Seaspan Corporation announced yesterday the financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2011. Below is a summary of Seaspan's key financial results for the recent quarter:
Achieved vessel utilization of 98.9% for the quarter ended March 31,2011;
-- Accepted delivery of 3 newbuilding vessels during the quarter, bringing Seaspan's fleet to a total of 58 vessels at March 31, 2011;
-- Paid a fourth quarter dividend of $0.125 per common share on February 11, 2011;
-- Board of directors adopted a progressive dividend policy and expects to increase the dividend by 50 percent to $0.75 per share in 2011 on anannualized basis;
-- Declared a first quarter dividend of $0.1875 per common share to be paid on May 23, 2011 to all shareholders of record as of May 14, 2011, increasing cumulative dividends declared to $7.1525 per common sharesince August 2005 initial public offering;
-- Completed public offering of 10 million shares of 9.5% Series Cpreferred stock in January 2011, for net proceeds of $241 million;
-- Entered into an investment venture established by an affiliate of The Carlyle Group, which will invest up to $900 million equity capital in containership assets, primarily newbuilding vessels strategic to thePeople's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; and
-- Re-entered the newbuilding market for the first time since 2007 by signing a letter of intent with a leading Chinese shipyard for asignificant order of New Panamax 10000 TEU vessels.
Gerry Wang, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chairman, and Co-Founder of Seaspan commented, "During the first quarter, Seaspan continued to expand its fully time chartered fleet, increasing revenue, net earnings and cash flow. Complementing this success, we took important steps to position the Company to grow beyond its contracted fleet in order to capitalize on an attractive ship acquisition environment. Specifically, we re-entered the newbuilding market by signing a letter of intent with a leading Chinese shipyard and entered into an agreement to establish what we anticipate will be a favourable containership investment venture."
Mr. Wang added, "We continue to take proactive measures to ensure that Seaspan's balance sheet remains strong and the Company has significant capital for growth. In pursuing future growth, we will continue to seek opportunities that reinforce our position as a leading independent charter owner of containerships."
Dividend Policy:
In February 2011, Seaspan's board of directors adopted a progressive dividend policy aimed at sustainably increasing dividends in a manner that preserves Seaspan's long-term financial strength and its ability to expand its fleet.
Mr. Wang commented, "We are pleased to increase our first quarter 2011 dividend by 50% due to our increasing cash flows generated through the strength of our business model and our continued delivery of contracted newbuilding vessels."
Vessel utilization was 98.9% for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, compared to 97.2% for the corresponding period of the prior year.
This increase in vessel utilization for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 was primarily due to the 90 days of unscheduled off-hire resulting from the grounding of the CSCL Hamburg (currently the CSAV Licanten) in the Gulf of Aqaba on December 31, 2009. For the quarter ended March 31, 2010 there was one dry-docking for CSCL Vancouver which resulted in 20 days of scheduled off-hire. During the quarter ended March 31, 2011 Seaspan completed four dry-dockings for CSCL Sao Paulo, Jakarta Express, Saigon Express and Rio Grande Express. CSCL Sao Paulo's next dry-docking was originally scheduled for 2013; however, we combined the scheduled dry-docking for this vessel with repairs initiated in December 2010 to achieve savings and defer the next scheduled dry-docking to 2016. This dry-docking resulted in a total of seven days of scheduled off-hire. The four dry-dockings resulted in a total of 53 days of scheduled off-hire. Seaspan's vessel utilization since its initial public offering in August 2005 is 99.1%.
Achieved vessel utilization of 98.9% for the quarter ended March 31,2011;
-- Accepted delivery of 3 newbuilding vessels during the quarter, bringing Seaspan's fleet to a total of 58 vessels at March 31, 2011;
-- Paid a fourth quarter dividend of $0.125 per common share on February 11, 2011;
-- Board of directors adopted a progressive dividend policy and expects to increase the dividend by 50 percent to $0.75 per share in 2011 on anannualized basis;
-- Declared a first quarter dividend of $0.1875 per common share to be paid on May 23, 2011 to all shareholders of record as of May 14, 2011, increasing cumulative dividends declared to $7.1525 per common sharesince August 2005 initial public offering;
-- Completed public offering of 10 million shares of 9.5% Series Cpreferred stock in January 2011, for net proceeds of $241 million;
-- Entered into an investment venture established by an affiliate of The Carlyle Group, which will invest up to $900 million equity capital in containership assets, primarily newbuilding vessels strategic to thePeople's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; and
-- Re-entered the newbuilding market for the first time since 2007 by signing a letter of intent with a leading Chinese shipyard for asignificant order of New Panamax 10000 TEU vessels.
Gerry Wang, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chairman, and Co-Founder of Seaspan commented, "During the first quarter, Seaspan continued to expand its fully time chartered fleet, increasing revenue, net earnings and cash flow. Complementing this success, we took important steps to position the Company to grow beyond its contracted fleet in order to capitalize on an attractive ship acquisition environment. Specifically, we re-entered the newbuilding market by signing a letter of intent with a leading Chinese shipyard and entered into an agreement to establish what we anticipate will be a favourable containership investment venture."
Mr. Wang added, "We continue to take proactive measures to ensure that Seaspan's balance sheet remains strong and the Company has significant capital for growth. In pursuing future growth, we will continue to seek opportunities that reinforce our position as a leading independent charter owner of containerships."
Dividend Policy:
In February 2011, Seaspan's board of directors adopted a progressive dividend policy aimed at sustainably increasing dividends in a manner that preserves Seaspan's long-term financial strength and its ability to expand its fleet.
Mr. Wang commented, "We are pleased to increase our first quarter 2011 dividend by 50% due to our increasing cash flows generated through the strength of our business model and our continued delivery of contracted newbuilding vessels."
Vessel utilization was 98.9% for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, compared to 97.2% for the corresponding period of the prior year.
This increase in vessel utilization for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 was primarily due to the 90 days of unscheduled off-hire resulting from the grounding of the CSCL Hamburg (currently the CSAV Licanten) in the Gulf of Aqaba on December 31, 2009. For the quarter ended March 31, 2010 there was one dry-docking for CSCL Vancouver which resulted in 20 days of scheduled off-hire. During the quarter ended March 31, 2011 Seaspan completed four dry-dockings for CSCL Sao Paulo, Jakarta Express, Saigon Express and Rio Grande Express. CSCL Sao Paulo's next dry-docking was originally scheduled for 2013; however, we combined the scheduled dry-docking for this vessel with repairs initiated in December 2010 to achieve savings and defer the next scheduled dry-docking to 2016. This dry-docking resulted in a total of seven days of scheduled off-hire. The four dry-dockings resulted in a total of 53 days of scheduled off-hire. Seaspan's vessel utilization since its initial public offering in August 2005 is 99.1%.