Jacob Meldgaard
Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead
Thank you, Morten and good afternoon and thank you all for dialing in. Please turn to Slide 4. Before we commence the review of our financial results, I would like to express my gratitude to all our seafarers, who made a great sacrifice during the troublesome period. As I will come back to later, the situation for our seafarers has improved over the past weeks, but they have, especially here in the second quarter of 2020 been the true foundation of TORM’s operations. As you know, the second quarter of 2020 was characterized by significant market volatility, with product tanker rates reaching all time high levels by the end of April, supported by temporary export boost and clothing stores. The strong market was the result of the COVID-19 outbreak with dramatically reduced oil demand, while the OPEC+ price war at the same time resulted in an increased oil production in March and into early April. However, here by the end of June, rates had come off as the oil market started to rebalance, resulting in a significant part of the tonnage in floating stores being released. I will go back into the details on the market shortly. But here for the second quarter, our product tanker rates fleet realized average TCE rates of $25,274 per day and for the first half the number was slightly lower at $24,465 per day. So here in the second quarter of 2020, we realized a profit before tax of $71 million and it was $128 million for the first half. Our return on invested capital or ROIC was 18.5%, earnings per share 96% for the quarter, and for the first half, the number were 17.1% in return on invested capital and earnings of 1.71 per share in Danish kroner earnings per share for the 6 months of 2020 were 11.6. With our financial results, we are pleased to distribute a total of $63 million or $0.85 per share in dividend to our shareholders. The distribution is in line with our distribution policy, where we aim to distribute 25% to 50% of the net income on a semi-annual basis. These metrics are all obviously at very attractive levels and I am pleased that TORM has been able to capitalize on the positive market developments here during the first 6 months of 2020. We also continued our ongoing fleet renewal during the second quarter. And since our first quarter earnings release in May, we have sold 7 older vessels covering 2 LR2s and 5 MRs. Further, our scrubber program is progressing according to our plan and we have, as of today, installed a total of 40 scrubbers on our vessels. Lastly, I want to mention that we have executed two initiatives covering a total financing of around $50 million, which further supports our strong financial position and attractive debt repayment profile. Slide 5, please. Safety is top priority for TORM and it has had an even greater focus here during the COVID-19 pandemic. And obvious issue for TORM as well as for most other owners and operators of ocean-going vessel has been the challenges with respect to crew change. While crew changes remain an issue due to travel bans and current quarantine in several countries around the world, TORM has observed a very positive development since the end of the quarter and we performed more than 700 crew changes since the end of the second quarter. Thereby, we reduced the percentage of crew with overdue employment from around 40 to today around 10% of the total crew on board TORM vessels. This positive development is a result of a constructive dialogue with authorities with customers. And during this period, we have seen a great benefit from the TORM integrated platform, which through coordination between the commercial and technical departments has enabled TORM to perform crew changes as opportunities arose during the vessel’s commercial operation. Slide 6 please. During the second quarter and so far into the third quarter, we have executed on our ongoing fleet renewal with transactions which we believe are both timely and well priced. We have sold a total of 7 older vessels for consideration of $66 million, which is slightly above the Q1 2020 broker valuations, which was a good price point for second-hand tonnage. As such, we have capitalized on the strong markets in March, April and May this year through these vessel sales. A total of $37 million in debt will be repaid in connection with the transactions. The vessels we have sold have been built from 1997 to 2002 and the transaction should be seen as a natural integral part of our ongoing fleet renewal. The sales proceeds will also support us to further push you attractive opportunities in the market should they arise during a more challenging period further supporting the company’s renewal of the fleet. Slide 7 please. Now, I will turn to some of the drivers in the product tanker market. As mentioned, TORM’s product tanker fleet realized an average TCE rate of $25,274 per day. In the LR segment, we achieved LR2 rates of $32,732 per day and LR1 rates of $31,655 per day. In TORM’s largest segment, the MR segment, TORM achieved rates of $23,012 per day and TORM’s Handysize segment achieved rates of $15,270 per day. The second quarter was characterized by significant market volatility, with product tanker rates benchmark reaching all-time high levels by the end of April, supported by increased long-haul trade flows, floating stores and increasingly inefficient trading panels. Following the initial COVID-19 outbreak in China and the spread of the virus to the rest of the world, the impact of the measures taken to contain the virus gained considerable momentum in the second quarter. With most of the world in some type of lockdown, the global oil demand declines and an unprecedented rate with the impact peaking in April, when the global oil demand was estimated around 20% below year ago levels. The crude oil supply and refinery runs did not react as fast and sharply and this was even exaggerated by the OPEC+ price war in March and early April, leading to stock builds at an unprecedented scale. This resulted in temporary trade boost from several export regions, starting with China already in the first quarter, followed by Europe, the U.S., India, and then the Middle East. As the local demand was affected, the cargo needed to find a home further away, thereby positively impacting the ton mile, both in April and into May. The unprecedented product inventory build up boosted onshore inventories and led to floating stores. At its peak in the first half of May, 14% of the clean trading tonnage was involved in floating storage, effectively removing these vessels from the trading market. The above situation gave rise to increasing inefficiencies in trading patterns such as vessels sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in order to take advantage of the contango or cargo on the merge, trying to find new buyers further away. By the end of the second quarter, rates had come off as oil market started to rebalance, resulting in a significant part of the tonnage in floating stores being released to the market. We currently estimate at around 4% of the clean-trading tonnage is still in floating storage, down from the 14% at the peak. While the market East of Suez has seen rates being stronger affected by abundant tonnage and lack of cargoes due to refineries running at low utilization, rates in the West and especially in the U.S. Gulf have remained strong, supported by increasing exports from the U.S. Gulf as well as record tight vessel availability in the region. Currently, we have around 35% of our MR fleet in the Americas allowing us to gain from the beneficial rates in that region. The aforementioned developments are also reflected