Global Ship Lease has expanded its fleet while improving its profit.
The Ian Webber-led boxship owner has agreed to buy three 7,849-teu boxships, all built in 2004, for a total price of $48.5m.
The three vessels are the GSL Eleni, GSL Kalliopi and GSL Grania, the company announced today. GSL did not disclose the seller.
GSL Eleni began a five-year fixture with Maersk Line upon delivery in May 2019.
The other two ships are expected to be delivered in the third quarter and will begin three-year charters with Maersk Line, each with optional two-year extensions.
The three vessels are expected to earn $32m in adjusted Ebitda for the median firm period and about $47m if all options are taken.
These ships will bring GSL's fleet to 41 vessels with a total capacity of 224,162 teu.
Part of the purchase price will be financed through $37m in new senior secured debt, maturing late 2024.
The company has entered into several other charters, including five-year fixtures with MSC for 8,667-teu sister ships GSL Tianjin and OOCL Qingdao (both built 2005), which have been renamed MSC Tianjin and MSC Qingdao, respectively.
“By remaining highly active against a supportive fundamental backdrop, we have made excellent progress on multiple key initiatives throughout the first half of 2019," executive chairman George Youroukos said.
"We also returned to growth with the acquisition of three high-quality ships on extremely attractive terms, expanding our long-term relationship with Maersk Line, the world’s largest container liner company."
Earnings boost
GSL posted an $8.8m profit for the second quarter, up from $4.02m a year earlier.
Those earnings reflected earnings per share, including restricted stock units without service conditions, of $0.38 and $0.56 respectively, beating one analyst estimate of $0.36.
Revenue totaled $63.1m versus $35m during the same period last year.
"In conjunction with our success in expanding our contracted revenue stream and forward visibility, we have also continued to deleverage, ensuring that we are well positioned to further improve our balance sheet and extend debt maturities on an opportunistic basis," chief executive Ian Webber said.
"By continuing to execute this holistic strategy, we believe that we can unlock substantial additional value for our shareholders.”
