Star Bulk Carriers Corp.

Ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Star Bulk Carriers conference call in first quarter 2026 financial results. We have with us today Mr. Petros Papas, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Hamish Norton, President, Mr. Simos Sbiru, and Mr. Chrisis Pagleros, Co-Chief Financial Officers, Mr. Nikos Veskos, Chief Operating Officer, and Mr. Charis Plakantanaki, Chief Strategy Officer of the company. At this time, all participants are in listening mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. At which time, if you wish to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. I must advise you this conference call is being recorded today. We now pass the floor to our speaker today, Mr. Bigleris. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you very much. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us today. I'm Christos Beglieris, Co-Chief Financial Officer of Starbucks Carriers, and I would like to welcome you to our conference call regarding our financial results for the first quarter of 2025. 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 review our first quarter 2026 company highlights, financial performance, capital allocation initiatives, cash evolution during the quarter, operational performance, our continued investments in the fleet, developments on the regulatory front, and our perspective on industry fundamentals. We will then open the floor for questions. Turning to slide three, the first quarter was characterized by solid profitability, disciplined capital allocation, and continued balance sheet strength. Net income amounted to $58.5 million, while adjusted net income reached $63 million, or $0.52 adjusted earnings per share. Adjusted EBITDA was $114.3 million, demonstrating the strong cash generating capacity of our platform. On the shareholder returns front, we continue to actively return capital to our shareholders. Share repurchases during the first quarter until today, we have repurchased approximately 1.9 million shares, totaling 37.9 million. On the dividends front, our board of directors declared a 50 cents per share dividend for the quarter, payable on June 20th to all shareholders of record as of June 12th Our balance sheet remains a key strategic advantage. Total cash and cash equivalents are approximately at $432 million. Outstanding debt is at approximately $874 million. We also have an ungrown revolver capacity of $110 million. We currently own 29 debt-free vessels with an aggregate market value of around $700 million. Our overall low leverage, as well as this unencumbered asset base, provides substantial financial flexibility to fund growth opportunities, as well as downside protection. To further enhance shareholder value, we have updated our dividend distribution policy. We distribute 100% of free cash flow, such as maintaining a minimum cash balance, of 2.1 million per vessel. As far as operating performance is concerned, on the top right side of the slide, you can see our per vessel daily performance metrics for the quarter. Time standard equivalent was at 18,493 per vessel per day. Combined daily OPEX and net cash GMA, was at $6,420 per vessel per day. This results in a daily cash margin of approximately $12,073 per vessel per day before debt service and CapEx. These numbers highlight the operating efficiency of our platform and our ability to generate meaningful cash flow even at mid-cycle rate levels. Slide 4 summarizes our capital allocation track records over the last six years. Since 2021, we have executed approximately on 3.1 billion value-enhancing actions, including dividends, share repurchases, and debt repayment. During this period, we have returned approximately $14 per share in dividends, representing approximately 54% of our current share price. We have reduced total net debt by 63%, bringing leverage to a level where net debt is at 56% of the demolition value of our fleet. During the same period, we have expanded the fleet opportunistically through accretive fleet acquisitions, issuing equity at or above net asset value, thereby increasing scale while protecting per share value. The result is a larger, more efficient platform with materially lower financial risk and significantly enhanced free cash flow per share potential. Slide 5 illustrates the movements in our cash balance during the first quarter. We began the quarter with $502 million in cash. We generated $112 million in operating cash flow. After-vessel sales proceeds, debt drawdowns and repayments, cash payments related to new billing installments, and energy saving devices and balanced water treatment system installations, share buybacks, and the fourth quarter dividend, we ended the quarter with $409 million in cash. This sequential increase in cash underscores the strong internal cash generation of the company, even after substantial shareholder returns and investment in feedback rates. Slide 6. includes our diversified fleet driving strong earnings contribution across all segments. Startup delivered a well-balanced operating performance, supporting our diversified fleet of 136 vessels and over 12,000 ownership days. Ultramax Supermax Specials remained the largest contributor of revenue at 38%, generating $80.7 million in revenue, and 39.7 million in adjusted EBITDA. NewcastleMax case-size