StealthGas, an owner of 27 small to midsize LPG carriers, has posted a near-record quarterly profit, helped by soaring markets.
“In what normally would be a seasonally weak quarter, we reported net income of $15.7m, the second-best quarter on record, only surpassed by the first quarter of this year,” chairman Michael Jolliffe said.
The third-quarter figure is a jump from $6.7m a year earlier.
Even though the New York-listed company’s fleet shrank by seven vessels from the same period of 2022, voyage revenue remained broadly stable at $34.7m on the back of firmer markets.
As a result of LPG carrier freight rates, profit between January and September climbed to a record $43m, a 62% rise from the first nine months of 2022.
StealthGas has been taking advantage of its growing cash pile to shield itself against rising interest rates by slashing debt by more than half since December, to $128m.
As TradeWinds already reported, it also expanded its share repurchase programme by $10m to $25m.
More than 3.9m shares have been already repurchased under the programme, more than 10% of the outstanding shares, the company said on Tuesday.
StealthGas extended eight ongoing charters since mid-August, by between six months and three years. It also concluded three new charters over the same period with a duration of between six months and a year.
“As the market is firming we took advantage of the momentum and entered into a number of long period charters,” Jolliffe said, adding that the company has already covered more than half of its available charter days for 2024.
StealthGas did not disclose any fresh sale-and-purchase activity, despite several broker reports last week that it has agreed to sell the 34,500-cbm Eco Ethereal (built 2010) for $43m.
The company’s balance sheet, however, contains a $34.9m “vessel held for sale” item.
According to a StealthGas presentation released on Tuesday, the Eco Ethereal is one of the vessels that the company co-owns with a joint venture partner.
A loan on the ship was repaid in June.
The Eco Ethereal is on a charter until April 2024 and its charterer has a purchase option.
