Costamare Bulkers (CBI), the US-listed boxship and bulker player’s charter-in platform for large dry cargo carriers, saw its profitability deteriorate markedly in the third quarter.
According to a segmental earnings breakdown released by the company on Tuesday, following up on its main results announcement on 1 November, CBI posted a net loss of $40.5m for the nine months to the end of September.
According to TradeWinds calculations on the basis of previous filings, CBI accrued the biggest part of this year’s loss in the third quarter, to the tune of $36.8m.
CBI has been in the red since Costamare set it up in 2022.
This is not a surprise, given the extensive start-up costs incurred for the ambitious venture.
The platform, however, seemed on the cusp of profitability in the first and second quarters of 2024, when its net loss narrowed to about $0.3m and $3.4m respectively.
CBI charters bulkers in and out, entering into contracts of affreightment and forward freight agreements. It may also utilise hedging solutions.
The platform had 56 newcastlemaxes, capesizes and kamsarmaxes on period charters as of 31 October, including vessels from big owners such as Berge Bulk, Shandong Shipping Corp, Alpha Bulkers, Maran Dry and Navios Maritime Partners.
On account of its growing size, CBI revenue soared between January and September to $628.1m, from $278.7m in the same period last year. Including related-party voyage revenue, the figure even grew to $739m.
The overwhelming part of its revenue is classified as “voyage charters and contracts of affreightment”.
According to the segmental breakdown released by Costamare on Tuesday, CBI has also agreed “to forward charter-in from third parties vessels that are currently under construction”.
Lease payments associated with these newbuildings amount to $62m, up from $28m three months ago.
The payments are spread out between the second quarter of 2026 and the third quarter of 2033.
Sticking to its guns
TradeWinds reported on 25 October that former Oldendorff pair Kishore Anchan and Tom Hagen — two senior figures who helped establish CBI — had left the company.
Speaking to analysts on 1 November, Costamare management did not elaborate on the reason for the exits but said nobody should read them as a sign that Costamare is losing faith in the project.
The Athens-based company has repeatedly stated that it considers the venture a long-term investment to which it is sticking and which will eventually expand.
The same applies to its owned bulker fleet, which Costamare began assembling from scratch in 2021 and which now numbers 38 vessels.
In contrast to CBI, Costamare’s owned bulkers were profitable in the first nine months, to the tune of $14.4m.
The bulk of Costamare’s robust overall profit of $284.4m in this period, however, still came from the company’s traditional fleet of 68 container ships.
