Safe Bulkers, Inc. Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Safe Bulkers conference call on the second quarter 2026 financial results. We have with us Mr. Polys Hajioannou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Loukas Barmparis, President, Mr. Konstantinos Adamopoulos, Chief Financial Officer of the company, and Ioannis Foteinos, Chief Operating Officer. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question and answer session, at which time, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. Following this conference call, if you need any further information on the conference call or the presentation, please contact Capital Link at 212-661-7566. I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today.

The archived webcast of the conference call will soon be made available on the Safe Bulkers website, www.safebulkers.com. Many of the remarks today contain forward-looking statements based on current expectations. Actual results may differ materially from the results projected from those forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that can cause the actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the second quarter 2026 earnings release, which is available on the Safe Bulkers website. Again, www.safebulkers.com. I would now like to turn the conference call over to one of your speakers today, Dr. Loukas Barmparis, President. Please go ahead, sir. Good morning to all.

I'm Loukas Barmparis, President of Safe Bulkers, and I'm welcoming you at our quarterly and half-year results. In line with our financial performance in the second quarter of 2026, which was supported by a relatively strong charter market, we increased our quarterly dividend for a second consecutive quarter to $0.075 per share. The basic components of our policies, which include a strong balance sheet, liquidity and capital resources, conservative leverage and fleet renewal with new builds replacing older tonnage, reflect our ability to operate a continuously upgraded modern fleet with improved competitive characteristics. This means we have the financial resources to invest when required and also reward our shareholders. Following a comprehensive review of the forward-looking statements language presented in slide two, we will start our presentation with dry bulk fundamentals. Let's proceed to examine the supply side dynamics in slide four.

We present two scenarios of ship supply growth with Straits of Hormuz closed and Straits of Hormuz open. The order book now stands at about 13% of the fleet. The forecast for dry bulk supply as per BIMCO is to grow by 2% in 2026 in open states versus about 1% growth if the states are closed. For reference, about 1% of dry bulk capacity is currently within the Persian Gulf. Asset prices remain elevated in line with the current trade market. Currently, about 10% of ship capacity in the dry bulk order book will be able to use alternative fuels upon delivery. The dual-fuel order book remains small in the dry bulk segment. It is important to note that 30% of the dry bulk fleet is above 15 years old, which means these vessels will face increased repairs and maintenance expenses.

The increasing age of a vessel, above 10 years especially, is also related to additional inspection, restrictions, and associated costs. Let me point out in our total order book of 24 Phase III vessels placed since 2021, we have two dual-fuel newbuilds on order with delivery the first quarter of 2027, able to operate with fossil fuels until alternative fuels become available and economically viable. Hedging for the future cargo intensity related to environmental schemes. Safe Bulkers fleet now counts 14 Phase III vessels on the water, all delivered from 2022 onwards. Our average fleet age of 10.3 years is approximately two years younger than the global fleet average of 12.5 years, strengthening our competitive position in terms of operational performance and fuel consumption. Moving on to slide five, we present an overview of demand and basic dry bulk commodities trade.

The global GDP growth expectations for 2026 and 2027, as reflected in the IMF's forecast, call for a growth of about 3% in the coming years, accompanied by persistent inflationary pressures. BIMCO forecasts a global dry bulk demand growth of about 3% in 2026. On the open trade scenario, cargo volumes are projected to expand about by 2% in 2026. Iron ore demand expected to grow up to 3% in 2026 in open Hormuz scenario. However, increased Chinese inventories may soften import demand in the second half of 2026. Coal shipments were projected to decline by 1%-2% in 2026. Thermal coal trade seems weakening. Coking coal remains relatively resilient. However, the closed Hormuz has reversed short-term difficult trends, and Chinese imports have significantly supported the trade. Grains remain a strong-performing major bulk, with shipments estimated to grow about 5% in 2026 in the open Hormuz scenario.

Stronger harvests in the U.S., EU, Argentina, Russia, and Brazil underpin supply. However, China's policy pushed toward greater self-sufficiency and reduced soy meal usage presents a down risk. Minor bulk growth in an open Hormuz scenario is expected to be quite strong for the rest of 2026. Our energy transition-related ores remain supportive. Fertilizer demand continues to be a key factor, affected also by the Hormuz closing. As China remains the central swing factor for dry bulk, its broader economy's strong exports offset weak domestic demand, still being affected by property sector crisis and manufacturing overcapacity. Its GDP is forecasted to grow by 4.4% in 2026. The trade tensions between the U.S. and China, although truce has been reached, remain a key source of global economic uncertainty. India, with a forecasted 6.5% GDP increase in 2026, continues to perform and is projected to experience the fastest growth among major economies.