vessels contributed 33% of revenue and 36% of adjusted EBITDA, benefiting from strong market positioning and representing 41% of our fixed market value. Post-Panamax and Councilmax segments continue to provide stable earnings, contributing 29% of revenue and 28% of adjusted EBITDA. Overall, our fleet generated $214.5 million in revenue and $113 million in adjusted EBITDA during the quarter, highlighting the resilience of our diversified commercial strategy and efficient fleet deployment. Slide 7 highlights the inherent operating leverage embedded in our business models. with approximately 48,500 fleet available days per year, and based on a current net 12-month SSA curve of approximately 20,500 per day on a fleet-wide basis, the company would generate approximately $3.4 per share of free cash flow, representing a 13% implied cash flow yield. The slide illustrates the strength of our platform in a rising market. Every $1,500 fleet-wide increase in TCE equates to an EBITDA increase of 71 million. This would translate to 64 cents per share of incremental dividend to our shareholders, given our existing approach to distributions. In summary, during first quarter, we delivered solid profitability, we strengthened our liquidity position, we continue to deliver, we return meaningful capital to shareholders, and we preserve significant optionality for future capital allocation. Our balance sheet resilience, operating efficiency, and disciplined capital allocation framework position us well to navigate market volatility while continuing to enhance per share value. With that, I will now pass the floor to our COO, Nikos Reskos, for an update on our operational performance and the continued investments we are making in our fleet. Thank you, Christo.

Turning to slide 8, covers our operational performance. We continue to operate one of the most cost-efficient platforms in the dry bulk sector. 10 ropex for the first quarter came in at $5,045 per vessel, and net cash GMA at $4,375. Both among the lowest in our peer groups, as illustrated. This sustained cost discipline reflects our scale, our integrated management platform, and the synergies crystallized through the equal bulk integration and translates directly into superior cash generation through the cycle. Moving to slide 9, which outlines our fleet-wide investment program. On the new building front, all made of our latest generation high-specification customized new buildings, are in fact for delivery during 2026, with 195 million of capex remaining. Financing is largely in place, where we have secured 130 million of debt against the five King Tao-built vessels, and expect a further 51.2 million against the three Hengli-built vessels, leaving the program fully funded on competitive terms. In our strengthening council market, that from the mirrors of these vessels we remain highly attractive to our customers, combating an approximate 40 million mark-to-market gain for our shareholders. On vessel upgrades, during the first quarter, we'll continue pushing through with energy-saving devices and high-efficiency propeller installations. Today, we have completed 61 AST installations across the fleet. We have a federal aid schedule for 2026. Together with telemetry retrofits, how upgrades in real silicon paint and deployment of hot-cleaning robots will measure tangible vessel performance improvements between 7% and 15%, with directly translating to improved commercial performance and attractiveness of our fleet. The top right of the slide illustrates our current schedule, presenting both the remaining new building installments and our vessel efficiency upgrade spending, alongside the corresponding debt drawdowns. At the bottom, you can see our driver's schedule for the remainder of 2026, which covers approximately 42 million and around 1,236 off-hours days. Turning to slide 10 for a fleet update. We continue to actively rejuvenate our fleet through a disciplined combination of selected disposals and new building deliveries, prioritizing the divestment of older, non-ecotonic to reduce our average rate fleet, and list overall efficiency. During the first quarter of 2026, we delivered Star Scarlet and Star Mariella to their new owners. In connection with these sales, we collected net proceeds of approximately 46.4 million. Having sold 49 vessels since 2023, we have reinvested the majority of the net sales proceeds to fund a creative share buy tax throughout this period. This quarter also marks the start of our new building delivery cycle, with our latest generation campsite vessels joining the fleet. We expect to take delivery of the first two vessels in May 2026, Star Evelina and Star Emma, with the remaining six new buildings phasing in throughout the palace of the year. We continue to maintain seven long-term chartering contracts, which provide additional commercial flexibility across market cycles. Starbucks, operates one of the largest start-up fleets among U.S. and European lifters, with 141 vessels on a free delivery basis and an average age of approximately 12.2 years, providing scale, modernity, and operating leverage to compound shareholder value as the market cycle evolves. I will now have the floor to our Chief Strategy Officer, Haris Plakadonaki, for an update on recent global environment regulation developments and our ESG performance.