Castor Maritime Inc. posted $6.5 Million net profit for the Three Months Ended June 30, 2021 and $7.6 Million net profit for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2021.
Highlights of the Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2021:
• Revenues, net: $21.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $2.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020;
• Net income/loss: Net income of $6.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to net loss of $0.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020;
• Earnings/Loss per common share(1): $0.07 earnings per share for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to loss per share of $0.12 for the three months ended June 30, 2020;
• EBITDA(2): $10.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $1.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020;
• Cash and restricted cash of $42.7 million as of June 30, 2021, as compared to $9.4 million as of December 31, 2020;
• During the second quarter of 2021 and as of the date of this press release, we have taken successful delivery of 12 vessels consisting of 4 Kamsarmax and 2 Panamax dry bulk carriers as well as 1 Aframax, 3 Aframax / LR2 and 2 MR1 tankers. We expect three remaining acquisitions to conclude in the third quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions. On a fully delivered basis, Castor will own a diversified fleet of 26 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 2.2 million dwt, having more than quadrupled its fleet size since December 31, 2020;
• On June 14, 2021, we received written notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) that the Company has regained compliance with the Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market; and
• In June 2021, we entered into an at-the-market (“ATM”) sales agreement for the offer and sale from time to time of our common shares, having an aggregate offering amount of up to $300.0 million.
Earnings Highlights of the Six Months Ended June 30, 2021:
• Revenues, net: $28.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $5.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020;
• Net income/loss: Net income of $7.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to net loss of $0.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020;
• Earnings/Loss per common share(1): $0.10 earnings per share for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to loss per share of $0.50 for the six months ended June 30, 2020; and
• EBITDA(2): $12.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $1.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020.
(1) All share and per share amounts disclosed throughout this press release and in the financial information presented in Appendix B have been retroactively updated to reflect the one-for-ten (1-for-10) reverse stock split effected on May 28, 2021, unless otherwise indicated.
(2) EBITDA is not a recognized measure under United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). Please refer to Appendix B for the definition and reconciliation of this measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
Management Commentary:
Mr. Petros Panagiotidis, Chief Executive Officer of Castor commented:
“The first six months of 2021 was a transformational period for our Company, as we were able to raise $262.5 million of equity and $33.3 million of debt and grow our fleet from 6 vessels at the end of 2020 to 26 vessels on a fully delivered basis.
Strong demand for dry bulk transportation services has resulted in robust freight rates, with the upward momentum expected to be sustained by the tight vessel supply and historically low newbuilding orderbook. Following our timely acquisitions, Castor is well positioned to take advantage of this strong market with a dry bulk fleet consisting of 18 vessels, on a fully delivered basis. At the same time, most of our newly acquired tanker vessels are in either term or pool employment ensuring a high utilization for that part of our fleet.”
Earnings Commentary:
Second Quarter ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 Results
Vessel revenues, net of charterers’ commissions, for the three months ended June 30, 2021, increased to $21.8 million from $2.6 million in the same period of 2020. This increase was largely driven by the increase in our Ownership days (defined below) from 273 in the three months ended June 30, 2020 to 1,477 in the three months ended June 30, 2021, following the acquisition and delivery to our fleet of 20 vessels since June 30, 2020. The increase in vessel revenues during the three months ended June 30, 2021 as compared with the same period of 2020 was further underpinned by a stronger dry bulk shipping market resulting in higher daily TCE earned on average for our fleet
The increase in operating expenses by $6.8 million, from $1.2 million in the second quarter of 2020 to $8.0 million in the second quarter of 2021, as well as the increase in vessels’ depreciation costs by $2.5 million, from $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2020 to $2.8 million in the second quarter of 2021, mainly reflect the increase in our Ownership days following the expansion of our fleet.
Management fees in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to $1.8 million, whereas, in the same period of 2020 management fees totalled $0.1 million. This increase in management fees is primarily due to the sizeable increase of our fleet, resulting in a substantial increase in our Ownership days for which our managers charge us with a daily management fee, following the acquisitions discussed above. Effective September 1, 2020, the daily management fee for the technical management of our fleet by Pavimar S.A. was increased from $500 to $600 per vessel, and the daily management fee for the commercial and administrative management of our fleet by Castor Ships S.A. was set to $250 per vessel.
