Safe Bulkers, Inc.
Q4 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 16 Feb 2021

[Operator:]

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Safe Bulkers' Conference Call to discuss the fourth quarter 2020 financial results. Today, we have with us from Safe Bulkers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Polys Hajioannou; President, Dr. Loukas Barmparis; and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Konstantinos Adamopoulos. Following this conference call, if you need any further information on the conference call or on the presentation, please contact Capital Link at 212-661-7566. I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today. Before we begin, please note that this presentation contains forward-looking statements as defined by Section 27A of the Securities Act 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, concerning future events, the company's growth strategy, and measures to implement such strategy, including expected vessel acquisitions and entering into further time charters. Words such as expects, intends, plans, believes, anticipates, hopes, estimates, and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates, which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of the company.

[Loukas Barmparis:]

Good morning. I am Loukas Barmparis, President of Safe Bulkers. Welcome to our conference call and webcast to discuss the financial results for the fourth quarter of 2020. Starting our presentation, in slide three, I would like to express our gratitude to all our seafarers, hoping that within 2021 we will reach a point that all efforts of the global community to produce treatments and vaccines will conclude, and the pandemic will be controlled. To that end, Safe Bulkers has become a signatory of the Neptune Declaration. We have joined this global coalition, signed by more than companies and organizations in the shipping industry, to share initiatives and actions compacting the crew change crisis and repatriation of our seafarers. We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of our seafarers, while ensure a stronger maritime supply chain, and the uninterrupted flow of commerce around the world. As a general comment for 2020, despite the negative effect of COVID-19, the company is maintaining strong liquidity position that provides us with flexibility. It is following a plan which, in the first place, is based on our high-quality Japanese fleet, 32 out of 42 vessels, with built-in advantage of environmental footprint compared to the global drybulk fleet, and further, is aiming to upgrade and gradually renew our fleet with certain views of our forthcoming environmental changes, and sensibly deleverage our balances, targeting to create value for our shareholders, and be leading quality drybulk company. Management alignment with shareholding and the performance and trust built over the years are of the paramount importance in the success of this plan.

[Konstantinos Adamopoulos:]

Thank you, Loukas, and good morning to all. Let me start with our chartering performance in slide 18, where we present our quarterly time charter , which stood at $12,319 versus our quarterly OpEx for the same period which stood at $3,978. Moving on to slide 19, we present our quarterly daily OpEx versus our quarterly daily G&A which stood at $1,469. The aggregate figure for both OpEx and G&A for the last quarter of 2020 was $5,447 demonstrating our focus on operations, we believe that this number for both OpEx and G&A when comparing apples-to-apples is one of the industry's lowest, if not the lowest, given the fact that we included in this figure delivery expenses and also in our G&A, our management fees and directors and officers compensation and all expenses related to the administration of our company as a public entity.

[Operator:]

Thank you very much. Our first question today is from Randy Giveans. Please go ahead.

[Randy Giveans:]

Howdy, gentlemen, how is it going?

[Polys Hajioannou:]

Yes, hi, Randy.

[Randy Giveans:]

Hey. I guess a few questions, looking at first, the agreement for the acquisition of the 2011-built or the Panamax there, what are the thoughts behind that in terms of the ages, and also comparing that with the recent announcement for the two newbuilds over additional vessels on the water? So kind of comparing and contrasting a 10-year-old vessel and newbuilds?

[Polys Hajioannou:]

Yes, the 10-year vessel was found at the time when we sold two of the older ships of the company, the '03 and the '04 vessel. At a small premium, we managed to by an '11-built vessel, before prices start rising, in which case with a small increase we renew the age factor by eight years. The newbuilds are more long-term investment in new regulations and the new energy efficiency environment there, and would be delivered in the middle of second and third quarter of 2022, which is ahead of the game in order to have good delivery periods, because right now deliveries are fully booked until 2023. So it's a different -- it's a -- the fleet renewal is a two-fold renewal, it's partly selling older ships and replacing them with younger ones, and partly replacing them with brand new technology vessels.

