Pacific Basin Shipping Limited

Welcome to today's Pacific Basin 2025 Annual Results Announcement Conference Call. I am pleased to present Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Martin Fruehgard, and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Jimmy Ng. For the first part of this call, all participants will be in listen-only mode, and afterwards there will be a question and answer session. Mr. Fruehgard, please begin.

Thank you and welcome, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for attending Pacific Basin's 2025 Annual Results Earnings Call. Assuming you have already gone through the presentation, we will highlight key points discussed in it before we proceed to Q&A. Please turn to slide two. 2025 was a year with various evolving geopolitical and market challenges. 2026 has begun with an escalation of these challenges, not least the outbreak of war in the Middle East over the weekend. However, it was gratifying to see that our integrated platform again demonstrated agility and resilience, leading to a solid financial performance in 2025. During the year, we generated an EBITDA of US$263.1 billion, underlying profit of $39.2 million, and net profit of $58.2 million. Our balance sheet remains strong. We closed the year with a net cash of $134 million and an undrawn committed facility of $485.5 million, illustrating our strong liquidity. All in all, we delivered solid shareholder value in 2025, with a total distribution of $19.5 million through share buybacks and dividends declared for the year. The total shareholder return for 2025 was 46%. Please turn to slide 3. We remain committed to returning value to our shareholders through both dividends and share buybacks. The Board has declared a final dividend of HK$0.06 per share which together with the interim dividend of 1.6 Hong Kong cents per share, distributed in August 2025, amounts to approximately 51 million US dollar, 100% of our net profit for the year, excluding vessels' disposal gains. In addition to the dividend we completed in 2025, our announced share buyback of 40 million dollars. All in all, Our committed distribution reached 179% of 2025 net profit, excluding vessels' disposal gains. This demonstrates our ongoing commitment to return meaningful value to our shareholders. I will now hand over to Jimmy for a quick overview of 2025's performance and financial review. Thank you, Martin.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I will share with you some observations on the market and a snapshot of our financial performance for the year. Please turn to slide five. The industry faced significant macro headwinds in 2025. Geopolitical risk has remained elevated at the start of 2026 and heightens with the situation in the Middle East developing over the past few days. Market freight rates fell significantly in the first half of 2025 as supply outpaced demand, and then gradually picked up in a later part of the year. During the year, market sport rates for Handy Size and Supermax Vexels averaged about $10,570 and $11,610 per day. representing a decrease of 5% and 10% year-on-year respectively. However, the FFA saw an uplift since the beginning of 2026, averaged at 13,730 per day for heavy size and 15,580 per day for supermax. FFA for the remainder of 2026 points to a stable outlook. There is no suggestion yet that the most recent increases in FFAs are due to the war in the Middle East. The conflict could heighten markets by creating new inefficiencies. But equally, it could lead to cargo cancellations and discounted vessels. Please turn to slide 6. In 2025, our average daily TCE earnings of 11,490 for HandySize and 12,850 for SupraMax represented 11% and 6% decrease as compared to the rates in 2024, respectively. Despite the decrease year-on-year, Our TCEs continued to outperform the average spot market rates by $910 per day for HandySize and $1,220 per day for SupraMax. For the first quarter of 2026, we have covered 88% and 100% of our committed vessel days for our HandySize and SupraMax core feet at $11,890 and $14,450 per day, respectively. These rates are higher than the current market spot rates, as well as the FFA. Our operating activity margin also improved and contributed $22.9 million in 2025. Operating activity days increased 1% year-on-year to 27,850 days and generated a margin of $820 per day, which represented a 30% increase year-on-year. Please turn to slide 7. In terms of vessel costs, we continue our leading position in cost efficiency. Our core daily operating costs for both HandySize and SupraMax vessels remained well