Its expanding domestic market, with infrastructure investments playing a vital role in the manufacturing sector, continue to contribute positively to the dry bulk demand. Japan's transition from prolonged deflation to sustainable growth includes a targeted fiscal stimulus and public investment to boost demand and sustain economic momentum. Summing up the supply-demand equilibrium in slide six, in the open Hormuz scenario, the supply growth is expected to be 2% versus demand growth of 3% for 2026. The freight market has shown strength during the first half of 2026 and continues to be healthy to date, with Cape spot at about $38,000 and Kamsarmax spot at about $18,000. In relation to our Capesize class vessels, all seven were chartered under period time charters, with an average remaining charter duration of 1.7 years with an average daily charter hire of $24.6000, topping $105 million in contracted revenue backlog from Capes alone.

Moving to our company section now in slide eight, we always make reference to our track record. Safe Bulkers relies on experience built through many market cycles of uninterrupted presence in the dry bulk sector, with a full alignment of interest with public shareholders through management's ownership. We are a pure play dry bulk shipping company providing worldwide seaborne transportation of major bulks, iron ore, coal, and grain, and minor bulks for some of the world's largest charters. We have consistent fleet growth since our IPO, and as shown in slide nine, for the last five years, we have taken delivery of 14 Phase III newbuilds, bringing our fleet size to 46 vessels. Key points are the extensive fleet growth plan of 10 more newbuilds on order until 2029 and a young, modern fleet of 10.3 years average age while maintaining age stability through the fleet renewal program.

Our net debt per vessel stands comfortably at $8 million per vessel. Let's focus now on our operational advantage, as shown in slide 10. On the top graph, we present our daily time charter equivalent rate, which has been improving versus our daily operating expenses, which have been in the region of $5.5 thousand to $6.5 thousand. The variability is mainly due to the dry dockings, which are expensed as incurred. This is a result of our hands-on management and of our focus on constant improvement in our operations for our world-class clients, testament of which was the successful completion of designated owners and operators audit process related to DryBMS, which is an advanced monitoring system required by specific charters. Safe Bulkers was among the very few companies worldwide to have reached this level of operational standard of excellence, being the first in Greece and the sixth globally.

At the same time, during the last five years, we have 26 vessels which have undergone environmental upgrades and 11 vessels being Eco, incorporating superior fuel efficiency characteristics. Through fleet renewal and environmental upgrades, we have achieved a 22% reduction in our fleet's carbon intensity as a result of improved fuel efficiency, which influences our financial results. Key points is our CII rating of zero vessels on the rating E category, which would require additional CapEx. As reflected in slide 11, we have been consistent in our asset strategy. Noting that the price and the specification for a vessel are substantially agreed some months prior to the contract signing. Which is shown as green boxes in the figure, we can conclude about the timing of placing the orders.

The majority of orders have been done early in the cycle at favorable prices. Newbuilds were delivered to us timely for the upside of the market. Furthermore, we sold all the tonnages, red boxes, and acquired a few younger second-hand vessels, gradually renewing our fleet ahead of high charter market. As a result, Safe Bulkers today is a fundamentally better position company than five years ago, moving ahead of peers, increasing its resiliency in accordance with our business model. We have built a resilient company, as seen in slide 12, with a comfortable leverage ratio standing at 30% as of quarter end, backed by $143 million in total cash and cash equivalents, bank deposits, and restricted cash, and $200 million available under revolving credit facilities totaling a significant firepower of $343 million.

Our capital allocation framework, reflected in Slide 13, is comfortably balancing our CapEx of $277 million against our additional borrowing capacity of over $200 million and our contracted backlog of $154 million, which we have already paid $92 million for the newbuild CapEx. Moving on to our debt profile and financial health as presented in Slide 14, we stand strong with a total liquidity, capital resources, and revenue backlog just shy of $500 million for a $519 million debt, including our unsecured EUR 100 million loan. Our revenue generation, as seen in Slide 15, is reflected in our robust $169 million in revenues for the first half of 2026, being a foundation for our strategic fleet growth plans and fleet modernization initiatives. Let's focus on the reward for our shareholders as we move to Slide 16.

