StealthGas, a US-listed owner of small and midsize LPG carriers, posted another record profit, driven by robust market conditions and the effectiveness of the company’s chartering strategy, which offset the impact of a smaller fleet.
The company, led and controlled by Greek shipowner Harry Vafias, booked net income of $17.7m in the first three months of the year — up 5.4% from the same period in 2023.
This is “an all-time high for our company in the 20 years since its inception”, Vafias said in an earnings statement on Wednesday.
This result came despite the fact that the StealthGas fleet shrunk by five ships from last year, to 27 vessels.
“The vessels remaining in the fleet earned higher revenues compared to the same period in the prior year, mainly due to improved market conditions,” the company said.
A pair of 40,000-cbm newbuildings that joined the StealthGas fleet this quarter “immediately started producing results”, StealthGas added.
Apart from its 27 vessels, StealthGas is an investor in an additional five LPG ships in joint ventures with other partners.
All but two of StealthGas’ ships are on time charters.
Vafias continued this strategy in the first quarter, during which it concluded a string of long-term chartering agreements, including a three-year extension for the 3,500-cbm Eco Elysium (built 2014).
This has led to a further increase in the company’s period coverage to about 73% of fleet days for the rest of the year.
StealthGas posted back-to-back annual profit records in both 2022 and 2023.
Its profitability has allowed the company to repaying much of its debt — a strategy it continues this year with $32m of debt repayments during the first quarter and $53.3m so far in the second.
As a result, all but four of the company’s fully-owned ships are now unencumbered by debt and its debt ratio has fallen below the 15% mark.
StealthGas shares closed trading near 10-year highs at $7.35 on Tuesday.
This gives the company a market capitalisation of $266m, compared with a net fleet value of $618m at the end of March.
According to the company’s latest annual report, Vafias himself is the single biggest holder of the company’s common stock as of 1 April, with a 29% stake, up from 23% last year.
The second-biggest shareholder is Glendon Capital Management — a Santa Monica, California-based investment adviser led by Brian Berman — with a 16.1% holding, from 15.3% stake last year.
Renaissance Technologies and TowerView LLC own 5.8% and 5.4%, respectively.
