Costamare has reported lower profits amid the replacement of eight vessels since late last year — but it may have plans to expand its fleet.
The Constantinos Constantakopoulos-led owner of 73 boxships posted a $25.3m profit for the third quarter, versus $36m in earnings during the same period last year.
Adjusted profit came in at $26.7m, down from $31m a year earlier, resulting in a $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) that met analyst consensus but fell short of its EPS of $0.26 a year ago.
Revenue fell from $124m to $108m, mainly due to revenue not earned by three vessels sold during the fourth quarter of 2019, one offloaded during the first quarter of this year and three others sent packing in the the third quarter of 2020.
The fall in revenue was partially offset by revenue earned by three vessels acquired during the fourth quarter of 2019, one ship bought in the first quarter of this year and four others taken in the third quarter of 2020.
More ships on the way?
"As part of our fleet-renewal programme, we sold for demolition two vessels with an average age of 23 years, and we agreed to acquire three larger secondhand ships on average 11 years younger," chief financial officer Gregory Zikos said in a statement.
"Meanwhile, our newbuilding programme is progressing on schedule, and we have now accepted delivery of three out of the five 13,000-teu vessels, which have commenced their 10-year charters."
Acquisitions include 2,572-dwt JPO Scorpius (built 2007), a 2006-built, 5,600-teu container vessel and a 2011-built, 4,200-teu boxship.
Vessels to be sold include 1,162-dwt Zagora (built 1995) and 4,890-dwt Singapore Express (built 1995).
He said a strong boxship market, company liquidity above $200m, no meaningful debt maturities over the next three years and minimal capital spending have put Costamare in a good position to expand its fleet.
Costamare shares, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CMRE, gained 0.6% on Tuesday to close at $6.56.
They fell 5.3% in the first hour of after-market trading.