controlled. Average daily op-packs for both segments were broadly stable at around $4,780. Depreciation costs rose slightly by 2% for HandySize and 6% for SupraMax, respectively, mainly reflecting dry docking and few efficiency upgrades. Average daily finance costs decreased by 13% to around $130, mainly due to lower average borrowings. Long-term chartered festival daily rates also improved. Costs for HandySize remained substantially unchanged, while SupraMax were 12% lower, mainly attributable to the re-delivery of vessels that had been chartered at higher rates. Overall, our costs remained stable, with our old leads break even at approximately $4,820 per day for HandySize and $5,020 per day for SupraMax. Please turn to slide 8. Overall, the 2025 freight market was softer than last year, but our performance has been resilient. Our top line decreased due to the softer market, and our old vessel costs were lowered by 3%, mainly due to the disposal of 8 older vessels. A 24% improvement in chartered vessel costs was due to the weaker freight markets. And as a result of the changes in revenue and cost items, our operating performance before overheads decreased by 28% year-on-year to $142 million. One of items also had an unfavorable change in 2025, mainly due to expenses related to the structural changes we implemented during the year for compliance with USDR. Profit attributable to shareholders was $58.2 million for 2025. Please turn to slide 9. We continued to be disciplined with our capital allocation and remained debt-free on a net basis with a net cash position of $134 million U.S. dollars. We have available committed liquidity of $756 million at the end of 2025. The total net book value of our 107 vessels was $1.6 billion, while the estimated market value was higher at $1.96 billion, reflecting a healthy buffer above book values based on composite broker valuations. The financial flexibility is further enhanced by the new $250 million sustainability-linked facility secured in July 2025. The facility helped strengthen both our liquidity position and also our ability to respond quickly to market developments. Please turn to slide 10. Our strong balance sheet, high liquidity and fleet optionality positioned us well to continue executing our strategy and capturing opportunities in a dynamic market environment. And we're confident that this will continue in the current disruptive environment. Our operating cash flow for the year was $229 million, inclusive of all long and short-term charter hire payments. We also realized $66.8 million from the sale of five older Helisize and three Supermax vessels. During the year, we closed a new $250 million revolving credit facility, as mentioned on the previous page. Our CapEx amounted to $116 million, which included $59 million for three handy-sized vessels delivered into our fleet in 2025 and one Ultramax vessel purchase options exercised in late 2025 which subsequently delivered in January 2026 along with 57 million for dry dockings and other additions. We paid a total of 44 million in dividends which included the 2024 final dividend of 5.1 Hong Kong cents per share totaling $33.4 million, and also the 2025 interim dividend of 1.6 Hong Kong cents per share, totaling $10.7 million. We also spent $40 million to repurchase our own shares under our buyback program announced last year, and our net cash outflow from borrowings was $97 million in 2025. The strong cash generation ability allowed us to have an improved liquidity for any future opportunities. Please turn to slide 11. We will continue to focus on maintaining a robust balance sheet and optimizing our cost structure. The board has conducted a review of the company's longstanding dividend policy of paying out at least 50% of net profit, excluding disposal gains. And having conceded the needs of the business and the best practice capital allocation, the board has decided to expand the policy to enhance shareholder returns. So with effect from 2026, the company's amended dividend policy is to pay dividends of 50% of annual net profit, excluding disposal gains, and increasing up to 100% of annual net profit, also excluding disposal gains when the company is in a net cash position at year end. The board may also decide to make additional distributions in the form of special dividends and or share buybacks. We will continue with our share buyback program and to purchase up to US$40 million worth of shares in 2026 subject to market conditions. I will now hand you back to Martin to run you through the market dynamics and update on our strategy.

