HAMILTON, BERMUDA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/30/09 -- TBS International Limited (NASDAQ: TBSI) announced today its financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2008.

Fourth Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2008 highlights:

Metric                           Q4 2008    Q4 2007    FY 2008    FY 2007
                                ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Revenue (thousands)             $  139,788 $  114,364 $  611,633 $  352,921
Net Income (thousands)          $   34,615 $   35,154 $  191,777 $   98,249
EPS (diluted)                   $     1.15 $     1.26 $     6.54 $     3.50
Weighted Average Number of
 Shares (diluted)               30,147,763 28,088,072 29,316,132 28,066,736
EBITDA (thousands)(1)           $   62,938 $   47,793 $  283,902 $  143,999
Drydock Days                           223        221        791      1,044
Freight Voyages
Average Daily Voyage TCE        $   24,809 $   25,244 $   29,526 $   21,658
Freight Voyage Days                  3,471      2,145     11,900      8,209
Tons of Cargo Shipped
 (thousands)                         2,355      1,838      9,315      6,621
Average Freight Rate for All
 Cargoes                        $    55.48 $    42.62 $    55.70 $    39.49
Average Freight Rate excluding
 Aggregates                     $    78.12 $    83.66 $    88.08 $    68.79
Bunker Cost/Voyage Day          $    7,111 $    5,503 $    7,340 $    4,803
Time Charter out Voyages
Average Daily Time Charter TCE  $    7,963 $   31,207 $   26,134 $   23,078
Time Charter Days                      620      1,019      3,004      3,659
(1) EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. Please refer to "Non-GAAP
    Reconciliations-EBITDA" following the financial statements included in
    this press release for a reconciliation of EBITDA to Net Income.

Management Commentary:

Joseph E. Royce, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, stated: "Our record 2008 financial results have quickly become history. Since the last quarter of 2008 we have been experiencing a dramatic decline in the global economy, and we now operate in a completely different financial and economic environment, without clear visibility as to when the turmoil will end.

"The near term effects of this dramatic decline have been devastating on the dry cargo shipping industry. The freezing of the credit markets and the virtual elimination of letters of credit which are the traditional financing mechanism of global trade have caused a significant decrease in the volume of cargo transported thereby affecting freight rates, vessel utilization and asset values. As a result:

--  Freight rates collapsed, as indicated by the Baltic Dry Index, which
    declined by 95% from its high value of 11,793 on May 20, 2008 to a low of
    663 on December 5, 2008. Since then, the Index has modestly recovered to
    1,646 as of March 30, 2009.
--  Vessels of all sizes have been idled, leading to a decline in fleet
    utilization rates.  Asset values in the sale and purchase market have
    dropped substantially from their spring/summer 2008 highs.
--  Revenues, earnings and cash flows for the shipping industry are under
    significant pressure and are expected to suffer during 2009.
    

"In the past several months, TBS has taken a series of proactive and defensive initiatives to address these challenging times:

--  We suspended the purchase of additional second-hand vessels.
--  Because MPP Tweendeckers are an important segment of the TBS Fleet, we
    intend to proceed with our plans to construct the six Roymar Class 34,000
    dwt multipurpose (MPP) tweendeckers that were contracted in February 2007,
    with delivery of the first vessel (the M.V. Rockaway Belle) expected in
    June 2009.
--  However, in order to conserve our cash resources and limit new debt
    incurrence, in October 2008, we cancelled contingent arrangements to build
    twelve additional Roymar Class 34,000 dwt MPP tweendeckers. These
    cancellations were effected without cost or penalties to TBS.
--  We recently completed our multi-year accelerated vessel upgrade and
    drydock program and plan to make only necessary capital expenditures in
    2009.
--  In November 2008, in a commitment to the future of TBS, year-end
    bonuses accrued by the Company, aggregating $15 million, were cancelled.
--  We have frozen salaries for our officers and office staff at 2008
    levels and we are engaged in an extensive cost-cutting program that should
    result in 2009 operating economies.
--  We concluded agreements with our lenders to obtain covenant waivers
    applicable to all of our outstanding loans for the calendar year 2009.
    

"At TBS, our strongest asset is our worldwide team of shipping professionals. We have fully staffed affiliate agencies and representative offices on five continents. We offer a unique Five Star Service consisting of Ocean Transportation, Logistics, Port Services, Operations and Strategic Planning. We implement this Five Star Service with our Fleet of 47 owned or controlled vessels consisting of 23 handymax and handysize bulk carriers and 24 multipurpose tweendeckers, one of which (the M.V. Zia Belle) has two 150 ton cranes combinable to 300 tons.

