United Maritime Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
August 6, 2025

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: In Q2 the company reported $12.5 M net revenues, $5.9 M EBITDA and $1 M net income with a net daily TCE of $15,400, marking a significant sequential improvement.
  • Positive Sentiment: The Board declared a $0.03 per share Q2 cash dividend, bringing total dividends to over $1.6 per share since 2023 in line with its capital return policy.
  • Positive Sentiment: As part of its fleet renewal strategy, the sale of two oldest Capesize vessels generated ~$17.9 M net liquidity and is expected to yield a $1.5 M book profit, with proceeds earmarked for returns and new assets.
  • Positive Sentiment: United Maritime increased its stake in an offshore energy construction vessel to 32%, investing $10.4 M into a niche vessel with limited competition and strong charter prospects.
  • Negative Sentiment: For H1 2025 the company posted $20.2 M net revenues, down $2.8 M YoY, and reported a €3.5 M net loss compared to a €0.7 M loss in H1 2024, reflecting softer TCE rates and one-off charges.
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Earnings Conference Call
United Maritime Q2 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 4 speakers on the call.

Operator

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the United Maritime Corporation Conference Call on the Second Quarter and First Half for the Periods Ended 06/30/2025 Financial Results. We have with us Mr. Stamatis Santanes, Chairman and CEO and Mr. Stavros Giftakis, Chief Financial Officer of United Maritime Please be advised that this conference call is being recorded today, Wednesday, 08/06/2025. The archived webcast of the conference call will soon be made available on the United Maritime website, www.unitedmaritime.gr, under the Investors section.

Operator

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 and first half for the periods ended 06/30/2025 earnings release, which is available on the United Maritime website, again, www.unitedmaritime.gr. I would now like to turn the conference over to one of your speakers today, the Chairman and CEO of the company, Mr. Stamatis Santonis.

Operator

Please go ahead, sir.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. Welcome to the United Maritime Conference Call to discuss our financial results for the second quarter and six month period ended 06/30/2025. In the second quarter, we achieved net revenues of $12,500,000 EBITDA of 5,900,000 and net income of about $1,000,000 Our net daily time charter equivalent of $15,400 marks a significant improvement from the first quarter. A large portion of our net income this quarter is due to the strategic consolidation of our offshore new building investment. We are encouraged by the shift rebound in the dry bulk market following the seasonal slowdown observed early in the year.

Speaker 1

Our ability to capture high rates through a balance between index linked and fixed rate time charters demonstrates the agility and effectiveness of our commercial strategy. At the same time, the continued strength in asset values enabled the strategic divestment of certain of our older vessels at levels that will strengthen our profitability and enhance our liquidity reserves in the coming quarters. Based on the resilience of the drybulk market, the successful disposal of our older vessels, the progress marked in our offshore newbuilding project and our balance sheet position, our Board of Directors has declared a $03 per share cash dividend for the second quarter consistent with our established capital return policy and a clear signal of confidence in our performance and liquidity. This adds to our consistent record of more than $1.6 per share cash dividend payment since 2023, highlighting our commitment to returning capital to the shareholders. As part of our fleet renewal strategy, we have sold two of our oldest Capesize vessels over the last six months.

Speaker 1

The sale of the 2,004 built Glory ship was completed in June for a net price of $15,000,000 We have also agreed to sell the 2,006 build tradership for $17,800,000 with delivery expected in mid August. These two sales are expected to generate approximately $17,900,000 in net liquidity after debt repayments and we anticipate a book profit of about $1,500,000 from the tradership sale in Q3. We are closely monitoring market conditions and expect to deploy the net proceeds from the sales towards a combination of additional capital returns and high quality fleet replacement opportunities. Moving on to our guidance for the third quarter of the year, we have fixed 68% of our operating days at a time charter equivalent of $15,500 per day. Assuming the current FFA rates for the remaining years of the quarter, we project a total third quarter TCE to be approximately $14,700 This includes one Kamsarmax vessel earning a fixed daily rate of $15,700 one Capesize vessel earning $22,000 per day on a gross basis, two vessels employed on short term employment to be concluded within August, And finally, three vessels trading purely on index linked charters until the end of the year.

Speaker 1

For the fourth quarter, we expect to have all of our vessels employed under index linked daily earnings, offering full exposure to what we expect to be a constructive drybulk market. Furthermore, looking beyond our drybulk fleet, in April 2025, we increased United Maritime's ownership stake in our newbuilding energy construction vessel. Our total investment in the project will reach approximately 10,400,000 up from $8,800,000 intended initially. This represents an approximately 32% equity stake in the project and reflects our firm belief in the commercial prospects of this investment. This marks a major step in our offshore investment strategy.

