Hafnia Limited, a leading product tanker company with a diversified and modern fleet of over 130 vessels, announced results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Highlights and Recent Activity
Third Quarter 2024
- Reported net profit of USD 215.6 million or USD 0.42 per share1 compared to USD 146.9 million or USD 0.29 per share in Q3 2023.
- Commercially managed pool and bunker procurement business generated income of USD 7.8 million compared to USD 7.5 million2 in Q3 2023.
- Time Charter Equivalent (TCE)3 earnings were USD 361.6 million compared to USD 310.3 million in Q3 2023, resulting in an average TCE3 of USD 33,549 per day.
- Adjusted EBITDA2 of USD 257.0 million compared to USD 220.8 million in Q3 2023.
- 71% of total earning days of the fleet were covered for Q4 2024 at USD 24,004 per day as of November 18, 2024.
- Net asset value (NAV)4 was approximately USD 4.6 billion, or approximately USD 9.07 per share (NOK 95.24), at quarter end, primarily driven by rising vessel values.
- Hafnia will distribute a total of USD 194.1 million, or USD 0.3790 per share, in dividends, corresponding to a payout ratio of 90%.
Year-to-Date September 30, 2024
- Achieved record net profit of USD 694.4 million or USD 1.36 per share1 compared to USD 616.8 million or USD 1.22 per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.
- Commercially managed pool and bunker procurement business generated income of USD 28.3 million compared to USD 28.7 million2 for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.
- TCE3 earnings were USD 1,157.7 million compared to USD 1,036.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, resulting in an average TCE3 of USD 36,330 per day.
- Adjusted EBITDA3 of USD 861.1 million compared to USD 778.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.
1 Based on weighted average number of shares as at 30 September 2024 |
2 Excluding a one-off item amounting to USD 7.4 million in Q3 2023 |
3 See Non-IFRS Measures section below |
4 NAV is calculated using the fair value of Hafnia’s owned vessels. |
Mikael Skov, CEO of Hafnia, commented:
After a strong second quarter, the product tanker market softened seasonally in the third quarter, due to refinery maintenance, lower refinery margins, and increased cannibalization from the crude sector.
Despite these challenges, Hafnia has continued to perform well, delivering solid earnings. I am pleased to announce that we achieved a net profit of USD 215.6 million in Q3, bringing our year-to-date net profit to USD 694.4 million – the best nine-month performance in our company’s history.
Our adjacent fee-generating business segments have also performed strongly, contributing USD 7.8 million to our overall results. At the end of the third quarter, our net asset value (NAV)1 reached approximately USD 4.6 billion, reflecting the increased market value of our vessels and strong operating cashflows, which equates to an NAV per share of about USD 9.07 (NOK 95.24).
Our net Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio decreased to 19.1% at the end of the quarter. This allowed us to reach a new milestone in our dividend policy, and we are pleased to announce a dividend payout ratio of 90% for the quarter. For the quarter, we will distribute USD 194.1 million or USD 0.3790 per share in dividends.
On October 1, 2024, we successfully completed the redomiciliation of Hafnia Limited from Bermuda to Singapore. As Hafnia Limited is a Singapore tax resident post-redomiciliation, no Singapore withholding taxes will be imposed on dividend distributions to all shareholders. There is, therefore, no change in the dividend treatment resulting from the redomiciliation.
Hafnia’s Board has authorized management to initiate a share buyback program of up to USD 100 million, from December 2, 2024, to January 27, 2025, subject to market conditions. Authorization will be reviewed on a quarterly basis. We will disclose the structure of the program and details of any buyback as it occurs. The amount utilized for this buyback program will be deducted before declaring dividends for Q4 2024. This ensures the combined total of dividends and share buybacks aligns to our payout ratio under our dividend policy, reflecting our dedication to shareholder value while also ensuring strategic flexibility.
While market conditions softened slightly due to competition from the crude sector, Q3 trade volumes and earnings remained above last year’s levels, driven by strong global oil demand and increased tonne-miles from refinery dislocations. Looking ahead, seasonal strengthening in the crude sector, coupled with the technical challenges of transporting products on crude carriers, is expected to reduce this cannibalization. Additionally, seasonal demand increases and geopolitical tensions will further support product demand and tonne-miles.
As of November 18, 2024, 71% of the Q4 earning days are covered at an average of USD 24,004 per day, and 9% is covered at USD 24,089 per day for 2025.
We continue to enhance our technological capabilities and are optimistic about our strategic investment in Complexio Foundational AI to advance data automation. Complexio’s ‘bottom-up’ approach first ingests companies’ unstructured and structured data and then, via its multi-modal framework – currently leveraging eight Large Language Models (LLMs) – maps this data into a comprehensive landscape.
