LNG

GasLog Ltd., the Greek LNG fleet owner and operator with 33 ships, reported a drop in quarterly earnings while new charter agreements were signed along with a re-financing deal covering 23 carriers in the fleet.

The company’s profits for the fourth quarter more than halved to $31.44 million from $68.70M in the prior-year quarter.

GasLog’s annual profits dropped by around $100M to $196.30M in 2023 from the $297.24M logged in 2022.

The company, whose headquarters are in Hamilton, Bermuda, said adjusted fourth-quarter profits declined to $53.27 million from $75.57M in the same three months of 2022 ,while revenues also fell to $229.94M from $244.84M a year ago.

Charter extension

During the quarter GasLog extended by five years the time-charter agreement of the “GasLog Singapore”, a tri-fuel, diesel-electric (TFDE) LNG carrier, with New York-based New Fortress Energy. The contract is now due to expire in 2030.

In addition, the company’s affiliate, GasLog Partners LP, signed a multi-year time-charter with a major energy exploration company for the “GasLog Santiago”, also a TFDE vessel.

A third charter deal was for the carrier, “Methane Jane Elizabeth”, a steam turbine propulsion ship, and signed with Cheniere Marketing International, a unit of Houston, Texas-based Cheniere Energy. The contract is now due to expire in 2025.

GasLog also signed a new $2.8 billion five-year banking deal in the form of a senior secured revolving credit facility in November 2023.

“Involving 14 international banks, the facility refinanced the outstanding debt of $2.1Bln secured by 23 LNG carriers across both GasLog and GasLog Partners, following the acquisition by GasLog in July 2023 of all the outstanding common units of GasLog Partners,” explained GasLog Ltd.

Refinanced ships

The 23 LNG carriers, comprising 12 GasLog vessels and 11 GasLog Partners ships, include 10 dual-fuel two-stroke engine propulsion (X-DF) carriers, 10 TFDE vessels and three steam-propelled carriers.

“The facility has a five-year tenor, including two one-year extension options and simplifies GasLog’s debt structure, providing incremental available liquidity while reducing interest cost and debt service requirements,” GasLog Ltd added.

The GasLog board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per common share of GasLog to GasLog’s shareholders of record as of February 15, 2024.

At the end of December, GasLog had $221.4M of cash and cash equivalents and an additional amount of $10M of time deposits.

GasLog additionally had $3.1bln of debts outstanding under its credit facilities and bond agreements, of which $107.9M is repayable within one year.

GasLog LNG Partners, with an operational fleet of 12 vessels, reported increased revenues and profits as it proceeded with the merger process with affiliate GasLog Ltd.

The company’s quarterly revenues increased 16 percent to $99.07 million from $85.45m in the same three months of 2022.

Net profits rose 4 percent to $36.37M from $34.98M in the prior-year first quarter.

The Partnership’s market overview and outlook said headline spot rates in the first quarter of 2023 for the most modern vessels fell to an average of about $71,560 per day, a fall of 78 percent compared with the average of the fourth quarter of 2022.

Fall in rates

“This fall in rates is mainly due to the seasonal downturn, high inventories, continuing strong flows from the US to Europe and bearish sentiments. This has been compounded by increased availability of relets,” said the Partnership, citing various sources.

One-year time charter rates for tri-fuel diesel-electric propulsion (TFDE) carriers averaged $155,000 per day in the first quarter of 2023, about 18 percent lower than rates in the fourth quarter of 2022, reflecting the seasonal downturn.

Earnings highlights during the first quarter included the Partnership’s sale and bareboat lease-back of the 155,000 cubic metres capacity TFDE vessel “GasLog Sydney”.

The deal was with a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Development Bank Leasing and with no repurchase option or obligation.

The company said a time-charter agreement for the TFDE carrier “GasLog Geneva with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell was extended by five years after the exercise of their extension option.

The merger transaction with GasLog Ltd is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2023, subject to approval of the holders of a majority of the common units of the Partnership and the satisfaction of certain closing conditions.

GasLog Ltd owns 30.2 percent of the common units of the Partnership and has entered into a support agreement with the Partnership.

