Despite the sale of its Jones Act tanker business, it will remain business as usual for AMSC.
The Norwegian owner — which announced yesterday that it was selling its 10 US-flagged ships to a New Orleans shipping finance house in a deal valuing the fleet at $747m — said it would maintain its Oslo Stock Exchange listing while paying dividends.
That includes a $0.12 per share dividend for the second quarter, plus a plan for a NOK 25.10 ($2.35) per share special dividend once the sale is completed.
“AMSC will continue to seek attractive risk/reward projects offering flexible solutions to operators in the shipping and offshore markets, targeting medium-term contracts with extension optionality, and preferably participating in future upside through profit-sharing mechanisms,” the company said in its earnings release.
The sale to US-based Maritime Partners will generate nearly $250m for AMSC and leave it with a single ship, the 178-loa offshore construction vessel Normand Maximus (built 2016).
That ship is on bareboat charter to Solstad Offshore until at least 2027 and has a contracted backlog of $130m.
AMSC said moving forward, the Normand Maximus would be expected to bring in $30m in Ebitda annually, down from the 2022 full-year figure of $88.5m.
For the quarter, the company’s profit came in at $4.8m, up from $3.8m for the same period last year.
Revenue came in at $30.9m, up from $22m year over year.
The company attributed the top and bottom line improvement to the Normand Maximus beginning its charter. The company acquired the ship last May.
On Tuesday, following the deal’s announcement, AMSC shares shot as high as NOK 49 from NOK 42, before closing at NOK 45.05.
In early trading on Wednesday, shares slipped to NOK 43.25, losing NOK 1.75 from its opening price.