Speaker 1

The vessel is designed for high end energy construction projects, a niche market with almost no new capacity and growing demand across both renewables and oil and gas. The extremely limited order book for such vessels makes us confident in securing attractive chartering opportunities. Given that the construction timeline calls for completion within twenty twenty seven, we anticipate being in a position to provide greater clarity on employment prospects by early twenty twenty six. Industry overview. Let's turn to the dry bulk market.

Speaker 1

Despite macroeconomic uncertainty, we're seeing encouraging signs of recovery and resilience, with charter rates rebounding meaningfully from the lows of early twenty twenty five. More specifically, the Baltic Camsamax Index averaged about 11,800 in the second quarter, up from 9,600 in Q1 twenty twenty five, while spot market rates have since risen further around to $15,000 respectively, the Baltic Capesize Index averaged about $18,600 in the second quarter, up from $13,000 in the first quarter, both significant increases from the first quarter. Turning to the Panamax market, the first half of the year was particularly challenging primarily due to decline in seaborne coal volume. While most other commodities traded roughly in line with expectations, coal was main outlier. Coal seaborne trade declined by 7% impacted by high inventories entering the year and rising domestic production in China and India, which reduced imports demand further.

Speaker 1

However, the coal inventories in China during the course of the first half have declined significantly, while the recent government efforts to curb rapid pace of local coal mining have led to a sharp rebound in domestic coal prices. As the local coal market seems to have shifted to a better supply and demand balance, higher coal prices are expected to incentivize more seaborne imports in the 2025. Since late June, we have seen a resurgence in the Panamax charter rates driven by increased Atlantic Basin grain exports, rising coal activity and higher port congestion. We're confident the bottom of the cycle is behind us. With coal and grain flows recovering, Panamax rates are strengthening and we are positioned to benefit as higher coal price and inventory restocking are likely to lead to higher seaborne volumes.

Speaker 1

With regards to the KHIS market, the weather disruptions that hampered seaborne iron ore trade and in the year have abated leading to record high June iron ore exports from Australia. Although the total amount of seaborne iron ore traded in the first half of the year was marginally at twenty twenty four levels, a significant shift towards Atlantic Basin cargoes supported high Capesize vessel demand and contributed to a resilient market, means more ton miles. Looking towards the second half of the year, all major iron ore miners have reiterated their sales guidance, suggested higher seaborne exports than what we saw in the first six months of the year. China imports are expected to remain strong, driven not just by actual steel production, but mostly by inventory restocking. Bauxite exports from Guinea rose by more than 30% compared to the first six months of twenty twenty four with strong trade volumes expected to continue through year end.

Speaker 1

Moving on to vessel supply outlook, the current Capesize order book remains at historically low levels around 8% to 9% of the existing fleet, while about 20% of the fleet is older than fifteen years. For the total dry bulk fleet, the order book is currently about 10% of the existing fleet with more than 28% of the fleet being older than fifteen years. As environmental regulations are tightening and enforcement intensifies, the two tier market is forming whereby vessels with higher fuel consumption become penalized and may be unable to compete for cargoes on the same terms. New building prices are currently at high levels. Given the prevailing charter rates, the economics of placing new dry bulk orders remain relatively unattractive.

Speaker 1

At the same time, the shipyard slot availability is low as we have seen extensive ordering of other vessel segments. Overall, this represents a situation where low vessel supply growth seems to be fairly predictable over the next years. Against this backdrop, low demand growth combined with potential fleet inefficiency that may reduce effectively supply should lead to higher charter rates. We believe that United is in good position to capitalize on favorable dry bulk balance while our diversification into a rare high specification new building offshore project affords us multiple avenues through which we can produce high returns on capital. What is more, our proven track record of large capital distributions to our shareholders and our ability to achieve all these without having to resort to highly dilutive public share offering makes United Maritime a high conviction platform for investors seeking disciplined capital deployment, income generation and exposure to improving dry bulk and offshore cycles.

Speaker 1

I will now pass the call to Stavros Yiftakis, our CFO, to discuss our financial results. And then back to me for the conclusion.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Samati. Welcome everyone to our earnings call. Let us start by reviewing the main highlights of our financial statements for the second quarter and the six month period ending 06/30/2025. So in the second quarter, our net revenue reached $12,500,000 While this figure is nearly unchanged from the same period last year, it marks a significant improvement over our performance in the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was 5,100,000.0 Net income rose to €1,000,000 up from €700,000 in the prior year.

