Dorian LPG has decided to hand $42.6m in cash to its shareholders as the Connecticut gas carrier owner gave a sneak peek of its quarterly earnings showing revenue growth.
The New York-listed company said its board of directors declared a $1-per-share irregular dividend that will land in investor wallets on 21 August.
And while the John Hadjipateras-led company does not report earnings for another week, it revealed that it expects time-charter equivalent revenue for its fiscal first quarter to land in the range of nearly $113m to $115m. Dorian’s first quarter ended June 30.
That suggests top-line improvement over the same period of last year, when Dorian LPG reported revenue of nearly $112m.
This time last year, the New York-listed company also paid a $1-per-share special dividend.
Dorian said it expects vessel operating expenses to come in between $19.5m and $21.5m for the fiscal first quarter, compared to $19.8m in the same period of 2023.
And the shipowner said that it expected to end the quarter with between $352m and $354m in cash and equivalent current assets, with $596m to $598m in debt.
The largesse with shareholders comes after Dorian also shared more of its wealth with top executives.
TradeWinds reported in July that compensation rose for key members of the management team.
Hadjipateras saw his annual salary rise to $750,000 from $650,000 as part of a $2.59m overall pay package, including stock-based bonuses.
Time charter equivalent revenue | $112,500,000- $114,500,000 |
Vessel operating expenses | $19,500,000-$21,500,000 |
Charter hire expenses | $9,600,000-$11,600,000 |
General and administrative expenses | $5,500,000-$7,500,000 |
Stock-based compensation and cash bonuses | $3,800,000-$4,200,000 |
Calendar days | 1,911 |
Time chartered-in days | 364 |
Available days | 2,275 |
Operating days | 2,056 |
Utilization rate | 90.4% |
Cash and cash equivalents | $352,300,000-$354,300,000 |
Long-term debt obligations | $596,100,000-$598,100,000 |
The dividend announcement also comes less than two months after Dorian tapped the stock market in a $150m equities offering that sent the shares down 11% in a day after they touched a record in late May.
The dividend announcement was not enough to buoy the shares on Wednesday, as the price dipped 0.8% to $39.90 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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