Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp., announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share for the first quarter of 2023.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the Company generated Net Revenues of $18.0 million, compared to $29.7 million in the first quarter of 2022. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter were $8.2 million and $3.9 million, respectively, compared to $12.8 million and $16.8 million, respectively, for the same period of 2022. Net Loss and Adjusted Net Loss for the quarter were $4.2 million and $0.3 million, respectively, compared to Net Income of $3.7 million and Adjusted Net Income of $7.7 million in the first quarter of 2022. The daily Time Charter Equivalent (“TCE”3) of the fleet for the first quarter of 2023 was $11,005, compared to $19,357 in the same period of 2022.
Cash and cash-equivalents and restricted cash, as of March 31, 2023, stood at $20.5 million. Shareholders’ equity at the end of the first quarter was $219.9 million. Long-term debt (senior loans, convertible note and other financial liabilities) net of deferred charges stood at $225.8 million, while the book value of the fleet was $428.2 million.
Stamatis Tsantanis, the Company’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, stated:
“In the first quarter of 2023, the Capesize market went through a period of seasonal weakness, with rates averaging a mere $9,144 per day. This now appears to be behind us. Charter rates for most of the second quarter have recovered to profitable levels, averaging $17,420 per day, while secondhand Capesize values have improved considerably since the start of the year with healthy sales and purchase activity. We are therefore encouraged to see the sector performing well during a period characterized by unwinding port congestion, adverse seasonality, and demand fluctuations. Based on our positive outlook, our board of directors has approved another quarterly dividend of $0.025 per share for the first quarter of 2023. I have also increased my personal investment in the Company’s common shares and intend to resume my open market purchases after the results and in line with our internal trading policy and restrictions.
“With regards to our commercial performance for the first quarter, our daily TCE of approximately $11,005 significantly outperformed the Baltic Capesize Index (“BCI”) for the period, which averaged $9,144. We are pleased to see our fleet consistently outperforming the BCI and we expect this to continue due to the quality of our vessels and the implementation of our hedging strategy. The improvement in the Capesize FFA market has given us the opportunity to convert approximately 25% of our remaining fleet days for 2023 to a fixed average daily rate of approximately $20,500. For the second quarter of 2023, we expect to achieve a TCE of approximately $18,8504. We believe that this improvement in market conditions from the end of the first quarter will lead to a significant step up in our profitability for the rest of the year.
“Furthermore, our balance sheet position remains strong, with a loan to value ratio below 50% as of the end of the quarter, which allows us to remain consistent with our strategy regardless of short-term market volatility. To this end, in the first quarter we have delivered the two older ships of our fleet to United Maritime Corporation (“United”) for a sizeable gain, while in April we completed three refinancings which led to the release of approximately $15.0 million of additional liquidity and the further decrease of our cost of debt. Through these transactions, we are advancing towards our aim of the renewal of our fleet, whilst improving our financial flexibility.
“Looking towards the rest of the year, the increased seaborne iron ore supply from major miners along with the reduction of iron ore inventories in China to levels comparable to what was seen before 2021, make us optimistic about Capesize demand. Moreover, we expect historically low fleet growth to underpin a strong earnings environment for Capesize vessels even during periods of muted demand growth. Within this environment, we aim to preserve a reasonable balance between returning capital to shareholders and investing selectively in vessels that are likely to produce high returns on capital.
“Seanergy is well positioned to benefit from the positive trend in the Capesize market. We are focused on seeking opportunities to modernize our fleet and improve our carbon footprint, while maintaining our focus on shareholder returns, as evidenced by the high levels of shareholder rewards, through securities buybacks the United spin-off and shares distribution and cash dividends, attained over the past two years.”