Yeah, thank you, Jimmy. And please turn to slide 13. So before running through last year's volumes, we should say that ports and countries within the Strait of Hormuz accounts for approximately 2% of total dry bulk cargoes. Taken together with the Red Sea and Suez Canal, 5% of dry bulk shipping transit these chunk points. This is lower than in the tanker and container shipping sector, but it's still enough to create significant new sources of market inefficiencies if voyages are diverted. From Pacific Basin's own fixtures in 2025, 3.6% of our total cargo volumes loaded within the Strait of Hormuz, and 1.3% of our total cargo volumes discharged in the region. In 2025, minor bulk demand remained resilient. Ton mile demand grew 4%, as supported by GIVAS export of cement and fertilizer, and its imports of minor metals, ores and concentrates. Flows of semi-processed materials from China to developing markets continue to rise sharply, supported by China's structural production surpluses and ongoing demand from Belt and Road partners' economies, leading to more parceling and longer loading discharge times. Grain loadings decreased 6% year-on-year, mainly due to the sharp reduction in exports from Ukraine and Russia. At the same time, major exporters such as the US, Brazil and Argentina entered 2026 with strong momentum, with forecasting agencies predicting large harvests ahead. Coal loading also decreased 6%, reflecting changes in China's policy targets and a shift in stockpiling dynamics. India has become the world's largest buyer of metallurgical coal, and with its steel sector aiming to nearly double its output by 2030, is expected to play an increasingly important role in future coal demand. Iron ore loading fell 2% impacted by weather-related disruptions in Australia early in the year, Looking ahead, volumes are expected to be supported by the wrap-up of Zinmandu in Guinea from 2026, which could displace high-cost production in China and Australia and extend average sailing distances, adding to shipping demand. Please turn to slide 14. We continue to adopt a disciplined approach to fleet growth and renewal, seeing increasing vessel values and strong market interest in modern, efficient tonnage. The chart on the left shows the upwards trend in both new buildings and second-hand values for ultramax and handy-sized vessels, reflecting healthy sentiments in the asset market. As at 31st December 2025, our core fleet stood at 120 vessels, comprising 107 old vessels and 13 long-term chartered. Throughout the year, we actively renewed and optimized the fleet by selling three supermax and five heavy-size vessels, while exercising three heavy-size purchase options and took delivery of three long-term time charters, TCN new buildings from Japan. For 2026, we will have delivery of additional long-term TCN new buildings and allow 8 new buildings to be delivered in 2028 and 2029. We also retained additional purchase options on a number of our long-term TCE-in handy sizes that can be exercised on extended subject-to-market conditions. Please turn to slide 15. In December 2025, we committed to the acquisition of 40,000 deadweight handy-sized new buildings for a total consideration of $119.2 million, with delivery scheduled for first half of 2028. These competitively priced ships with early delivery will add meaningful value to our fleet. They incorporate the latest fuel-efficient designs, including all open hatched and lock fitted configurations, with enhanced tank top and deck strength. This provides great flexibility and upgraded cargo handling capability, which allow for more triangulated trading, supports stronger utilization and TCE outperformance. In addition, these vessels are significantly more fuel-efficient than the older single-fuel vessels. They will replace and be secured at competitive pricing with early delivery slots. Looking into our order book, we have four heavy-size vessels to be delivered in 2028, four Ultramax LED vessels scheduled between late 2028 and 2029, and at the moment, 14 long-term chartered vessels with purchase options stretching to 2032. Altogether, this represents 22 potential additions to our core fleet over the next few years. Please turn to slide 16. Looking ahead, our segment has proven resilient with stable growth in demand due to recent market disruptions. War in the Middle East could tighten the market if ships are diverted, but equally it could lead to canceled cargoes in the area. Our focus cargoes are estimated to rise by about 3.5% in 2025 and a further 2.5% in 2026, reinforcing the structural