Star Bulk Carriers Corp.

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Starbuck Carriers Conference call on the first quarter 2021 financial results. We have with us Mr. Petros Papas, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Haynes Norton, President, Mr. Nikos Raskos, Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Simos Spirou, and Mr. Christos Glaris, Co-Chief Financial Officers of the company. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. There'll be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. At which time, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today. We now pass the floor to one of your speakers. Mr. Spirou, please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. I'm Simo Spirou, co-chief financial officer of Star Valkyries. and I would like to welcome you to the Staple Carriers Conference call regarding our financial results for the first quarter of 2021. Before we begin, I kindly ask you to take a moment to read the safe harbor statement on slide number two of our presentation. In today's presentation, we will go through our Q1 results, our cash evolution during the quarter, our updated dividend policy, an operational update, and the latest industry fundamentals before opening up for questions. Let us now turn to slide number three of the presentation for a summary of our first quarter 2021 financial highlights. In the three months ending March 31st, 2021, TCE revenues amounted to 156.6 million compared to 100.3 million for the same period in 2020. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2021 was 84.7 million versus 32.6 million in the first quarter of 2020. Net income for the first quarter amounted to $35.8 million or $0.36 earnings per share versus $2.8 million net income or $0.03 earnings per share in the first quarter of 2020. Our time charter equivalent rate during this quarter was $15,461 per vessel per day. Total cash today stands at 234.2 million, with total debt at approximately 1.64 billion. In addition, we have the ability to use a 30 million revolving facility, which is currently undrawn. We continue to expand the platform with the recent acquisition of 12 vessels, ten of which we have taken delivery of by today. We expect to take delivery of the remaining two Camsomax resales at the end of May and end of June, reaching a total of 128 vessels on the water. The company has amended its dividend policy and will pay a 30 cents per share dividend with respect to the first quarter of 2021. Slide number four graphically illustrates the changes in the company's cash balance during the first quarter of 2021. We started the quarter with 195.5 million in cash and generated positive cash flow from operating activities of 79.2 million due to the improving freight market. After including debt deposits and repayments, vessel acquisitions, CAPEX payments for scrubber and ballast water treatment installations, we arrived at a cash balance of $206.6 million at the end of the first quarter. Please turn now to slide number five, where we summarize the evolution of net debt over the last 12 months, where we have been able to reduce our net debt by more than $220 million due to the strong cash flow from operations. Given the robust cash flow from operations, secure liquidity position, and strong dry bulk market fundamentals, the Board of Directors has amended the company's existing dividend policy and starts returning capital to shareholders after the summary presented in slide number 6. Specifically, we have changed the minimum cash balance per vessel thresholds resulting in the company paying a dividend of 30 cents per share for Q1 2021, payable on or about June 14, 2021. In slide number seven, we demonstrate the inherent operating leverage of the company to a rising freight market and the potential increase in EBITDA with any freight or fuel spread increases. For example, With 45,000 fleet available days, an additional daily fleet-wide increase in TC by $2,000 will increase our EBITDA by $90 million. Similarly, assuming a total annual bunker consumption of 800,000 tons and increasing the high-five fuel spread by $25 will generate additional EBITDA by approximately $20 million. I will now pass the floor to our COO, Nikos Reskos, for an update on our operational performance. Nikos Reskos Thank you, Simo.

Please turn to slide eight, where we provide an operational update. OPEX was at $4,251 per vessel per day for the quarter. Metcalf GMA expenses were $1,087 per vessel per day for the quarter. The combination of our in-house management and the scale of the group enables us to maintain very competitive costs complemented by excellent ship management capabilities, which is currently number one amongst our listed peers in terms of ride ship rating. In view of IMO's 2023-2030 decarbonization regulation implementation, the company has built a dedicated research and development team evaluating all available technologies that are assisting in reducing our vessel's carbon footprint. Based on the analysis of historical operational parameters, we believe that our vessels' emissions profile will remain competitive within the upcoming carbon intensity index framework, which is expected to be adopted by the IMO. Aiming to continuously improve our performance, we are gradually enhancing project planning and execution via weather routing, speed optimization, and hot performance monitoring. On the CAPEX front, we are also examining the impact of various energy-saving devices. Carbot is actively engaged with various R&D workshops and consortia in collaboration with other stakeholders across the maritime value chain, including engine makers, stratification societies, and fuel technology innovators, in pursuit of technically and commercially viable solutions in adjusting our vessel's fuel systems to operate on carbon-neutral fuels. Flight 9 provides some guidance around our future dry dock and ballast water treatment expenses. for the next 12 months and a relevant total of high days. The numbers are based on current estimates around dry dock and retrofit planning, vessel employment, and yard capacity. These figures incorporate our current understanding of present and future shipyard congestion. Since the beginning of the year, 19 vessels have entered dry dock and nine have been retrofitted with balanced water treatment systems, with a majority of our larger vessels scheduled for the year having completed their dry docks at the early part of the first quarter. Our expected dry dock expense for the next 12 months is estimated at $23.4 million for the dry docking of 30 vessels, with another $26.9 million for the ballast water treatment system capex of 27 vessels. In total, we expect to have approximately 790 off-hike days for the following 12-month period. I will now pass the floor to our CEO, Petros Papas, for a market update and his closing remarks.