Costamare Inc. (Costamare) (NYSE: CMRE) Thursday reported unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.
- Voyage revenues adjusted on a cash basis of $102.7 million for the three-months ended March 31, 2017.
- Adjusted Net income available to common stockholders of $20.8 million or $0.23 per share for the three-months ended March 31, 2017.
Newbuild charter agreements
The Company has entered into time charter agreements for all five 11,000TEU newbuild vessels acquired under Company's JV with York Capital. The vessels have been chartered for periods of up to 12 months at an average rate of about $18,000 per day. The first two vessels, the Cape Akritas and Cape Tainaro have been delivered to their charterers and have commenced operations. The third and fourth vessels, the Cape Kortia and Cape Sounio, are expected to be delivered to their charterers during the first week of May 2017, while the last vessel, the Cape Artemisio, is expected to be delivered from the shipyard and to her charterers during the second week of June 2017.
Container ship Cape Sounio at Keppel Subic Shipyard - Image courtesy of Costamare/Capt. Davis Ioanis
New charter agreements
The Company has entered into the following charter arrangements:
- Agreed to charter the 2003-built, 5,928 TEU containership Venetiko to Hapag-Lloyd, for a period of 5 to 14 months starting from March 19, 2017, at a daily rate of $6,600.
- Agreed to charter the 2001-built, 5,576 TEU containership Ensenada to PIL, for a period of 6 to 10 months starting from March 31, 2017, at a daily rate of $6,950.
- Agreed to charter the 2004-built, 4,992 TEU containership Piraeus to TS Lines, for a period of 4 to 8 months starting from April 6, 2017, at a daily rate of $5,100.
- Agreed to extend the charter of the 1998-built, 3,842 TEU containership Itea with ACL for a period expiring at the charterers’ option during the period from September 15, 2017 to October 25, 2017, starting from April 30, 2017, at a daily rate of $7,250.
- Agreed to charter the 1999-built, 2,526 TEU containership Elafonisos to MSC for a period of 11 to 13 months starting from March 15, 2017, at a daily rate of $6,200.
- Agreed to extend the charter of the 1996-built, 1,504 TEU containership Prosper with Sea Consortium for a period of 2 to 6 months, starting from April 26, 2017, at a daily rate of $6,750.
- Agreed to charter the 2001-built, 1,078 TEU containership Stadt Luebeck to Sea Consortium for a period of 25 to 90 days starting from April 10, 2017, at a daily rate of $6,500.
New financing transactions
In April 2017, Costamare entered into a loan agreement with a leading European financial institution for the financing of the last 11,000 TEU vessel on order, acquired under our JV with York Capital. The facility is for an amount of up to US $44 million which will be repayable over 3 years. The proceeds are expected to finance the remaining yard installment for the vessel.
New acquisitions
In March 2017, the Company agreed to purchase the 2014-built 4,957 TEU wide-beam container vessels Leonidio and Kyparissia. Both vessels are expected to be delivered to the Company in May 2017. The Company has agreed to charter each vessel to Maersk Line for a period of 7 years. The acquisitions will be initially funded with equity. The Company is in advanced discussions to finance the vessels’ acquisition cost with debt.
In April 2017, the Company agreed to purchase the 2005-built 7,491TEU container vessel Megalopolis. The vessel is expected to be delivered to the Company in May 2017. The Company has agreed to charter the vessel to Maersk Line for a period of 5 years. The acquisition will be initially funded with equity. The Company is in discussions to finance the vessel’s acquisition cost with debt.
Vessel disposals
In January 2017 and March 2017, Costamare sold for demolition the 5,050TEU container vessel Romanos and the 3,351 TEU container vessel Marina, respectively.
Dividend announcements
On April 3, 2017, the Company declared a dividend for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 of $0.10 per share on our common stock, payable on May 8, 2017 to stockholders of record on April 21, 2017.
On April 3, 2017, Costamare declared a dividend of $0.476563 per share on our Series B Preferred Stock, a dividend of $0.531250 per share on our Series C Preferred Stock and a dividend of $0.546875 per share on Company's Series D Preferred Stock, which were all paid on April 17, 2017 to holders of record on April 13, 2017.
Mr. Gregory Zikos, Chief Financial Officer of Costamare Inc., commented: “During the first quarter the Company delivered solid results. On the chartering side, we have now chartered all five 11,000 TEU new buildings for periods of up to one year and we have secured debt finance for the last remaining 11,000 TEU ship. As of today all of our new building program is fully funded with remaining equity commitments amounting to only US $ 2 million, due in 2018.
We continue to charter our ships, having chartered in total 7 ships since last quarter. We have no ships laid up. At the same time we are renewing our fleet. We have bought three second hand ships, which have been chartered for periods ranging from 5 to 7 years. Those vessels are expected to be delivered within May. The ships have been bought with equity and we are in discussions with financial institutions regarding debt finance.
Finally, on the dividend and the Dividend Reinvestment Plan currently in place, members of the founding family, as has been the case since the inception of the plan, have decided to reinvest in full the first quarter cash dividends. As mentioned in the past, our goal is to strengthen the Company and enhance long term shareholder value. In that respect, we are actively looking at new transactions selectively.”
Source: Costamare