Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Genco Shipping and Trading Limited Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call and Presentation. Before we begin, please note that there will be a slide presentation accompanying today's conference call. That presentation can be obtained from Genco's website at www.gencoshipping.com. To inform everyone, today's conference is being recorded and is now being webcast at the company's website at www.gencoshipping.com. We will conduct a question and answer session after the opening remarks. Instructions will follow at that time. A replay of the conference will be accessible at any time during the next two weeks by dialing 888-583-1035. I repeat, 888-583-1035, and entering the passcode 8740274. I repeat, At this time, I will turn the conference over to the company. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Before we begin our presentation, I note that in this conference call, we've been making certain forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements use words such as anticipate, budget, estimate, expect, project, intend, plan, believe, and other words in terms of similar meaning in connection with the discussion of potential future events, circumstances, or future operating or financial performance. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and observations. For discussion of factors that could cause results to differ, please see the company's press release that was issued yesterday, the materials relating to this call posted on the company's website, and the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and the company's reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K subsequently filed with the SEC. At this time, I would like to introduce John Lobensmith, Chief Executive Officer of Genco Shipping and Trading Limited.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Genco's third quarter 2022 conference call. I will begin today's call by reviewing our Q3 2022 and year-to-date highlights, providing an update on our comprehensive value strategy, financial results for the quarter, and the industry's current fundamentals before opening the call up for questions. For additional information, please also refer to our earnings presentation posted on our website. During the third quarter of 2022, Genco continued to achieve strong financial results. Our earnings were supported by our sixth consecutive quarter of fleet TCE greater than $20,000 per day combined with a sequential decline in operating costs. Notably, we declared a dividend of 78 cents per share for the third quarter of 2022, representing an increase of 56% compared to Q2 and an annualized yield of 22% based on our current share price. We have now paid 13 consecutive quarterly dividends totaling $3.79 and a half cents per share. In implementing our value strategy, which is focused on paying meaningful and sustainable dividends throughout the cycles, deleveraging and positioning Genco to capitalize on compelling growth opportunities, we have declared four quarterly dividends totaling $2.74 per share for a yield of 22%. During the quarter, we continued to successfully execute core pillars of our value strategy as we proactively paid down debt and further reduced our cash flow break-even levels for the benefit of shareholders. Continuing to pay down debt during a time that we do not have any mandatory debt repayments is consistent with our medium-term goal to reduce our net debt position to zero and has enabled us to achieve significant balance sheet strength and industry-low cash flow break-even levels. We believe we have the most compelling risk-reward model in the drywall public markets, Irrespective of the broader macro environment, we remain in a strong position to pay sizable dividends to shareholders while seeking opportunities to take advantage of attractive growth opportunities as markets develop. For the third quarter, we drew on our significant operating leverage, generating a solid time chart equivalent rate of $23,624 per day as we capitalized on the cargo and time chart coverage we put in place during a strong Q2 market. The prudent approach of taking forward cargo coverage during a period of market strength and then significant benchmark freight outperformance during Q3 2022, particularly on our minor bulk fleet. Specifically, our Ultramax and Supermax TCE during Q3 2022 was approximately $7,000 per day higher than the Baltic Supermax index average for the quarter. Looking ahead, our estimated TCE for the fourth quarter, based on fixtures to date, represents coverage of over 75% of available days at approximately $20,500 per day, well above current spot rates of $12,000 and $14,000 a day for Cape size and Supermax vessels, respectively. It is also significantly higher than our break-even rate of approximately $9,000 per day. In terms of 2023 market trends, we expect continued low net fleet growth given the historically low order book, which together with IMO 2023 environmental regulations are expected to be supportive for freight rates. As a direct result of the low order book, demand growth has a low threshold to exceed in order to outpace supply growth to further tighten market fundamentals. At this point, I will now turn the call over to Apostolo Tsipoulias, our Chief Financial Officer.