Earnings Labs

C3is Inc. (CISS)

Q4 2023 Earnings Call· Tue, Mar 26, 2024

$3.60

+5.23%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day. And thank you for standing by. Welcome to our Q4 2023 Financial and Operating Results Conference Call and Webcast for C3is. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode with question-and-answer session. Please note that today’s conference is being recorded. I’d now like to hand the conference over to your speaker, Dr. Diamantis Andriotis, CEO. Please go ahead sir.

Diamantis Andriotis

Management

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our C3is fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call and webcast. This is Diamantis Andriotis, CEO of the company. With me on the call today is our CFO, Nina Pyndiah. Before we commence our presentation, I would like to remind you that we will be discussing forward-looking statements, which reflect current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are based on current expectations and assumptions, which by nature are inherently uncertain and outside of company's control. At this stage, if you could all take a moment to read our disclaimer on Slide 2 of this presentation. I would also like to point out that all amounts quoted, unless otherwise clarified, are implicitly stated in U.S. Dollars. Today, we released our earnings results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023. So, let's proceed to discuss these results and update you on the Company's strategy and the market in general. Slide 3 shows the dry bulk shipment volume growth in 2023 as compared to 2022. Global seaborne iron ore trade grew by 4.5% to 1.63 billion tons in 2023, with Chinese imports rebounding by 7% year-on-year. Chinese steel production increased by 0.9% in 2023 after two years of contraction. Domestic iron ore output and stockpiles moved higher. Coal ton miles expanded by 6.5% compared to 2022, a result of global focus on energy security which inflated the coal trade. Chinese imports surged during 2033 as thermal selectivity increased, hydropower underperformed, and domestic coal production was limited at 4.3%. India emerged as a leading buyer of coal cargoes as electricity demand outpaced domestic coal-production growth. Grain shipments grew by 1.7% compared to 2022 as record soybean and corn season in Brazil have helped fill the gap of crop losses from Ukraine…

Nina Pyndiah

Management

Thank you, Diamantis, and good morning to everyone. Please turn to slide 10 and I will go through our financial performance for the fourth quarter and 12 months of 2023. Voyage revenues for three months ending December 31, 2033 amounted to $13.8 million and $28.7 million for 12 month ending Dec 31st, 2023. Compared to Q3 ‘23, our net revenues increased by 36%, primarily due to the increase in the average number of vessels. Our fleet operational utilization was 87% for the fourth quarter and 91.6% for full year 2023. For the fourth quarter of 2033, the daily TCE was $34, 060 and for a 12-month period the value was $23, 453. Voyage expenses and vessels operating expenses for the three months ended 31st of December ‘23 was $4.4 million and $1.5 million respectively. For the 12-month period, the figures were $7.6 million, and $4.8 million respectably. The increases in both voyage expenses and vessels operating expenses are attributed to the increase in the average number of vessels and the addition of our Aframax tanker in their initial fleet. Voyage expenses for the 12 months ended December 31st, ‘23 mainly included bunker cost of $3.4 million, corresponding to 45% of total voyage expenses and commissions to third parties of $1.2 million, corresponding to 16% of the total voyages expenses. Operating expenses for the 12 months ended December 31, ‘23, mainly included core expenses of $2.8 million corresponding to 58% total operating expenses, spares and consumable cost of $1 million, corresponding to 21%, and maintenance expenses of 400, 000 representing works and repairs on the vessels, corresponding to 8% of total vessel operating expenses. Total calendar days for our fleet were 276 days, for the three months ended December 31 ‘23, and 901 days of the 12 months of ‘23. Of…

Diamantis Andriotis

Management

Since our Company’s listing in late June 2023 and following the acquisition of our Aframax, the first step of our growth strategy, our expanded and diversified fleet has enabled our Company to enjoy solid financial performance. Indicatively, during the fourth quarter of 2023, we achieved a fleetwide time charter equivalent rate of $34, 000 per day. As a result, during the fourth quarter of 2023, we generated revenues of $13.8 million and a net income of $5.6 million, representing increases of 36% and 67% respectively from the previous quarter. The revenue generation of $23.9 million, achieved during the second half of 2023, since our Company’s spin-off from its parent company, represents approximately 83% of the full year’s revenue. We believe that this is indicative of our ability to efficiently operate our fleet and capitalize on the sustainable freight rate environment. Specifically, our two handysize bulk carriers which are mainly employed under short-term time charter contracts, are currently earning charter rates ranging from $13, 000 to $14, 000 per day. The earnings raised from our two handysize drybulk carriers are enhanced through the operation of our Aframax tanker in the spot market. The vessel is currently capturing the prevailing robust Aframax spot rates which stand in excess of $40, 000 per day, a level that is in line with the time charter equivalent rate achieved by our tanker during the last quarter. Our diversified fleet and deployment in the spot market enables our Company to take advantage of the promising charter rate environment and is expected to generate strong cash flow going forward. We believe that our capital structure comprising of no bank debt and a strong cash balance, currently standing at $35.6 million, will further enhance our Company’s ability to fund selective vessel acquisitions following payment of the remaining purchase price for our Aframax tanker. We would like to thank you for joining us today and look forward to having you with us again on our next call for the first quarter of 2024 results.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] : :

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you participating. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.