General and administrative expenses in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to $0.7 million, whereas, in the same period of 2020 general and administrative expenses totalled $0.1 million. This increase stemmed from incurred legal and other corporate fees primarily related to the growth of our company and the $0.3 million quarterly flat fee we pay Castor Ships S.A. with effect from September 1, 2020.
During the second quarter of 2021, we incurred net interest costs and finance costs amounting to $0.5 million compared to $0.8 million during the same period in 2020.
Recent Business and Financial Developments Commentary:
Nasdaq Listing Standards Compliance Update
On June 14, 2021, Nasdaq notified us that as a result of the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock having been at $1.00 per share or greater for at least ten consecutive business days, from May 28, 2021 to June 11, 2021, the Company has regained compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, and the matter is now closed.
ATM common stock offering program
On June 14, 2021, we entered into an equity distribution agreement with Maxim Group LLC acting as a sales agent, under which we may, from time to time, offer and sell shares of our common stock through the ATM program having an aggregate offering price of up to $300.0 million (the “ATM Program”). As of June 30, 2021, we had raised net proceeds of $9.7 million by issuing and selling 3,563,407 common shares under the ATM Program. Between June 30, 2021 and August 4, 2021, no sales of common shares have taken place. We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of our common stock under the ATM Program, for capital expenditures, working capital, funding for vessel and other asset or share acquisitions or for other general corporate purposes or a combination thereof.
Financing Transactions Update
On July 23, 2021, we, through four of our ship-owning subsidiaries, entered into a $40.75 million senior secured term loan facility with a European bank which is secured by the M/V Magic Thunder, M/V Magic Nebula, M/V Magic Eclipse and the M/V Magic Twilight. The $40.75 million term loan facility has a tenor of five years and bears interest at a margin plus LIBOR. The loan was drawn down in full on July 27, 2021.
Vessel Acquisitions Update
During the second quarter of 2021 and as of the date of this earnings press release, we have taken delivery of 12 vessels, aggregating to 17 completed vessel acquisitions of the total 20 vessel acquisitions we made since the beginning of this year.
Details and delivery information of our completed as well as in progress vessel acquisitions within the second quarter of 2021 and as of the date of this press release are as follows:
Completed acquisitions:
Update on common shares issued and outstanding
As of August 4, 2021, we had issued and outstanding 93,519,255 common shares.
Liquidity / Financing / Cash Flow Commentary:
Our consolidated cash position as of June 30, 2021 increased by $33.3 million, to $42.7 million, in relation to our cash position on December 31, 2020. That was mainly the result of: (i) $7.2 million of positive operating cash flows during the six months ended June 30, 2021, (ii) $157.0 million of net cash proceeds pursuant to the three registered direct offerings of an aggregate 42,405,770 common shares and the concurrent private placement of an equivalent aggregate number of warrants on January 5, January 12 and April 7, 2021, (iii) proceeds of approximately $83.4 million resulting from subsequent exercises of approximately 34.4 million warrants pursuant to the June 2020, July 2020 and the January 2021 equity offerings, that resulted in the issuance of an equal number of common shares, (iv) net cash inflows of approximately $32.5 million following our entry into two secured loan facilities with two reputable European banks in January and April of 2021, (v) $9.8 million of net cash proceeds pursuant to common stock sales under the ATM Program, as offset by (vi) $1.6 of scheduled principal repayments on our existing debt agreements.
During the six months ended June 30 2021, we used $255.1 million of the net proceeds from our first half of 2021 equity and debt financings to fund our growth and other capital expenditures.
Between July 1, 2021 and August 4, 2021, there have been no subsequent warrant exercises under our currently effective warrant schemes.
As of June 30, 2021, our total debt (including $5.0 million of related party debt maturing in September 2021), gross of unamortized deferred loan fees, was $50.2 million of which $12.5 million was repayable within one year, as compared to $18.5 million of debt as of December 31, 2020.