Speaker 2

This result was largely driven by an accounting gain stemming from the consolidation of the entity investing in the offshore project which attests to the well timed decision to increase our share in the energy construction vessel. Looking at the 2025, our net revenue totaled $20,200,000 which is $2,800,000 lower than the same period last year, deflecting softer time charter equivalent rates. Adjusted EBITDA for the six months was $6,000,000 Net loss for the period was $3,500,000 compared to a net loss of 700,000 in the 2024. On the expense side, we achieved further reductions in our daily operating expense per vessel bringing them down to 6,300 while additionally we managed to lower our total D and A despite ongoing inflationary pressures. Turning to our balance sheet, our cash position at year end stood at EUR 3,400,000.0 reflecting ongoing capital expenditure and the additional investment in the offshore project mentioned earlier.

Speaker 2

Looking ahead, we expect a significant cash inflow in the third quarter following the delivery of the trade ship to new owners with net proceeds estimated at approximately €10,000,000 This sale is a key part of our ongoing strategy to optimize fleet composition. Meanwhile, as of the end of the 2025, our total assets amounted to €161,000,000 while stockholders' equity stood at €60,000,000 Our outstanding debt totaled €86,000,000 including liabilities under bare booting structures or approximately $12,000,000 per vessel. This compares well with the average value of our vessels which stands at approximately $18,400,000 Now regarding financing updates, following the sale of the Glory ship, we prepaid the corresponding trans under the Huarong sale and leaseback agreement amounting to EUR 7,500,000.0 as well as the EUR 2,000,000 short term unsecured bridge loan provided by Synergy. As a reminder, the proceeds of this loan were used to finance the increase in our stake in the offshore project. Before handing the call back to Samathis, I want to emphasize our confidence in the company's ability to return to sustained profitability.

Speaker 2

In our short three year now history, we have undertaken a number of investment initiatives across the tanker, the dry bulk and offshore sectors, which have been funded organically. We have created a solid track record in the capital markets, safeguarding shareholders' equity and have proven our commitment to prioritize and maximize distributions of capital. Mr. Martin, over to you.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Stavro. Following our successful tanker investment cycle that was concluded in Q3 twenty twenty three, which delivered strong returns for our shareholders, We now operate an exclusively Japanese built dry bulk fleet. We're very proud of our progress so far being successful in building a quality fleet with strong prospects without resorting in any dilution of the shareholders that have supported us at our first and only capital raising three years ago. On top of that, since 2023, have paid a total cash dividends of 1.65 per share, representing a very significant portion of our current share price. Additionally, we have engaged in extensive share repurchasing amounting to $7,100,000 at an average price of $1.9 United Maritime is positioned to benefit from positive drybulk market trends due to index linked time charters that provide direct exposure to Capesize and Panamax market upside potential, a healthy balance sheet that allows for leveraged exposure to the sector and the potential for high returns on capital, a proven commitment to rewarding shareholders through substantial capital returns resulting in a high dividend yield.

Speaker 1

Lastly, I'm confident in the prospects of our investment in the offshore sector, which I believe will also generate high returns for our company and shareholders. Thank you very much for listening to our call and looking forward to receiving your questions. Operator, please take the call.

Operator

Thank Our first question is from the line of Tate Sullivan from Maxim Group. Please go ahead.

Speaker 3

Hi, I apologize, because I think I have a bad connection. Could you say your capital commitment for the offshore vessels is about $10,000,000 now after increasing your stake in the project? Would you happen to have cash payments, please?

Speaker 2

Tate. Sorry, I'm your line is breaking up a bit. If I got your question right, you're asking about the remaining installments for the ECB project. So as Thomas highlighted in in his commentary, initially, we had committed to inject around $8,500,000 which we now increased to around $10.5 There's one last payment of $2,000,000 which is due in November. And then basically, we are done with the equity on this project.

Speaker 2

The construction of the ship is starting now. The steel cutting is starting is is is taking place as we speak. So the next installments are gonna be covered by debt.

Speaker 3

I can't hear you. I apologize. Is it the same kind of lending terms for your offshore vessel from lenders? And is it the same lenders or is it different in market for financing for the offshore vessels?

Speaker 2

Yes. We I mean, we are discussing with the partnership, but you should expect similar terms to the ones that we have been able to achieve on our remaining financings in terms of pricing. The advance that we will get there, it depends also on the employment development. But you should expect an advance between 6575% of the contract price.

Speaker 3

Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Tate.

Operator

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. So this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Operator

Speakers, please stand by.

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