Costamare Inc.

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Costa Mayor, Inc. conference call on the first quarter 2023 financial results. We have with us Mr. Gregory Zico, Chief Financial Officer of the company. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only 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 then one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today, Monday, May 15th, 2023. We would like to remind you that this conference contains forward-looking statements. Please take a moment to read slide number two of the presentation, which contains the forward-looking statements. And now I will pass the floor to your speaker today, Mr. Zicos. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. During the first quarter of the year, the company generated net income of $142 million. As of quarter end, liquidity was above $1 billion. In the continuous market, charter rates are on a rising trend with high demand across the board, while fixed periods are increasing in duration. The order book, however, remains the principal threat to the market. We have covered nearly 100% of our container ship open days for 2023, and we have proactively arranged long-term employment on a forward basis for a number of container ships coming off charter between 2023 and 2025, having secured for our fleet contracted revenues of $3.1 billion and a DEU-weighted duration of about four years. On the dry bulk side, our own dry bulk vessels continue to trade in the spot market, while the trading platform has been growing with a fleet of about 50 ships already fixed under period charters. Having agreed to invest up to $200 million, our goal is to grow the Dry Barre Cooperating Platform business on a prudent basis and also realize healthy returns for our shareholders. Finally, during the quarter, we became the leading investor in Neptune Maritime Leasing, a growth-oriented maritime leasing platform, having agreed to invest up to $200 million. Considering current asset values, we do believe that Neptune leasing investment is a favorable employment of the company's increased liquidity. This new venture is an agenda to the existing ship-owning platform and is expected to further enhance the strong relationships built over the last decade with ship-owners and commercial lenders in the sea financing sector. Moving now to the slide presentation. On slide three, you can see our first quarter results. NETICAM for the quarter was roughly $142 million or $1.60 per share. Adjustment in income was $46.5 million or $0.38 per share. Our liquidity is up over $400 million year-over-year to more than $1 billion. Slide 4. The first quarter of 2023 was the first full operational quarter of CBI. We have fixed 51 period basis with the majority of the fleet being on index-linked chartering agreements. Thirty-nine of the period vessels have been already delivered and are running. Slide five. We have become the leading investor in Neptune Maritime Leasing, having agreed to invest up to $200 million. Neptune is a favorable opportunity for the deployment of the company's excess capital. In this slide, you can also see an update on our financing arrangements, which amounted to roughly $95 million, without any material increase in leverage. Those deals have been coupled with extension of maturities and improvement of our funding cost. Slide 6. We continue to charge all our dry bag versions in the spot market, having entered into more than 60 charging agreements since our last earnings release. On the contingency side, our revenues days are essentially 100% fixed for 23 and 86% fixed for 24, while our contracted revenues are roughly $3.1 billion, with a TU-weighted remaining duration of 4.1 years. Turning into slide 7, during the first quarter of 2023, the estimated combined net capital from NCP activity stood at approximately 85 million gain. We sold and have agreed to sell in total two container ships and three dry bulk vessels. Following the conclusion of the transactions with your capital, the company will own 100% of one vessel versus initial combined ownership of 98% on two vessels. Starting to slide 8. The condensate tractor market has shown an upward trend with high demand across the board, while fixed periods are increasing in duration. The dry bulb market remains volatile, while for the remainder of 2023, the FFA market indicates strengthening on the segments where we own vessels. Finally, we continue to have a long uninterrupted dividend track record boosted by strong sponsor support. Slide 9. Our liquidity has increased significantly over the years, starting at about $1 billion. This liquidity gives us the ability to look for opportunity to grow the company on a healthy basis. Slide 10. Chartered rates in the container ships are on a rising trend with high demand across the board. The latest container ship fixtures have been for longer periods. The idle capacity is at a level of 1.4%. Slide 11, which is the final slide. Here you can see the recent dry bulk market trends in the spotted forward market. The order book starts at 6.9% of the total fleet and new ordering continues to remain subdued. With that, we can conclude our presentation and we can now take questions. Thank you. Operator, we can take questions now.

As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star then one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, press star then two. That's star then one to ask a question. And your first question today comes from Chris Weatherby with Citigroup. Please go ahead.