Danaos reported a decline in profits during the second quarter but touted charter extensions that brought its contact backlog to more than $3bn.
The New York-listed owner of container ships and bulkers reported a bottom-line profit of $141m for the second quarter, down from $147m a year earlier.
With items not tracked by Wall Street stripped out, adjusted net income amounted to $132m, a decline from $143m in the second quarter of 2023.
Adjusted earnings per share of $6.78 is below the $7.27 average Wall Street estimate, although Yahoo Finance only has data from two analysts.
Despite the profit decline, Danaos’ charter book benefited from container ship operators’ hunger for tonnage.
“The last few months brought continued market disruption as conditions in the Red Sea remained challenged and the Ukraine war persisted,” chief executive John Coustas said in the earnings release.
“Panama Canal crossings, however, returned to normal levels, eliminating that source of disruption for now.”
The market conditions have pushed the liner companies to “rush” to secure tonnage, and environmental regulations have caused the companies to seek newbuildings on long-term charters.
The contracted revenue of $3.2bn is somewhat higher than the $2.9m reported less than a month ago.
The Greek company now has all of its 20 newbuildings chartered, with its fleet locked into an average contract of four-and-a-half years.
Danaos logged $246m in revenue during the second quarter, an improvement on $241m booked in the same three-month period of 2023.
The quarterly profit decline pushed first-half net income to just under $292m, down from $293m in the opening six months of last year.
The company ended June with $372m in cash and equivalents, out of $3.43bn in total assets. Its balance sheet showed nearly $570m in long-term debt, out of $621m in liabilities.