in our bookings. And as of 13th August, the total coverage for the third quarter of 2020 was 68% at $17,928 per day. Slide 8 please. Let me come back to the developments in the product inventories. This slide illustrates the dynamics of the COVID-19 impact on the oil demand, refinery runs and changes in product stockpiles. Initially, refinery runs was slow to react to declines in demand, leading to unprecedented inventory builds, which benefited the product tanker market. As already mentioned, the oil market has started to rebalance with the global oil demand recovering from April lows. As refining margins have remained very weak, refinery runs have not kept pace with the recovery in the oil demand and we have now moved from the stock building phase to a stock draw phase. This is generally associated with headwinds for the tanker market as vessels are being released from the savoring storage and de-stocking lessens the demand for transportation. Slide 9 please. Indeed, the de-stocking has started with offshore inventories and most of the floating stores have clean petroleum products that has been building since end March has cleared by now. As mentioned at its peak in early May, 14% of the clean-trading tonnage was engaged in floating stores. While several vessels were fixed for contango-related stores business, it was especially discharging issues that tied up ties in so-called operational floating stores. Currently, we estimate that the tonnage that has remained in floating stores account for 6% of the clean trading fleet only slightly above what we consider a normal level. In the light of this, I think it is important to emphasize that despite the fact that most of the tonnage tied up in floating stores has now been released to the market. Our earnings has been relatively robust here in the third quarter so far. It should also be mentioned that while most floating stores in the MR segment has cleared, floating stores on LR2 vessels has been more resilient and could potentially even temporarily increase as the COVID-19 continues to impact the market, resulting in regional imbalances, although we do not expect to see the same magnitude as seen in the second quarter. Slide 10, please. If we look at onshore inventories, these have remained more resilient, but have lately stabilized and even started to decline as a result of the demand recovery. And while in general, the de-stocking period is not beneficial for the product tanker market, part of the high inventories, are likely to be exported rather than competing with imports. A good example here is the record high diesel inventories in the U.S. where we also have seen diesel exports currently having almost doubled from the lows seen in May. Slide 11, please. This slide summarizes the main short and medium-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the product tanker market, which we have already discussed. As I mentioned before, the COVID-19 pandemic has tightened the Chinese supply considerably in the second quarter and introduced inefficiencies to trading pattern, which resulted in record high product tanker rates. The main trigger for these developments has been the unprecedented decline in oil demand and the resulting oversupply of products. As I mentioned earlier, we have now moved from a stock building phase to a stock drawing phase. This has already released most vessels tied up in the floating stores to the market. And while de-stocking of onshore stocks will not have a negative impact on the tonnage supply side, this will nevertheless lessen demand for trade as demand will be partly supplied by local inventories. However, what makes the current situation different from other de-stocking periods we have seen over the past 20 years is that the order book to fleet ratio for product tankers is currently at a historically low level and only covers 7% of the existing fleet. This has been further supported by the relative low interest for new building ordering so far in 2020 as a result of the uncertainties of the global economy due to COVID-19 and the uncertainties regarding the potential new propulsion system for vessels. We will therefore not see a significant additional pressure on the market from new building deliveries at a time of de-stocking. Slide 12, please. Obviously, uncertainties around the COVID-19 impact on the global economy and the oil demand remain, not least in light of the recent increases in the number of actions in several countries. And while we believe the large scale positive impact from demand supply imbalances on the product tanker market is over and indeed the industry has to go through the de-stocking phase now, we also believe that temporary smaller scaled regional imbalances are still likely to occur, giving a boost to regional trade flows and thereby mitigating the negative effect of stock draws. Slide 13, please. To conclude my remarks on the product tanker market, TORM expects to see volatility in the market in the short to medium-term related to the COVID-19 and its impact on the global oil markets and financial activities. Aside from the COVID-19 effects, we see a number of key market drivers in the next 3 to 5 years to remain positive, such as a low order book, refinery dislocation, which will provide support to product tanker rates over the longer term. The later aspect is something that the industry has been talking about for some years now, expecting refineries especially in the rest to close down as a result of increasing competition from newer and more efficient refineries in the East. The current situation with oil demand being impacted by the COVID-19 seems to have given a new boost to refinery consultation with a number of refiners in the U.S. West Coast and in Europe, recently having announced that they are going to close down. In addition, a number of refineries in other regions such as South Africa, Japan and New Zealand are reported to shutdown or their closure is now being considered. These closures are all expected to increase the ton-mile demand. Slide 14, please. Looking at TORM’s commercial performance, we have again in the second quarter of 2020 outperformed the peer group average in our largest segment, MR. In the second quarter of 2020, we received rates achieved rates of $23,012 per day compared to a peer average of $19,512 per day. This translates into additional earnings of $18 million in the second quarter alone and $34 million for the first 6 months of 2020. In general, I must say I am very satisfied that TORM’s operational platform continues to deliver these competitive TCE earnings. Slide 15, please. A key deciding factor for delivering above average TCE earnings is driven by our continued focus on positioning our vessels in the basins with the highest earning potential. We have a balanced strategy where we generally do not position all our vessels in one basin, but instead have some overweight in either East or West depending on our expectations of the future market. In the second quarter, the market West of Suez was strongest and we also had the majority of vessels in the West. Towards the end of the quarter, the market East of Suez improved significantly compared to the market West of Suez and we conducted a general repositioning towards the East to capture the market. Most other owners conducted the same repositioning, which resulted in a general overweight of MRs in the East for the first time in 5 years. As I mentioned earlier, the market in the West is currently stronger than in the East and here the strongest areas currently are the Americas, where we have around 35% of our MR’s positions. With this, I will hand it over to Kim Balle to take us through the next slides.