With ongoing advancements in prediction and reasoning, this detailed understanding enables the automation of recurring processes such as chartering, ship clearance, finance management, and contract negotiation. These continuous R&D improvements, combined with expanding partnerships with industry leaders like Marfin, CTM, Sogemm, BW Epic Kosan, and Alassia Newships, reinforce Hafnia’s position at the forefront of technological innovation.
1 NAV is calculated using the fair value of Hafnia’s owned vessels. |
Fleet
At the end of the quarter, Hafnia’s fleet consisted of 115 owned vessels1 and 15 chartered-in vessels. The Group’s total fleet includes 10 LR2s, 34 LR1s (including three bareboat-chartered in and four time-chartered in), 62 MRs of which nine are IMO II (including two bareboat chartered in and 11 time-chartered in), and 24 Handy vessels of which 18 are IMO II (including seven bareboat-chartered in).
The average estimated broker value of the owned fleet1 was USD 4,914 million, of which the LR2 vessels had a broker value of USD 649 million2, the LR1 fleet had a broker value of USD 1,288 million2, the MR fleet had a broker value of USD 2,059 million3 and the Handy vessels had a broker value of USD 918 million4. The unencumbered vessels had a broker value of USD 475 million5. The chartered-in fleet had a right-of-use asset book value of USD 19.5 million with a corresponding lease liability of USD 22.3 million.
1 Including bareboat chartered in vessels; six LR1s and four LR2s owned through 50% ownership in the Vista Shipping Joint Venture and two MRs owned through 50% ownership in the H&A Shipping Joint Venture; and excluding Hafnia Pegasus which was classified as an asset held for sale |
2 Including USD 353 million relating to Hafnia’s 50% share of six LR1s and four LR2s owned through 50% ownership in the Vista Shipping Joint Venture |
3 Including USD 54 million relating to Hafnia’s 50% share of two MRs owned through 50% ownership in the H&A Shipping Joint Venture; and IMO II MR vessels; and excluding Hafnia Pegasus which was classified as an asset held for sale |
4 Including IMO II Handy vessels |
5 Excluding Hafnia Pegasus which was classified as an asset held for sale |
Market Review & Outlook
In the third quarter of 2024, the Clean Petroleum Products (CPP) trade remained robust, despite a 6% drop in tonne-miles since Q2. High cargo volumes and tonne-miles remain at historical average highs, primarily driven by geopolitical tensions. These tensions have led to more vessels rerouting away from the Suez Canal toward the Cape of Good Hope.
Global oil demand also remained firm in the third quarter, driven by growth in advanced economies. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global oil demand increased by 1.1 million barrels per day in the third quarter, driven by global gasoil deliveries, despite a contraction in overall Chinese demand. Furthermore, global oil demand for 2024 remains firm at an average of 102.8 million barrels per day, an increase of 0.9 million barrels from 2023. Despite steady demand, product tanker rates were under pressure in the last part of Q3, mainly due to increased competition from the crude sector. With a seasonally weak crude market, some crude tankers – despite high conversion costs – shifted to carrying refined products. During the quarter, Suezmax and VLCC tankers transported more diesel shipments from the Middle East to Europe, a trade typically handled by LR2s.
As winter approaches, both crude and product markets are expected to strengthen seasonally. Technical challenges and reduced commercial incentives for using crude carriers to carry refined products limit cannibalization, as shown in recent daily loading data, and this drives forward tightness in supply versus demand for the clean products segments. For the first time in history, the product markets will experience a full winter period where seasonal increases in Atlantic demand, partly serviced by the Eastern hemisphere, will exclusively have to route via the Cape of Good Hope rather than Suez. Additionally, improving refinery margins and gradually increasing distances between refineries and end consumers support a strong outlook for earnings in the product sector.
On the supply side, the orderbook-to-fleet ratio is approximately 20% for deliveries through 2028 as of November 2024. However, a growing number of tankers over 20 years old are likely scrapping candidates. These older vessels, with lower utilization rates and frequent involvement in “dark trades”, effectively reduce available tonnage and increase demand for the existing fleet. Furthermore, LR2s comprise over 50% of the new tonnage expected in the next few years, and historically, 70% of LR2 capacity has been absorbed into the dirty petroleum products trade. This is further supported by aged Panamax, Aframax, and large crude tanker fleets where newbuild order books are limited compared to the clean segments. Applying 70% dirty products trading for LR2 newbuild capacity reduces the clean products book-to-fleet ratio to 13%. As a result, the overall supply balance is expected to remain manageable in the coming years.