[Randy Giveans:]

Got it, okay. And then I guess also looking at the repurchasing of the Series A, right, what is the kind of thought process around that, and the savings with that? Would you look to maybe start a dividend or what is your thoughts around that incremental capital that's not being paid out now on the Series A?

[Konstantinos Adamopoulos:]

Look, that was a financing for the newbuild that Pedhoulas Cedrus, which was done three years ago. So we thought it was the time to call it to redeem it. And in its place we have refinanced the vessel through a sale and leaseback transaction, increasing also our liquidity. And as a result, I mean, this is -- I mean, according to our strategy to increase our liquidity and be more flexible in the market. Now, having the strategy, we have substantial liquidity that provides us flexibility in -- for other acquisitions, for future orders, I mean, for whatever. So this is the thought process for redeeming the Preferred A Stock that was issued by one of our subsidiaries.

[Randy Giveans:]

Got it. And then in terms of maybe potential dividend at some point, are we still maybe too early in the appraisal?

[Konstantinos Adamopoulos:]

Yes, in case of the potential dividend, there is a -- I mean there are two real truths. First of all, the management has about 50% of company, so the basic target of the family is to create -- of the management is to create a value for shareholders, and to be able to restore the dividend. The second point is that, we first -- I mean we have come out of a several years of bad markets, and even the last year, it is profitable at the end, but it was overall not profitable. And so we need to see, let's say, the development of the market, and to be able to, let's say, more sustainable good markets in order to consider additional dividend, which always is, at the end of the day, the target of which one that invests in any company, including our management.

[Polys Hajioannou:]

Basically, the fourth quarter of 2020 was the first profitable quarter after a very bad first-half of 2020, and the breakeven quarter in Q3. The company saw that both its profits and its stock price is bouncing back after the -- after freight rates reversed. So we are adjusting very fast to the new environment, and turning the losses of COVID-19 into profits. So if things develop like we expect in 2021, we will have more profitable , and then will be more likely to consider how we distribute the funds.

[Randy Giveans:]

Yes, that completely makes sense. We're expected many more profitable quarters, so we can have some patience on the dividend. Thanks so much.

[Polys Hajioannou:]

Thank you.

[Konstantinos Adamopoulos:]

Thank you.

[Operator:]

The next is from Ben Nolan from Stifel. Please go ahead.

[Frank Galanti:]

Yes, hi. This is Frank Galanti on for Ben. For my first question, I just wanted to ask, given, I guess the sales and the buyback or between the three transactions and then the ordering of the new vessel, how much dry powder do you think you have in order to grow the fleet without tapping the ATM?

[Polys Hajioannou:]

There is some dry powder, and there is more to be created by possibly selling late in 2021 a couple of more of the older ships, replacing them a younger . But the most important is to see to how much the profits of Q4 will be developed, now that the market is developing in a nice way. As freight rates start increasing meaningfully for -- in the first two months of this year, we believe that our profits will strengthen, but we have to bear in mind that also the company deleveraging because that results in a long-term sustainable profits and dividends for the shareholders, and not -- to making a two or three quarters of dividends and then to stop when the market changes. So, we want to, at the same time, deleverage. And one of the ways is to deleverage through as the market increases, selling the older ships and replacing then with newer ones, so that will be debt-free. The plan right now for the new acquisition is to remain debt-free, that's why we will -- and thus contribute to the earnings as much as the two older ships where contributing at the same time. So, it'll be a combinational factor that we'll decide the things. We are very optimistic as things stands at the moment, because the drybulk market is getting out over very bad situation. We have the depression of 2015, 2016, then we have the trade war in 2018, when the market starts improving then in 2020 we'll have the COVID-19. So it's three major events in the last six years. Right now, we are happy that as I said in the past that there's not a bad thing without a good thing coming. All this crisis resulted into very little ordering of new ships. We have one of the lowest order books of the last 20 years. This I believe is a key point that we'll drive the profits higher and we'll drive the drybulk market to very, very profitable levels. The order book is below 6%. We haven't seen this order book for wages. And you have to remember in the previous commodity booming of 2015, 2014. We have the order books of 45% to 50%. So at that time we couldn't carry on with a sustainable market. Right now I think that the part that everyone is missing is this recovery. If it develops way and of course nobody knows, but if it develops a way we are thinking and the most of the people are thinking if it will develop along with a commodity boom. It will coincide with two or three years of low order book, which coupled with the aging of the fleet and de-carbonization and the requirement for some of the ships slowdown in order to meet the greenhouse gases restrictions. I believe that this will give a major boost to the vessels up are well prepared for that face of the market.

