetheless determined to declare a $0.05 per share dividend after taking into account our cash flow and our liquidity and capital resources. Dividends will be paid equally on a per-share basis between our common stock and our Class B stock. Cash Available for Distribution represents our net income less cash expenditures for capital items related to our fleet, such as drydocking or special surveys, other than vessel acquisitions and related expenses, plus non-cash compensation. For purposes of calculating Cash Available for Distribution, we may disregard non-cash adjustments to our net income, such as those that would result from acquiring a vessel subject to a charter that was above or below market rates. We intend to pay dividends on a quarterly basis.
The declaration and payment of any dividend will be subject to the discretion of our board of directors. The timing and amount of dividend payments will depend on our earnings, financial condition, cash requirements and availability, fleet renewal and expansion, restrictions in our loan agreements, the provisions of Marshall Islands law affecting the payment of distributions to shareholders and other factors. Our board of directors may review and amend our dividend policy from time to time in light of our plans for future growth and other factors.
Source: Baltic Trading Ltd.