"Despite the lack of immediate visibility in the prevailing market conditions, we are cautiously optimistic for a gradual return to an improved market environment in the second half of 2009. Urbanization and core economic development which have been the prevalent trends in developing economies, especially in China and India, may temporarily slow down but are irreversible. The concerted efforts of governments around the world to inject liquidity into the credit markets and to implement stimulus programs aimed mainly at infrastructure development should eventually result in increased dry cargo movement. In the meantime, we will stay the course, and remain vigilant to safeguard the value we have created and alert to new opportunities that may arise."

Ferdinand V. Lepere, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented: "As we announced, we are pleased to have obtained waivers to the financial covenants from all of our lenders. The current economic conditions and their impact on the shipping industry, and specifically the market value of vessels, caused us to initiate discussions with all lenders of our credit facilities to obtain waivers of the collateral coverage requirements and other financial covenants. This is indicative of our excellent relationship with our lenders and a favorable development for the company. In connection with the credit facility waivers, we prepaid all principal installments that would have become due under our term loan facility during 2009, reducing our total non-construction debt to $247.5 million.

"Our newbuilding program for the six Roymar Class tweendeckers is progressing and we have in place fixed term financing with a syndicate of lenders led by The Royal Bank of Scotland for all remaining installments to the shipyard including the delivery of the vessels. We expect delivery of two vessels in 2009 and four vessels in 2010.

"In the fourth quarter of 2008, we continued with our drydocking and vessel upgrade programs and drydocked five vessels for 223 drydocking days in total. For the full year 2008, we drydocked 17 vessels for an aggregate of 791 days at a cost of approximately $31.9 million. The recent completion of our multi-year accelerated vessel upgrade and drydock program enables us to make only necessary maintenance-related capital expenditures in 2009."

Fourth Quarter 2008 Results:

For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2008, total revenues were $139.8 million, an increase of 22.2% compared to the $114.4 million for the same period in 2007. Net income for the fourth quarter 2008 was $34.6 million, a decrease of 1.7% compared to $35.2 million for the same period in 2007. Earnings per diluted share were $1.15 in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to $1.26 for the fourth quarter 2007.

EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP measure, increased 31.6% to $62.9 million for the fourth quarter 2008 from $47.8 million in 2007. Please see "Non-GAAP Reconciliations - EBITDA" following the financial statements in this press release for a reconciliation of EBITDA to net income.

An average of 44 vessels (excluding off-hire) were operating during the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to 34 vessels (excluding off-hire) during the same period in 2007.

Results for the Full Year ended December 31, 2008:

For the year ended December 31, 2008, total revenues were $611.6 million, an increase of 73.3% compared to $352.9 million for the same period in 2007. Net income for the full year 2008 was $191.8 million, an increase of 95.3% compared to $98.2 million for the same period in 2007. Earnings per share on a diluted basis were $6.54 for the full year 2008, calculated based on 29,316,132 shares, compared to $3.50 for the same period in 2007, calculated based on 28,066,736 shares.

EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP measure, increased by 97.2% to $283.9 million for the full year 2008 from $144.0 million in 2007. Please see "Non-GAAP Reconciliations - EBITDA" following the financial statements included in this press release for a reconciliation of EBITDA to Net income.

Revenues:

Total revenues of $611.6 million for the full year 2008 include voyage revenues of $518.9 million, time charter revenues of $83.9 million and logistics and other revenues of $8.8 million.

An average of 41 vessels (excluding off-hire) were operated during the full year 2008 compared to 33 vessels (excluding off-hire) during the same period of 2007.

Voyage Revenues:

Voyage revenues for the full year 2008 were $518.9 million, an increase of $257.4 million or 98.4% from the $261.5 million during the same period in 2007.

Total cargo volume (including aggregates) increased 2,693,825 tons or 40.7% to 9,315,298 tons for the full year 2008 from 6,621,473 for the same period in 2007. The increase in cargo volume is attributed to a 32.5% increase in aggregates carried, and a 48.2% increase of non-aggregates carried.

Cargo volume (excluding aggregates) increased 1,661,969 tons or 48.2% to 5,108,983 tons for the full year 2008 from 3,447,014 tons for the same period in 2007.