|
Taylor Maritime Ltd on Friday said it has sold a further ten vessels for a total of $176.3 million as it seeks to ‘defend shareholder value’ given its view of ‘further potential downside in asset values’. The Guernsey, England-based shipping investor said in the quarter to the end of June, it agreed five new vessel sales with a further five agreed after the period for combined gross proceeds of $176.3 million. It said four of the sales have been completed, with the remaining six expected to be completed between now and the end of the year. These sales are in addition to the eleven announced in April for combined gross proceeds of $172.5 million, all of which have now completed. Overall, Taylor Maritime said it has executed 49 disposals since the beginning of 2023, including 22 in the 2025 calendar year. It said the vessel sales programme has been executed at an average of 3.1% discount to fair market value, and will have generated total gross proceeds of $806.9 million once the agreed sales complete. Taylor Maritime said the market value of its fleet decreased on-quarter by 6.6% on a like-for-like basis to $338.0 million. ‘After climbing in the spring in line with freight rates, Supra/Ultramax vessel values declined over the period despite a stable earnings environment with forecasts of an acceleration of fleet growth in 2025 weighing on sentiment,’ the company said. Taylor Maritime said it generated charter revenue of $37.3 million during the period, equating to fleet-wide time charter equivalent earnings of $11,284 per day for the period, down 15% from $13,308 per day in the same period last year. It recorded a net loss of $11.3 million for the quarter, which includes depreciation of $12.0 million. Taylor Maritime said its outstanding debt stood at $98.4 million at the end of June, down 60% from $247.1 million at the end of March. After the end of the quarter, it said it used net proceeds from recently completed vessel sales, plus a portion of existing cash on the balance sheet, to prepay all outstanding bank debt. As a result, Taylor Maritime’s outstanding debt is now $46.4 million, made up of sale-leaseback transactions, including a $22.4 million purchase option, which will fall away upon expiry. The board declared an unchanged interim dividend for the quarter of 2 US cents per share. ‘While trade and macroeconomic uncertainty continues to create concern for short-term demand and current forecasts for 2026 are for soft market conditions to persist, supply-side dynamics continue to support a constructive medium-term outlook,’ the company said. ‘Having already set course to zero bank debt, a goal we achieved in July 2025, we continued to sell vessels to defend shareholder value given our view of further potential downside in asset values amidst steady fleet growth in the near-term and a slowing global economy,’ Chief Executive Officer Edward Buttery added. ‘With our sales programme expected to complete by the end of the year, the company is now virtually ungeared with cash on the balance sheet and undrawn revolver capacity providing strategic flexibility. Our priority is to maintain our regular quarterly dividend and we will continue to consider additional dividends to shareholders.’ Shares in Taylor Maritime were down 1.5% at 65.20 pence in London on Friday morning. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