We have declared our 19th consecutive quarterly dividend and increased it to $0.075, representing a healthy 4% dividend yield at current share levels. We do have an active 10 million share repurchase program. The returns to shareholders include $101 million paid in common dividends and $78 million paid in common share repurchases since 2022, reflecting our consistency in generating sustainable returns across market fluctuations because of our track record, financial management approach, and our resilient business model. Concluding the company's update in Slide 17, our board has decided to reward our shareholders in line with our financial performance in the second quarter of 2026, which was supported by a relatively strong charter market by increasing our quarterly dividend since last quarter to $0.075 per share.

We are consistently and consecutively paying dividends during the last 19 quarters. It is important to note that while we improved the rewarding scheme for our shareholders, we continue, as we also did in the past, to direct a substantial portion of our cash flows to our newbuild program, which is the basis of our operational competitiveness. I now pass the floor to our CFO, Konstantinos Adamopoulos, for our quarterly financial review. Konstantinos, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Loukas. Good morning to everyone. During the second quarter of 2026, we operated in an improved charter market environment compared to the same period in 2025, with increased revenues due to higher charter hires and increased earnings from strong bare feeder vessels. On Slide 19, we show our quarterly financial highlights for the second quarter of 2026 compared to the same period of 2025. Our adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2026 stood at $50.3 million compared to $25.5 million for the same period in 2025. Our adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter of 2026 was $0.28, calculated on a weighted average number of 101.8 million shares, compared to $0.01 during the same period in 2025, calculated on a weighted average number of 102.5 million shares.

In the graph on the top of the table, during the second quarter of 2026, we operated 45.13 vessels on average, earning an average time charter equivalent of $20,642 compared to 46.75 vessels on average, earning an average time charter equivalent of $14,875 during the same period in 2025. Our daily vessel operating expenses decreased by 6% to $6,207 for the second quarter of 2026 compared to $6,607 for the same period in 2025. Daily running expenses, excluding dry docking and crew delivery expenses, decreased by 3% to $5,455 for the second quarter of 2026, compared to $5,604 for the same period in 2025. Slide 20 shows a quick overview of our quarterly operating highlights for the second quarter and the first half of 2026. Compared to the same period of 2025.

Let's continue to slide 21, where we present our balance sheet analysis, noting that assets are presented in their book value. The company maintains a healthy balance sheet supported by a robust equity base and conservative leverage levels. Our capital structure positions the company for sustainable long-term growth and resilience. Strong liquidity and ample cash reserves provide significant financial flexibility to navigate market volatility. Let's focus now a bit on our liquidity, our cash flows, and our capital structure as presented on slide 2022. We are maintaining a comfortable leverage of 30%. Our debt remains comparable to our fleet scrap value, although our fleet is just 10.3 years old. Our weighted average interest rate of our debt stood at 5.10% for our consolidated debt, with a portion of EUR 100 million being fixed at 2.95% coupon.

We have paid a considerable part of our CapEx in relation to our standing order book. Our liquidity and capital resources stand strong at approximately $343 million, which together with the contracted revenue of about $154 million from our vessels, is under $500 million, and this is more than adequate for our standing CapEx. It provides flexibility to our management in capital allocation. Furthermore, we have additional borrowing capacity in relation to our nine new builds upon their delivery. We are sure that our capital expenditure is adequately covered by our contracted future revenues, fortifying our balance sheet towards a trajectory of sustainable growth. This underscores our capacity to support debt service, reinvestment, and shareholder returns at the same time. This enables us to expand the fleet, build a resilient company, and create long-term prosperity for our shareholders.

Thank you for your attention. We are ready for the Q&A session.

We'll now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question is from Peter Nelson with Citigroup. Hello, Peter. Is your line on mute?

We don't hear you. Hello, do you hear us?

Hello, Peter, is your line on mute?

We don't hear. Thank you.

At this time, there are no questions coming through. I'd like to hand the floor back over to management for any closing remarks.

Thank you very much for attending our half-year results. We're looking forward to discuss again with you the following quarter.