Gegenüber Q4 2022 sind Ertrag und Profit um etwa 5% gefallen. Das lag am Werftaufenthalt von 2 Schiffen, die Klasse gemacht haben (=TÜV, soviel ich weiß alle 4 Jahre?). Das Finanzergebnis liegt im oberen Drittel der Erwartungen. Eine Dividende von 0,75 USD für das Quartal wird vorgeschlagen. Für das ganze Jahr 2023 rechnet der Vorstand mit einer leichten Ertragssteigerung.
Sehr interessant ist auch die Erwartung höherer Frachtraten wegen gestiegenen Baukosten neuer Schiffe, die 2027 auf den Markt kommen.
Hier das Wichtigste:
We are today publishing our first quarter 2023 results and we are pleased to announce that revenues came in at $92.5 million, spot on our guidance of $90 to $93 million. This resulted in adjusted earnings per share of $0.66 for the quarter. As we completed the balance sheet optimization program during the first quarter, we had some additional financing costs in our accounts for the first quarter. However, we have now put in place new attractive long-term financing for all our thirteen ships boosting our cash balance to $475 million at quarter-end or about $9 per share.
Given our very strong financial position and our extensive charter backlog with a minimum of ~57 years remaining contractual backlog, the Board has therefore once again declared an ordinary quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share. During the last twelve months, we have thus paid out $3.75 of dividend per share which should provide investor with an attractive annualized yield of about 11 per cent.
We have now also completed our two first scheduled dry-docking of the LNG carriers Flex Enterprise and Flex Endeavour being docked during March and April respectively. We are pleased to say that these dry-dockings have been carried out according to both time and costs while minimizing off-hire periods. During the second quarter we will carry out the two last drydocking for the year. Revenues are therefore expected to pick up in the second half of the year when the drydocking program for the year is expected to be completed by end of June.
We also re-affirm our guidance for the year. Despite off-hire in connection with four ships carrying out dry-docking, we do expect revenues to increase from $348 million in 2022 to about $370 million for 2023. The average Time Charter Equivalent Rate for the fleet is expected to come in at about $80,000 per day for 2023 in line with the $80,175 per day we delivered in the first quarter.
While the spot market right now is at a seasonable low, we maintain a positive long-term view. Our exposure to the spot market is also limited to one of the thirteen ships which is on a variable time charter where earnings are typically higher in the winter season. Our first fully open ships are not open before 2027 and with newbuilding prices are now exceeding $260 million for ships with deliveries in 2027 this is putting upward pressure on charter rates. Hence, we believe Flex LNG continues to be very well positioned for opportunities to re-contract our ships for longer periods at higher rates in the near future, like we have evidenced in the past.
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