Danaos Corporation

Good day and welcome to the Denauss Corporation conference call to discuss the financial results for the three months into December 31, 2021. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. Hosting the call today is Dr. John Kustis, Chief Executive Officer of Denauss Corporation, and Mr. Evangelos Hatzis, Chief Financial Officer of Denauss Corporation. Dr. Koustas and Mr. Hatzis will be making some introductory comments, and then we will open the call to a question and answer session. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and good morning to everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, I quickly want to remind everyone that management's remarks this morning may contain certain forward-looking statements and that actual results could differ materially from those projected today. These forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update them. Factors that might affect future results are discussed in our filings with the SEC, and we encourage you to review these detailed safe harbor and risk factor disclosures. Please also note that where we feel appropriate, we will continue to refer to non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted net income to evaluate our business. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release and accompanying materials. With that, now let me turn the call over to Dr. Koustas, who will provide the broad overview of the quarter.

Thank you, Evangelos. Good morning, and thank you all for joining today's call to discuss our results for the fourth quarter of 2021. The amount of media and analyst coverage about the positive dynamics in the container market speak for themselves and echo our market view. We foresaw the ongoing disruption in the supply chains and tightening of the container market through 2022 many quarters ago. Our outlook directed our growth and chartering strategy, both of which have maximized our returns. On the other hand, Our investment in Zinc shares has surpassed all reasonable expectations and led to Danao's posting in excess of 1 billion US dollars in reported net income for 2021. As a result of these factors, our share price quadrupled in 2021, bringing the company's market capitalization close to 2 billion US dollars. What is equally important is that our chartering policy will generate even better cash flows in 2022 and overall our 2.8 billion US dollar contracted revenue with average charter duration of four years provide certainty about the future. As a result of our significant earnings visibility, we have decided to increase our quarterly dividend by 50% to 75 cents per share. The company's significant cash flows support increased dividend and also provide us flexibility to pursue accreted growth opportunities, continue to reduce leverage, and also begin to consider a share buyback. There have also been significant environmental initiatives that advanced in 2021. And already, the path to the future decarbonization of the industry is becoming clearer. There is growing consensus. that significant investments need to be made to reduce the carbon footprint of existing vessels. These investments will accompany reductions in speed, which will further support the ongoing market strength. Green fuels are a long way of becoming widely available, which means that the industry will have to adapt to continue using fossil fuels. Further, the EU Commission rightly proposed in the latest EU Fit for 55 climate initiative to place the burden of absorbing carbon costs on vessel operators who are responsible for fuel procurement and speed determination rather than the vessel owners. To conclude, 2021 was phenomenal for the entire container industry and even more so for Danaos. The element of counterparty risk that dominated the previous decade has completely disappeared. Long-term charter are also becoming the norm. Fortunately, liner companies are targeting their expansion in the inland air transportation and logistics front to vertically integrate their offering. In conjunction with uncertainty about future vessel propulsion standards, this has put a lead on new building ordering, which I hope can be maintained. Also, the German KG market, which was responsible for 70% of the ordering during the last shipbuilding boom, does not exist today. The future is bright, and Danaos is well-positioned to benefit from it and continue to reward its shareholders. With that, I'll hand over the call back to Evangelos, who will take you through the financials for the quarter.