Looking ahead, the product tanker market outlook is positive. Demand is expected to remain strong, supported by longer transport distances and refinery dislocation. With winter’s seasonal factors and reduced cannibalization from crude tankers, the market is set to benefit from a high-rate environment for product tankers. This will however be impacted if there is normalization of trade through the Red Sea, or further addition of new tonnage.
Key Figures
USD million | Q1 2024 | Q2 2024 | Q3 2024 | YTD 2024 | |
Income Statement | |||||
Operating revenue (Hafnia vessels and TC vessels) | 521.8 | 563.1 | 497.9 | 1,582.8 | |
Profit before tax | 221.3 | 260.8 | 216.8 | 698.9 | |
Profit for the period | 219.6 | 259.2 | 215.6 | 694.4 | |
Financial items | (18.9) | (9.9) | (6.3) | (35.1) | |
Share of profit from joint ventures | 7.3 | 8.5 | 4.1 | 19.9 | |
TCE income1 | 378.8 | 417.4 | 361.6 | 1,157.7 | |
Adjusted EBITDA1 | 287.1 | 317.1 | 257.0 | 861.1 | |
Balance Sheet | |||||
Total assets | 3,897.0 | 3,922.7 | 3,828.9 | 3,828.9 | |
Total liabilities | 1,541.8 | 1,486.2 | 1,408.7 | 1,408.7 | |
Total equity | 2,355.2 | 2,436.5 | 2,420.2 | 2,420.2 | |
Cash at bank and on hand2 | 128.9 | 166.7 | 197.1 | 197.1 | |
Key financial figures | |||||
Return on Equity (RoE) (p.a.)3 | 38.3% | 44.5% | 37.1% | 39.8% | |
Return on Invested Capital (p.a.)4 | 27.6% | 31.4% | 26.7% | 29.0% | |
Equity ratio | 60.4% | 62.1% | 63.2% | 63.2% | |
Net loan-to-value (LTV) ratio5 | 24.2% | 21.3% | 19.1% | 19.1% |
For the 3 months ended 30 September 2024 | LR2 | LR1 | MR6 | Handy7 | Total |
Vessels on water at the end of the period8 | 6 | 28 | 60 | 24 | 118 |
Total operating days9 | 506 | 2,464 | 5,603 | 2,203 | 10,776 |
Total calendar days (excluding TC-in) | 552 | 2,163 | 4,600 | 2,208 | 9,523 |
TCE (USD per operating day)1 | 42,829 | 37,564 | 31,928 | 31,047 | 33,549 |
Spot TCE (USD per operating day)1 | 42,829 | 37,689 | 32,896 | 31,722 | 34,410 |
TC-out TCE (USD per operating day)1 | – | 27,401 | 27,524 | 25,307 | 27,117 |
OPEX (USD per calendar day)10 | 8,112 | 8,353 | 8,044 | 8,142 | 8,141 |
G&A (USD per operating day)11 | 1,386 |
1 See Non-IFRS Measures section below. |
2 Excluding cash retained in the commercial pools. |
3 Annualised |
4 ROIC is calculated using annualised EBIT less tax. |
5 Net loan-to-value is calculated as vessel bank and finance lease debt (excluding debt for vessels sold but pending legal completion), debt from the pool borrowing base facilities less cash at bank and on hand, divided by broker vessel values (100% owned vessels and asset held for sale). |
6 Inclusive of nine IMO II MR vessels. |
7 Inclusive of 18 IMO II Handy vessels. |
8 Excluding six LR1s and four LR2s owned through 50% ownership in the Vista Shipping Joint Venture, two MRs owned through 50% ownership in the H&A Shipping Joint Venture and Hafnia Pegasus which was classified as an asset held for sale in the statement of financial position. |
9 Total operating days include operating days for vessels that are time chartered-in. Operating days are defined as the total number of days (including waiting time) in a period during which each vessel is owned, partly owned, operated under a bareboat arrangement (including sale and lease-back) or time chartered-in, net of technical off-hire days. Total operating days stated in the quarterly financial information include operating days for TC Vessels. |
10 OPEX includes vessel running costs and technical management fees. |
11 G&A includes all expenses and is adjusted for cost incurred in managing external vessels. |
Declaration of Dividend
Hafnia will pay a quarterly dividend of USD 0.3790 per share. The record date will be December 6, 2024.
For shares registered in the Euronext VPS Oslo Stock Exchange, dividends will be distributed in NOK with an ex-dividend date of December 5, 2024 and payment date on, or about, December 17, 2024.
For shares registered in the Depository Trust Company, the ex-dividend date will be December 6, 2024 with a payment date on, or about, December 12, 2024.
Please see our separate announcement for additional details regarding the Company’s dividend.