Dynagas LNG Partners reinstated dividend payments to common unit holders after a hiatus of nearly six years and said it is set for the next stage in its development.
This drive may include its expansion into shipping markets, it told investors today.
Net income at the US-listed owner of six large LNG carriers climbed to $15.1m in the third quarter, compared with $1.4m in the same period of 2023.
This was the company’s highest profit reading in the past 10 quarters. Net income between January and September climbed by 48% year on year to $37.5m.
Rising profit and the removal of financing restrictions following a $675m debt refinancing earlier this year allowed the company to reinstate quarterly dividend payments to common unit holders.
Its first such payment since the first quarter of 2019 was set at $0.049 per share.
Dynagas LNG Partners chief executive Tony Lauritzen expressed his satisfaction with the dividend payment, which he said reflects the company’s “strong cash flow and improved balance sheet”.
On top of the dividend payment, Dynagas LNG Partners said it got board authorisation to buy back up to $10m worth of units from common unit holders over the next 12 months.
Lauritzen has repeatedly stated that the $675m debt refinancing “equipped [the company] to explore new opportunities”.
On Friday, he went one step further, clarifying that Dynagas LNG Partners may invest in shipping markets other than LNG.
“Our objective is to position the partnership to capitalise on future market opportunities across not only our core business of LNG carriers but also in other shipping sectors,” Lauritzen said in the earnings statement, without elaborating.
The company’s six LNG carriers are all employed on long-term charters with an average duration of about 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.
In August, Dynagas LNG Partners filed papers preparing for the possible sale of shares or other securities worth more than $400m.
That includes the 42.4% stake held in the firm by Procopiou family-controlled Dynagas Holding.
Dynagas LNG Partners has a market value of close to $172m, far below the $773m its fleet was worth at the end of September.
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.
