Costamare Inc.

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Costomer, Inc. conference call on the third quarter 2023 financial results. We have with us Mr. Gregory Zekos, 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 1 on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today, Wednesday, November 1st, 2023. We would like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking statements. Please take a moment to read slide number two of the presentation, which contains the forward-looking statements. And I will now pass the floor to your speaker today, Mr. Zicos. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. During the third quarter of the year, the company generated net income of about 53 million. As of quarter end, liquidity was close to 1 billion. In the container ship sector, larger ships continue to enjoy a tight market, while smaller vessels experience deteriorating conditions. Overall, the market outlook looks uncertain due to the large order book and the insufficient demolition. On the dry bulk side, as part of our strategy to renew the fleet and increase its average size, we acquired two Cape size and one Ultramax vessel, and at the same time we disposed of two older Supramax ships. Our own dry bulk vessels continue to trade on a sport basis, while the trading platform has grown to a fleet of 59 vessels. Having invested 200 million in the dry bulk operating platform, we are long term committed to the sector, whose fundamentals we view positively. Regarding Neptune Maritime Leasing, the platform has been steadily growing on a prudent basis, having concluded easing transactions for 17 ships in total, which are complemented by a healthy pipeline extending over the coming quarters. Finally, during the quarter, we continued our share repurchase program and we bought $10 million worth of common shares, highlighting our strong belief that the share price is heavily undervalued, considering both the company's performance and prospects. Moving now to the slide presentation. On slide 3, you can see our third quarter results. Net income for the quarter was roughly 53 million or 45 cents per share. Adjusted net income was around 54 million or 46 cents per share. Our liquidity stands at roughly $1 billion. Slide 4, you can see an update on our share repurchase program. Since our Q2 index released, we purchased approximately 900,000 common shares for $10 million worth. In addition, we continue to have a long uninterrupted dividend track record boosted by strong sponsor support. Slide 5. Regarding CBI, we have chartered in 59 period vessels with the majority of the fleet being on index-linked chartering agreements. On our leasing platform, we have already invested around $74 million. Since inception, NML has financed 17 vessels through sale and leaseback transactions and has a very healthy pipeline. Turning to slide 6, we have acquired two CapeSize and one Ultramax dry-bark vessel, while we have agreed to sell two Supramax dry-bark ships. In addition, we have concluded the sale of a 2000-bit container ship, along with the sale of our 49% equity interest on another 1998-bit container ship vessel. Slide 7. During the quarter, we have financed the acquisition of two dry part versions to an existing HADIC license facility, while we have roughly available $144 million for the financing of vessel acquisitions. We continue to charter all our dry part versions to the spot markets, having entered into more than 50 chartering agreements since our last annual release. On the contingency side, our revenue dates are essentially 100% fixed for this year, 87% for 2024, and 73% for 2025. while our contracted revenues are $2.7 billion, with a TEU-weighted remaining time duration of 3.7 years. Slide 8. Our liquidity stands at roughly $1 billion. This liquidity gives us the ability to look for opportunities to grow the company on a prudent basis. Slide 9. Charter rates in the contingency market have softened mainly for the smaller sizes, remaining though at above pre-COVID levels. The idle capacity remains at low levels of 1.7%. On slide 10, you can see the recent dry bulk market trends in the spot and forward markets. Charter rates have strengthened since Q2, although remaining volatile. The audiobook is at 8.1% of the total fleet. With that, we can conclude our presentation, and we can now take questions. Thank you. Operator, we can take questions now.

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