demands report for our segment. Overall dry-boiled market in the coming years will be affected by geopolitical and energy transition, but we expect our segments will remain resilient. Please turn to slide 17. In 2035, global dry-boiled net fleet growth remained steady at 3%, with Handicise and Supermax supply at roughly 4.1%. Handicise and Supermax new building deliveries were up year on year. Total drywall new building deliveries increased 7% year-on-year, and supply growth peaked in 2025. New ordering has slowed, and the combined heavy-size and supermax order books remained manageable at around 11% of the fleet. The scrapping pool continues to increase. Around 50% of heavy-size and supermax capacity is now over 20 years old. Total dry bulk and minor bulk supply growth is expected to exceed demand growth in 2026, driven by higher new building deliveries and limited scrapping activity. This was also the case at the same time last year. Please turn to slide 18. The IMF expects global GDP to grow 3.3% and China at around 4.5%. But tariffs, political uncertainty and shifting geopolitics will continue to affect trade flows. If the war in the Middle East proves protracted, a sustained rise in global energy costs could hamper economic activity and create downside risk to the base case scenario. particularly for those economies that are more dependent on energy imports. On the commodity side, geared bulk segments should benefit from steady growth in minor bulk and grains, supported by green energy infrastructure and urbanization in developing markets. China's export of semi-processed materials under the Belt and Road Initiative also remains an important driver. From the fleet perspective, around 50% of the handy-sized and supermax fleet is now over 20 years old, though high delivery volumes and limited scrapping means supplies expected to outpace demand in 2026. Overall, turn-mile demand is forecasted to rise by about 2.1% for minor bulk and 1.9% for total dry bulk against the net fleet growth of 4% and 3.5% respectively. But ton-mile demand rise will be impacted by the ongoing disruptions that continue to impact trade routes. Trade forward agreements indicate a healthy market going forward with FFA curves over the next two years being at or near 12 months high. Yesterday was the first trading day since the war in the Middle East started and FFA rose further. So overall the current spot market is strong and outlook appears positive despite the war and supply seeming outgrowing demand during 2026. Please turn to slide 19. Against this market backdrop, our strategic priorities for 2026 remain very clear and focus on areas where we can derive the most value. We will continue to renew and expand the fleet selectively and in a disciplined way through modern second-hand vessels, targeted new buildings, long-term charter with purchase options, and creative opportunities that offer a strong strategic fit. We continue to focus on improving our cost structure and leveraging our productivity tools, competitiveness, while thriving to grow our fleet. As the decarbonization moves will drive the gradual transit to green fuels, we are transforming our fuel team into a sustainable energy solution team to drive further decarbonization as well as monetizing of our investments. We will continue to build on our excellent progress in respect to digitalization and our AI-enabled technologies to further ramp up our fuel and voyage optimization drive for improved efficiency, cost-saving, TCR performance and sustainability. And finally, we will continue to reinforce strong performance management, leveraging our integrated platform and strong balance sheets to grow our business, improve customer service, and maximize total shareholder return. Please turn to slide 20. Our platform is well positioned to deliver sustainable shareholder value. We operate one of the world's largest modern handy-sized and supermax fleets with 250 vessels, managed by a global commercial platform and supported by a diverse base of more than 600 industrial customers. Over the years, we have continuously delivered our performance with the support of our strong platform, disciplined capital management and sector-leading cost efficiency. As Jimmy noted earlier, we have expanded our dividend policy effective from 2026 The improved policy will enable us to deliver better shareholder return. Here I would like to conclude our 2025 annual result presentation by thanking our colleagues at CNHR for their contribution to our result. I will now hand over the call to the operator for Q&A.

