Safe Bulkers revealed that it moved a bigger share of its fleet in the spot market as the outfit reported steady third-quarter results.
But it kept its biggest ships locked into period employment.
The New York-listed shipowner, which has Polys Hajioannou as its chief executive and biggest shareholder, said it had 16 ships in the spot market as of Friday, which is up from nine vessels in the spot market when it last reported earnings in July.
But Safe Bulkers’ larger spot market exposure extended to only one of its capesizes, with the remaining seven locked into term business. Six capesizes have more than a year to run on their charters.
The company said the longer coverage in its capesize fleet was a reaction to market volatility.
“The vessels we deploy on period time charters provide us with visible and relatively stable cash flow, while the vessels we deploy in the spot market allow us to maintain our flexibility in low charter market conditions and provide an opportunity for a potential upside in our revenue when charter market conditions improve,” Safe Bulkers said of its chartering strategy.
The Greek-Cypriot bulker player said it had 28 vessels in the period charter market on Friday, including three with charters of one to two years and 11 with charters lasting more than two years.
That is down from 33 vessels on term business in July, when Safe Bulkers had 12 ships on charter for one to two years and 11 on deals lasting more than two years.
The company revealed the commercial shifts as it reported a third-quarter profit of $51m, down from $55.4m a year earlier.
| Q3 2022 | Q3 2021 | Nine months 2022 | Nine Months 2021 | |
| Net revenue | $93.7m | $92.5m | $263m | $237m |
| Net income | $51m | $55.4m | $138m | $109m |
| Adjusted net income | $48.8m | $50.7m | $132m | $104m |
| Earnings per share | $0.41 | $0.44 | $1.08 | $0.91 |
| Adjusted earnings per share | $0.39 | $0.40 | $1.03 | $0.86 |
Adjusted profit also slipped 3.7% to $48.8m, but the $0.39 in adjusted earnings per share was better than analysts’ average expectation of $0.30.
Net revenue grew to $93.7m from $92.5m in the third quarter of 2021.
“During the third quarter of 2022, we had a satisfactory financial performance of $0.41 earnings per share,” said president Loukas Barmparis.
“We maintained a strong balance sheet, leverage comparable to our fleet scrap value and liquidity and capital resources providing flexibility in a global environment that presents not only challenges but also opportunities.”
The dip in quarterly profits did not stop Safe Bulkers from growing its net income for the first nine months of the year to $138m, up from $109m in the same period of 2021.
