ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TOP Ships Inc. (Nasdaq: TOPS) today announced its operating results for the second quarter and first half of 2009.
For the three months ended June 30, 2009, the Company reported a net loss of $15,949,000, or $0.58 per share, compared with a net loss of $5,589,000, or $0.22 per share, for the second quarter of 2008. The results for the second quarter of 2009 include net expenses of $11,786,000 relating to the termination of leases. Excluding these expenses, the net loss becomes $4,163,000, or $0.15 per share. Second quarter operating loss was $11,502,000 for 2009, compared with operating income of $7,078,000 for the corresponding period in 2008. Excluding net expenses of $11,786,000 relating to the termination of leases, operating loss turns into an operating income of $284,000. Revenues for the second quarter of 2009 were $28,636,000, compared to $76,687,000 recorded in the second quarter of 2008.
For the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Company reported a net loss of $14,579,000, or $0.53 per share, compared with a net loss of $24,430,000, or $1.07 per share, for the first half of 2008. Excluding the net expenses of $11,786,000, relating to the termination of leases, the net loss becomes $2,793,000, or $0.10 per share. For the six months ended June 30, 2009, operating loss was $9,145,000 compared with operating income of $4,644,000 for the first half of 2008. Excluding net expenses of $11,786,000 relating to the termination of leases, operating loss turns into an operating income of $2,641,000. Revenues for the six-month period ended June 30, 2009 were $58,429,000, compared to $149,324,000 recorded in the first half of 2008.
Evangelos J. Pistiolis, President and Chief Executive Officer of TOP Ships Inc., commented: "Despite our negative results, we are happy to report that we have concluded two very important milestones in the history of our company: the termination of our last leases involving five old vessels and the completion of our newbuilding program in a very tough financial environment.
In the current shipping and general economic environment, we believe that we are better positioned than many other companies in the industry, and we want to convey to the market the current positive characteristics of TOP Ships, which in nutshell are the following:
- No capital commitments.
- Cash flow from operations is expected to be positive for the full second half of 2009 and for the full year of 2010.
- Very young fleet. Our owned fleet is made up of 13 vessels; eight product tankers with an average age of less than two years and five dry bulk vessels with an average age of 8.4 years
- 80% of our total ship days until the end of 2011 are under fixed employment, and the gross revenue of these charters totals approximately $200 million. Looking further ahead, 73% of our total ship days until the end of 2012 are under fixed employment, and the gross revenue of these charters totals approximately $250 million.
I would like to stress that our banks have been very supportive to our plans and actions since the beginning of the year, which can be proven from the fact that we have received waivers from all five banks in relation to certain covenant breaches that occurred on December 31, 2008."
The following indicators serve to highlight the operational performance of the Company's current fleet during the second quarter and six-month periods ended June 30, 2009 and 2008:
Current Fleet Data
Three Months Ended - Six Months Ended -
March 31, March 31,
2008 2009 2008 2009
Total calendar days for fleet (1) 1,092 1,469 2,028 2,646
Total available days for fleet (2) 1,046 1,350 1,970 2,456
Total operating days for fleet (3) 1,036 1,327 1,925 2,388
Fleet utilization (4) 99.0% 98.3% 97.7% 97.2%
(1) We define calendar days as the total days the vessels were in our
possession for the relevant period. Calendar days are an indicator of the
size of our fleet over a period and affect both the amount of revenues
and expenses that we record during a period.
(2) We define available days as the number of calendar days less the
aggregate number of days that our vessels are off-hire due to scheduled
repairs or scheduled repairs under guarantee, vessel upgrades or special
surveys and the aggregate amount of time that we spend positioning our
vessels. Companies in the shipping industry generally use available days
to measure the number of days in a period during which vessels should be
capable of generating revenues. In all prior filings and reports,
available days has never been used. We have decided to add available days
and adjust the calculation method of utilization in order to be more
comparative with most shipping companies that calculate utilization using
available days divided by operating days.
(3) We define operating days as the number of our available days in a
period less the aggregate number of days that our vessels are off-hire
due to unforeseen circumstances. The shipping industry uses operating
days to measure the aggregate number of days in a period during which the
vessels actually generate revenues.
(4) We calculate fleet utilization by dividing the number of our
operating days during a period by the number of our available days during
the period. The shipping industry uses fleet utilization to measure a
company's efficiency in finding suitable employment for its vessels and
minimizing the number of days that its vessels are off-hire for reasons
other than scheduled repairs or repairs under guarantee, vessel upgrades,
special or intermediate surveys and vessel positioning. In all prior
filings and reports, utilization was calculated by dividing operating days
to calendar days. We have decided to change the calculation method in
order to be more comparative with most shipping companies, which calculate
utilization using available days divided by operating days.
The following table presents the Company's owned fleet list and employment as of the date of this release:
Profit Sharing
Year Charter Daily Base Above Base
Dwt Built Type Expiry Rate Rate (2009)
--- ----- ---- ------ ---- -----------
Eight Tanker
Vessels
Dauntless 46,168 1999 Time Q1/2010 $16,250 100% first
Charter $1,000 + 50%
thereafter
Ioannis P.