[Konstantinos Adamopoulos:]

If I may add on that, if you consider the slide 21, where we show our liquidity, reached about $94 million against our capital expense requirements about $60 million, I think one point to say is that looking the future and the present market environment, we can say that by for each $1000 that the time charter equivalent increases. The profit of the company will be about $15 million. So the liquidity, we foresee that the liquidity will increase in the following, let's say quarters, from the markets which is very important and very wanted.

[Frank Galanti:]

Okay, great. That's really helpful. Then I guess I want to ask about the Lake Despina, the Capesize have the contract terminated early. Can you give us a bit more context on why that transaction was completed and if you'd be interested in doing the same for other vessels?

[Polys Hajioannou:]

Look, the Lake Despina was made a washout agreement with charter of the vessel on their request. They have to pay the differential between the market at the time and what was the charter rate for the ship? The ship has around three years remaining on here charter of $24,800 a day. We made that confirmation which came out to $8 million compensation. We received already this money and now the ship has redelivered. We decided that we should keep this ship, because a premium ship in the spot market and fix it on the index link, like we have done a big part of our period vessels. So we have done this one at the 19% above the Baltic Cape Index. We believe the Baltic Cape Index will start performing a little better of course in January it was almost 70,000 of the Baltic Cape Index. Right now the Chinese New Year it's a drop, but I think that in the next couple of months we'll see a multi-Capesize index above 20,000. And I think that it's a good call from the company because the spot market on the multi-Capesize index grows back to 20,000, which is -- it's not the big events these days. The company will be receiving the money towards receiving on the original charters. So, we have this flexibility. We took a decision on in the last quarter of last year, any periodic business we were fixing to keep it index-linked, because we believed in the market, and we wanted to enjoy as soon as it will happen. We have around seven Panamax vessels and two Capes in index-linked. So, even ships with all three or all four now that ensuring rates of $17,000, $18,000 a day on their period of charters. So, I think that was good opportunity for us towards all these charter and also it was good for our charters, which were first-class, they performed brilliantly for seven years and they paid you the compensation. Now, on the other contracts, we never had the hints about the respective charters, who want to make anything like this. The one ship that as a long-term period remaining of another 10 year, so they last 11 years. The charter that makes an investment on the ship of environmental investment, I think scrubber and things like that. So, I mean, their intentional is to maintain the ship and perform as the charter big company conglomerates. So, we will never have a problem in the first 10 years of the charter. So, we don't expect any more contracts to be treated that way, but at the same time, we are very happy with standard of our counterparties, and because when we fix ships, we think that this is most important element. Our long experience is to with whom we fix, and not only the rate, but also the reputation of the charter and the security-centric and the guarantees we got for those long-term charters. So, it's looking good at the moment, but I mean we have to wait and see how the market develops. Right now, we are seeing in the middle of Chinese New Year, ships earning $25,000 a day in the Atlantic, or $18,000 in the Pacific. So, it's really looking good, because last time I remember this sort of market in the first quarter was 2011. So, I think something similar is happening at the moment.

[Frank Galanti:]

Okay, great. Thanks very much.

[Polys Hajioannou:]

Thank you.

[Operator:]

Okay, there are no further questions coming through. I will now hand back to management for closing remarks. Thank you.

[Polys Hajioannou:]

Thank very much for attending this presentation and our quarter results, and we are looking forward to discuss with you in about three months for our first quarter results. Thank you to all, and have a nice day.

[Operator:]

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the call. Thank you everyone for joining. You may not disconnect.