Safe Bulkers, a US-listed operator of dry bulkers, said on Wednesday it has assembled a considerable financial war chest to cope with any fallout, or reap any opportunities, created by the Covid-19 epidemic.

“We have refinanced a large portion of our debt increasing our liquidity to over $170 million, positioned ahead of uncertainties and opportunities that markets may offer,” Safe Bulkers president Loukas Barmparis said in a statement on the company’s 2019 financial results.

The company didn’t disclose how it intends to use its $174m liquidity buffer, which consists of $113.8m in cash and bank time deposits.

The full impact of the Covid-19 outbreak is not yet known, Barmparis said. “Our management is closely monitoring the evolving situation,” he added. Safe Bulkers declared no dividend on common stock, but it has a stock repurchase programme running.

Safe Bulkers' cash and time deposits rose from $82m at the end of 2018, according to the company's results release.

Earnings fall from a year ago

Adjusted net income for the fourth quarter came in at $3.5m on $53.2m in revenue, down from $9.8m on $52.6m in revenue for the same period last year.

Adjusted earnings per share was $0.01, missing analyst consensus by $0.04 and last year's result by $0.06.

The Polys Hajioannou-led company reported a net profit of $16m for the full year of 2019, down from $27.7m in 2018.

Net revenues increased by 2.4% to $197.8m, even though the company’s time-charger equivalent rate declined by 2.3% to $12,805 per day.

Daily vessel operating expense, however, rose by 5.1% to $4,582 per day, mainly as the company increased dry dockings to install ballast water treatment systems and scrubbers on its ships.

Safe Bulkers is near completion of a scrubber installation program for 20 out of its fleet of 42 ships, which range from panamaxes to capesizes.

Scrubbers have already been installed on 15 ships. Installation on the remaining five, however, has been postponed to the second quarter of the year as Covid-19 disrupted yard operations in China.

Safe Bulkers is installing the scrubbers at Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry Co. Ltd., (Cosco). The company’s scrubber installations were initially scheduled to have been completed by the end of last year.