We will now begin our question and answer session. If you have a question for today's speaker, please join the Zoom link via the blue ask a question button. Press the raise hand button and you will enter a queue. After you are announced, please unmute yourself, state your name and company and ask your question. If you find that your question has been answered before it's your turn to speak, please press the lower hand button to leave the queue. You may also type your questions in the Q&A box. Our first question comes from Nathan G. If you'd like to unmute and ask your question.

hi martin hi jimmy thanks for the call uh maybe uh two questions from me uh firstly uh just in terms of shareholder returns uh can you talk about the thinking behind sort of proceeding with another 40 million buyback uh we like the buyback but just help us understand the thinking given that your market cap i think is now above nav so that's the first question uh second question just in terms of outlook uh just help us reconcile the the strong rates that we're seeing right now versus those headlines of supply likely exceeding demand so maybe a little bit more just in terms of the disruptions that are sort of helping the market despite some of that headline demand supply thank you

If I try first, and Jimmy can add to it. First, Nathan, thank you for the questions. Thank you for listening in. First, in respect to the up to $40 million buyback that we announced, I think the key word is up to. I think the other years we were a little bit more precise than we would have. do that investment. This time we say up to. We agree that if you make a calculation, we are trading above the fair market NAD, but on the other hand, we also think our platform has some value. And of course, we also want to signal that we still believe in our business and in our market. And if we find that it's a good time to buy, we will definitely buy that. So we also try to signal a little bit to you that we are ready to buy when we think it's the right thing. to do. I think the buybacks we've done the last two years has been very good actually, but we are ready to do more. But I think the key word is up to $40 million. And then you asked a little bit about the outlook. I feel a little bit deja vu because it was a little bit the same last year. I think 4% growth in supply and 2% growth in demand. These are, of course, Clarkson's figures. And I would also say this year, that's the base that we have. But again, when you look at the disruption, and of course the disruption we just saw this weekend, when you look at the FFA market, Also going forward, of course, the market looks much better, I must say, at the moment. And I think if you look at our – we, of course, covered for first quarter and we covered a little bit for the short term, but we do have quite a bit of open tonnage going – open days going forward. So I definitely hope that the market will continue to improve. I think we'll have to see a little bit the impact of the rate of growth and how long it will – last and all these things before we sort of conclude on that part of it. But right now it looks very positive, I must say.

Thank you. Thanks so much. Thank you, Nathan.

Our next question comes from Deepak Moer Krishna. If you'd like to go ahead and ask your question.

Hey, Martin. Hey, Jimmy. I hope I'm coming through well. You are. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. So when we look at the dry bulk market, right, we've seen that the TC rates have held up pretty well. And as you alluded earlier, right, last year also we had about 4 to 5 percent supply growth in the subcape segments and about 2 to 2.5 percent growth overall. in the demand side and something like that is also happening this year where supply is at around four percent but the demand growth is likely slowing down based on the slide which you shared for the minor bulk ton mile so in that context what is it that is holding up the rates in your view and and how sustainable is it

I think in the predictions that we are using that come from some of the big broking houses, and they also struggle, of course, with predicting the disruptors. It's nearly impossible. And I think to a certain extent they also maybe had expected that the Red Sea would open up and ships could start proceeding through the Red Sea. I think there was some, at least on the container side, that had started that part of it. That's all closed now again now. I think we have a little bit the same situation. Last year was probably also other things like USTR. I think we all stepped back, not just us, but also others stepped back a little bit from sending ships to the U.S., that created against disruptions in it, and now of course it's the war in the Arabian Gulf, and then again the closure, for sure the closure of the Red Sea is just a new major disruptor. And that of course means that the commodities would have to be moved to somewhere else, So let's see how it goes. You know, Arabian Gulf is a big exporter of fertilizers and aggregates, cement, sorry, yeah, cement and clinkers. That has to be sold somewhere else, and that will definitely be longer, a ton mile, and I think that impacts the market immediately.

Okay. Okay. And if I may ask about your plan about shifting half the fleet under the Singapore flag and under the Singapore operations, and then you, Jimmy, alluded to some costs related to that exercise. I just wanted to get a sense of has that exercise been completed? If not, then should we expect any additional costs? this year as well on that front? And how do you see that impacting your operations? Or is it more of a structural change only on the organization front, but operationally there's not much change?

Thank you Deepak. Thank you for the question. So the transfer is ongoing and as we announced last year, the aim is to transfer a number of our vessels to Singapore. So that exercise is ongoing. Of course, the USTR and Chinese special port fees is currently under one year truce. So we do have a bit of time to complete the move that we set out to do. Now, in terms of the cost that you see, there is a certain project cost incurred in 2025. We would expect a similar cost to be incurred in 2025. in the coming year to complete the exercise although the cost is likely to be to be less as you could imagine when we started off with the exercise there is a certain amount of initiation cost so the ongoing exercise would naturally have a smaller impact in terms of the cost now you also ask about the impact on operation I think as we when we did the announcement I think we also mentioned This is a change that wouldn't affect our operation, but it's more on the corporate organization.

Yeah, I think I could add for 2025, of course, when USCI was implemented and also leading up to it, we did step back from calling the US or at least limited it somehow. And I think that had an impact on our earnings last year. Because that was actually a very strong market for that reason, I would say. Not because we didn't do it, but because I think many people stepped back from the U.S. So we didn't get the full value out of that part in the third quarter and into fourth quarter. But going forward, that has stabilized and things are back to normal.

