Safe Bulkers Back in Black
Image Courtesy: Safe BulkersMonaco-based dry bulk shipping specialist Safe Bulkers managed to return to profitability in the third quarter of 2017, after seeing losses for an extended period.
In the three months ended September 30, the company’s net income reached USD 6.7 million as compared to net loss of USD 24.5 million reported during the same period in 2016.
The positive result was influenced by net revenues, which increased by 38% to USD 37.3 million for the third quarter of 2017, compared to USD 27.1 million for the same period in 2016, driven by improved charter rates and a rise in the average number of vessels.
The company’s 38 vessels were earning a time charter equivalent (TCE) rate of USD 10,419, up from a TCE rate of USD 7,637 during the same period in 2016.
For the nine-month period ended September 30, Safe Bulkers’ net income was USD 1.9 million as compared to a net loss of USD 51.3 million seen in the first nine months of 2016, while net revenues surged by 35% to USD 105.7 million from USD 78.1 million for the respective periods.
“Highlights of the third quarter include, improvement of our capital structure towards reducing finance costs and our break-even point, continuous reduction of adjusted losses per share in an improving charter market and for the first time after several quarters, earnings per share on unadjusted basis, taking into account the write off of USD 8.2 million of debt,” Loukas Barmparis, President of the Safe Bulkers, said.
In September 2017, Safe Bulkers concluded the settlement of USD 74.9 million loans outstanding at a discount, with a new loan facility of USD 49.6 million and cash on hand of USD 17.1 million, resulting in a net gain on debt extinguishment of USD 8.2 million.
