Dynagas LNG Partners reported yet another profitable quarter on Tuesday, on the back of the steady, long-term employment of its six LNG carriers.
Net income at the US-listed company, the biggest shareholder of which is Greece’s Procopiou family, stood at $10.7m in the second quarter, down 26% year on year.
The decline is due to costs and an interest rate swap associated with a big debt repayment earlier this year.
“With two of our LNG carriers now debt-free, we believe the partnership is well positioned for the next phase of growth and development,” chief executive Tony Lauritzen commented.
The secured nature of the company’s business provides it with steady profitability, which has ranged between $1.4m and $23.9m in each quarter over the past four years.
Its six LNG carriers are all employed on long-term charters with an average duration of more than six years. None becomes available before 2028.
Its charterers include Norwegian state energy company Equinor, Singapore’s SEFE Marketing & Trading and US-based Rio Grande LNG.
Two of its ships are employed by the Yamal LNG project, which includes Singapore-based Novatek Gas & Power Asia, as well as CNPC and the Silk Road Fund.
Before the Ukraine war, three Dynagas LNG Partners vessels had been employed by Russian state gas company Gazprom.
The company has said that Western sanctions against Russia have not materially affected its business so far, as all its vessels are complying with them.
It acknowledges, however, that the sanctions regime represents a potential risk.
In August, it filed papers preparing for the possible sale of shares or other securities in it worth more than $400m.
That includes the entire 42.4% stake held in the firm by Procopiou family-controlled Dynagas Holding.
Dynagas LNG Partners has a market value of close to $137m, far below the $781m its fleet was worth at the end of June.