“The entering into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with GasLog is a transformative transaction for the Partnership that will enable its unitholders to take advantage of a significant premium to the unit trading price,” said Paolo Enoizi, Chief Executive.

The Partnership’s owned and bareboat fleet comprises the following vessels: “GasLog Sydney”, “GasLog Geneva”, “Methane Rita Andrea”, “Methane Alison Victoria”, “GasLog Gibraltar”, “Solaris”, “GasLog Santiago”, “GasLog Seattle”, “Methane Jane Elizabeth”, “Gaslog Greece”, “GasLog Glasgow” and “Methane Becki Anne”.

April 7 (LNGJ) - GasLog Ltd and GasLog Partners LP have entered into a definitive merger agreement with GasLog acquiring all the outstanding common units of the Partnership. GasLog is also acquiring the common units of the Partnership not already owned by GasLog for $8.65 in cash per common unit. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2023.

   GasLog’s current consolidated fleet consists of 38 LNG carriers with 33 on the water, four under construction and one vessel undergoing conversion into a floating storage and regasification unit. Of these vessels, 18 are owned by GasLog, six have been sold and leased back by GasLog under long-term bareboat charters and of the remaining 14 LNG carriers, 11 are owned by GasLog Partners with three sold and leased back by the Partnership.

GasLog Ltd, the operator of a fleet of 27 vessels along with affiliate GasLog Partners, posted a more than 78 percent surge in annual profits as global energy shipping activities intensified and charter options were extended.

GasLog LNG Partners with an operational fleet of 12 vessels reported annual profit of $119 million on revenues of $379M amid a strong charter market with signs pointing to very positive prospects for the rest of 2023.

GasLog, the LNG shipping company with a fleet of 34 carriers in the Group, benefited from the vibrant spot charter market during the third quarter to increase revenues and profits and signed new time charter agreements.

GasLog, the Greek LNG shipping company, is expanding its fleet by ordering four newbuild 174,000 cubic metres-capacity for delivery in 2024 and 2025.

GasLog Ltd is ordering the vessels from South Korea shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

The four newbuilds will have latest generation M-type Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection (MEGI) propulsion system.

GasLog completed a merger in June 2021 with BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power Infrastructure division and de-listed its common shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

The GasLog’s ownership structure has three main shareholders in both companies, parent GasLog Ltd and subsidiary GasLog Partners LP.

They are the Greek Livanos family with 55 percent, the Monaco-based Onassis Foundation with 12 percent and BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power infrastructure fund (GEPIF), holder of 45 percent of the equity.

GasLog Ltd, whose Chairman remains Peter G. Livanos, has an LNG fleet comprising 20 vessels, 12 dual-fuel, seven tri-fuel, diesel electric (TFDE) and one steam-turbine carrier.

GasLog Ltd subsidiary, GasLog Partners LP and whose Chief Executive since August 2021 has been Paolo Enoizi, owns 15 LNG carriers, including 10 tri-fuel-diesel-electric (TFDE) ships and five steam-turbine vessels.

GasLog Partners in November 2021 reported a third-quarter increase in revenues and profits as global demand gathered pace.

The partnership said income jumped 11 percent to $80.53M from $72.8M in the same quarter to the end of September in 2020.

At the end of October GasLog Partners said it completed the sale and lease-back of the “GasLog Shanghai”, with 155,000 cubic metres capacity, to China Development Bank Leasing.

GasLog noted that headline spot rates in the third quarter benefited from LNG demand growth from Asia as well as longer than average wait times at the Panama Canal.

GasLog Ltd, the operator of a fleet of 35 LNG carriers, has completed its merger transaction with the infrastructure unit of the giant US asset management firm BlackRock and the company has now been taken private.

Höegh LNG Holdings, the floating terminal projects company with 12 vessels and contracts for China and India, has been acquired in a takeover by Norwegian interests and a unit of US investment bank Morgan Stanley after a vote by shareholders held in Bermuda.

GasLog Ltd, the Greek LNG fleet owner with 35 carriers split with its US affiliate GasLog Partners, reported an increase in third-quarter profits of more than 13 percent as overall revenues slipped because of the expiry of several charters, offset by new agreements in US and UK.