Eneti reported a better-than-expected surge in quarterly profits as the wind vessel owner rode a jump in revenue and the value of its investment in Scorpio Tankers.
The New York-listed company logged $52.7m in net income, up from $13m in the same period of last year, which was before the August 2021 acquisition of Seajacks International that cemented the company’s transition from a bulker owner to a leading player in the wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs).
With the Scorpio Tankers share impact stripped out, adjusted earnings per share equated to $0.63, more than double the analyst consensus estimate of $0.26, according to Stifel.
Eneti’s revenue jumped to $61.3m in the second quarter, which represented a 62.6% increase on the $37.7m reported on the top line a year earlier.
Contributing to the rise was work by the 23,500-gt Seajacks Scylla (built 2015) as it carried out transportation and installation duties for a wind farm off Taiwan.
Also bringing in revenue was the 9,700-gt Seacjacks Zaratan (built 2012) as it worked on the Akita Offshore Wind project off Japan.
Eneti’s three 5,000-gt, NG2500X-class vessels were also busy carrying out maintenance of offshore gas production platforms in the North Sea.
Stifel analyst Benjamin Nolan said those vessels’ contracts, plus recognition of claims for 2021 revenue, were behind the earnings beat.
General and administrative expenses were also higher than expected, rising to $11m from $5.13m a year earlier.
But Eneti’s bottom-line net income also received a $28.3m bump from the gain in the value of Eneti’s investment in Scorpio Tankers. Both companies are led by chief executive Emanuele Lauro and backed by his Scorpio Group.
The second-quarter profit gain propelled Eneti’s first-half numbers into earnings growth, with six-month net income jumping to $58.9m from $54.9m in the same period of last year.
As of Friday, Eneti had $54.3m in unrestricted cash, plus $14.5m in restricted cash, as well as 2.16m Scorpio Tankers shares on the book. It finished the second quarter with nearly $70.3m in bank loans.