Okay. And my last question is about the performance versus the index. When we look at the quarterly trend, the last couple of quarters, at least for the Supermax, I think we were lagging behind. So what's your take on how soon could this be bridged and probably result in an outperformance?

I think all in all, last year, of course, we had a total in our performance. So we did very well in the first half. And as I said, in the second half, also because of USTR, the market was quite divided. So the Atlantic market, very strong, very high, and the Pacific actually not so good. And that, of course, also impacted our earnings. And, you know, the usual story is, of course, that when the market increases, we will also run a little bit after the market before we catch up with the market. I think we did catch up with the market here in January, February. And now, again, the market starts going up, which is a good thing. But, again, that will also mean we'll run a little bit after the market in the short term. But if the market stays at these levels, we will definitely benefit from that in our earnings. But it will take a little bit of time for us to catch up with the index and do the outperformance on that part. Does that make sense? Yes.

Yeah, it does, Martin. And just thought of another question, if I can. When we look at the vessel acquisition, right, previously you used to order vessels at the Japanese yards, and we see an order on the Chinese yard. And given that you have about 32 vessels with optionality for 32 vessels, do we think that the new ordering would probably take a step back and you will more exercise the optionality?

We like to have both sides. I think we like to have as much optionality on our books as possible. But we also, of course, like to have access to quality arts both in China and in Japan for our own new buildings. So I think our strategy is to do so. Keep all doors open for us. And of course, when we do the new buildings, of course, we also get a design that we really want, that gives us something that we can't get in the market. And for instance, on the Hattie sizes, they are open hatched and get some special features that actually enables us to do more parceling and deck cargoes and these things, which is an area how we can sweat or optimize the earnings on our ships better. If we take ships on time charter, it's more standard ships in it. But we like the optionality of these long-term time charter deals as well. But I think we've got to keep all doors open. We do like very much the optionality in the market. We are fundamentally positive about our market. going forward. Also when you look at the aid profile of the fleet and so on. So we like also our new buildings getting delivery in 28 and 29. We think that's a good time to get delivery of ships as well.

Okay, makes sense. And one clarification for these 20 plus vessels which you could potentially add, will this be also to replace some of the vessels which you might look to sell down as you did last year?

Yeah, we will. Our plan, of course, we follow the market now and see how it's developing. I think I explained in the past as well, we always do sale versus continuous trading calculations on all our ships. And we have sort of a, not a rule, but we tend to look at the ships when they become 20-year-old, say, well, you know, should we sell or continue to trade? Right now, of course, we do have, I think we have eight ships this year that is above 20 or will turn 20. They are, of course, candidates to sell. Of course, at the moment, when we look at the market, we are not in a hurry to do so, and we will try to take as much advantage of the market as possible. So it's not a rule that we have to sell. We don't regret what we've done in the past, but at the moment we will follow the market a little bit to see how it develops, and we are not in a hurry to do anything in this market at least.

Okay. Thank you very much, gentlemen, and have a great evening.

Thank you very much. Thanks for the good questions.

Just as a reminder, if you have a question for today's speaker, then please join the Zoom link via the blue Ask a Question button. Press the raise hand and you will enter a queue. There are currently no further live questions.

There is a question coming in from the online platform. So the question is, is there any view on how the ongoing geopolitical situation in the Middle East might impact the group's business?

Yeah. First of all, when we look at our fleets and where we are located, we do not have any of our own ships in the Arabian Gulf. Persian Gulf, so in that sense we are not exposed in that way. We do trade in that area, but at the moment we don't have a ship in the area. We have one ship on its way, but of course that will probably divert to somewhere else and not go into the Arabian Gulf. So I think right now we are also just looking at what's happening and it looks like things are escalating and for sure we believe the Red Sea will be closed for longer. And then, of course, we follow to see what's going to happen, both in respect to oil price and longer prices and so on. But all in all, we will not have any sort of negative direct consequences for us. We probably see it will change the supply chains, and they will be longer, and then there will be more ton-mile coming to the market going forward. But it's early days, so let's follow and see how the situation develops.

There are no further questions. We will now begin closing remarks. Please go ahead, Mr. Martin Forogard.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much for listening in and have a good evening. Thank you very much.