Euronav announces second quarter and half year results 2017
Antwerp-based tanker owner and operator Euronav NV ended the second quarter of 2017 with a net loss of USD 24.2 million, compared to a net profit of USD 34.3 million seen in the first quarter of the year, the company said in its press release.
The company’s revenue in the period decreased to USD 126.4 million from USD 164.1 million reported in the previous quarter.
For the first half of 2017 Euronav had a net profit of USD 10.1 million, significantly lower than the net profit of USD 153.7 million reported in the first half of 2016. The company’s revenue in the first six months of the year dropped to USD 290.5 million from USD 404.4 million seen in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Paddy Rodgers, CEO said: “Euronav made considerable progress during Q2. The confirmation of the extension of our five - year FSO contracts combined with an additional two seven - year time charters provide us with a robust and visible fixed income profile. Our balance sheet was furth er enhanced with a USD 150 million unsecured bond offering during May. The board of directors and management believe these strengths should be reflected in our return to shareholders policy which has now been upgraded to a minimum fixed annual dividend of USD 0.12 per share. The tanker cycle is positioned at an interesting intersection. Demand for oil saw upgrades during Q2 for both 2017 and 2018 (IEA), supply of oil remains abundant despite OPEC production cuts and modern asset prices appear to have s tabilized. Ton - miles were further boosted by U . S . exports since the start of the year and sources of finance, primarily banks, continue to reduce. However, the key challenge for the tanker market is the concentration of deliveries of newbuildings in both t he VLCC and Suezmax sectors over the next 18 months which is putting pressure on the freight rate market. If the illness is low freight rates then the cure is low freight rates as that should drive scrapping activity. Until this inflection point is reached, Euronav retains substantial balance sheet capacity and fixed income visibility to navigate through such a period of lower freight rates and/or to take advantage of expansion opportunities. The duration of the challenging freight rate environment will be entirely dependent on the number of additional orders to build new ships that are not needed by the market.”
About Euronav
Euronav is an independent tanker company engaged in the ocean transportation and storage of crude oil. The Company is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, and has offices throughout Europe and Asia. Euronav is listed on Euronext Brussels and on the NYSE under the symbol EURN. Euronav employs its fleet both on the spot and period market. VLCCs on the spot market are traded in the Tankers International pool of which Euronav is one of the major partners. Euronav’s owned and operated fleet consists of 56 double hulled vessels being 1 V-Plus vessel, 30 VLCCs, 19 Suezmaxes, four Suezmaxes under construction and two FSO vessels (both owned in 50%-50% joint venture). The Company’s vessels mainly fly Belgian, Greek, French and Marshall Island flags.