Okeanis Eco Tankers Q1 2026 Earnings Report

Okeanis Eco Tankers EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $2.33
• Consensus EPS: $1.74
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.59
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Okeanis Eco Tankers Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $170.17 million
• Expected Revenue: $134.02 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$36.15 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Okeanis Eco Tankers Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2026
• Date: 5/13/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, May 14, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 8:30AM ET

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) is a Marshall Islands–incorporated, publicly traded shipping company specializing in the ownership and operation of eco-design product tankers. The company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “ECO” in May 2019 following an initial public offering. It focuses on the acquisition of newbuilding medium-range (MR) and long-range (LR) product tankers designed to deliver enhanced fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

As of its public listing, Okeanis Eco Tankers’ fleet comprises twelve eco-efficient vessels built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in South Korea. Each vessel features optimized hull designs, energy-saving devices and Tier III-compliant engines that meet stringent international environmental standards. The company’s tankers are outfitted with ballast water treatment systems and slow-steaming capabilities, enabling them to transport refined petroleum products—including gasoline, diesel, naphtha and jet fuel—while minimizing their carbon footprint.

Okeanis Eco Tankers serves a global customer base across major shipping lanes in Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. The company’s technical management is provided by industry-leading marine operators, while its in-house commercial team negotiates time charters and voyage contracts with refiners and energy trading firms. Okeanis Eco Tankers is governed by an experienced board of directors composed of maritime, finance and business veterans who oversee its commitment to operational excellence and environmental sustainability.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Okeanis Eco Tankers reported a record Q1 2026, with fleet-wide TCE of about $93,000 per day, adjusted EBITDA of $110 million, adjusted net profit of $89 million, and adjusted EPS of $2.33.
• Positive Sentiment: The board declared a $2.00 per share dividend, the 16th consecutive quarterly payout and the highest quarterly dividend in the company’s history, underscoring its continued commitment to returning capital to shareholders.
• Positive Sentiment: Management said Q2 bookings are exceptionally strong and suggested Q1 plus Q2 combined could surpass any prior full-year earnings, helped by the ongoing tightening in tanker supply and unusually high spot rates.
• Positive Sentiment: The company completed or announced several low-cost refinancings and new vessel financings, cutting borrowing costs to below 2% on all loans and expecting the full benefit to flow through starting in Q3.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management remained focused on the impact of the Strait of Hormuz disruption, saying it has removed a large amount of VLCC supply and continues to support rates, while also noting the fleet will stay balanced between capturing upside and preserving exposure if the route reopens.

Presentation

[Operator]

Welcome to OET's First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Presentation. We will begin shortly. Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO, and Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO of Okeanis Eco Tankers, will take you through the presentation. We will be pleased to address any questions raised at the end of the call. Matters that are forward-looking in nature will be discussed, and actual results may differ from the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements. Please read through the relevant disclaimer on slide two. I would like to advise you that the session is being recorded. Aristidis will begin the presentation now.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Thank you for taking the time to join our Q1 2026 call. Q1 was a record quarter for our company, and Q1 plus Q2 combined will be stronger than any previous year in our company's history. In fact, the potential distributions tied to this half year are approaching our original listing price in 2018. It definitely was and is an exciting, stressful, challenging, and demanding quarter. This cumulative pressure surely overshadowed the pleasure of earning so much for our shareholders, which is regrettable. Q1 began with a sell-off in freight into mid-January, where the market turned by the continued exquisite fundamentals, Venezuela reopening, India diversifying imports, and most importantly, the extremely rapid consolidation of the VLCC market by Sinokor Aponte Joint Venture.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

This strength continued until February 28th, where the war in Iran began and set off a two, three, four-week period of unprecedented strength in the tanker market overall. Following this explosive and unbelievable period, the market found a balance at extremely elevated rates, where the loss of cargoes from Hormuz closure is offset by ton-miles, inefficiencies, vessels trapped inside, and vessels outside waiting for the Hormuz to reopen. Earlier this week, there were over 55 VLCCs in ballast waiting outside the high-risk area for a potential reopening. This doesn't include vessels waiting around Sri Lanka, off India, Singapore, and the Sinokor fleet. Values and time charter rates have also seen consistent and profound strengthening throughout the quarter. We're in a period of record income. The anchoring bias on values, freight, time charteration to 20 years ago doesn't hold anymore. The market needs to recognize this.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

What is the natural ceiling where rates and values can go? Internally at OET and looking at Q2, one of our greatest challenges going forward is keeping tonnage available for the immediate exposure to a Hormuz reopening while optimizing our performance. I hand you over to Iraklis to go through the financials.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Thanks, Aristidis. Let's have a look at this record quarter. We achieved fleet-wide time charter equivalent of about $93,000 per vessel per day. That's $106,000 per day on our spot and $104,000 on all operating VLCC days, and $82,000 on our Suezmax operating days, all being spot. We report adjusted EBITDA of $110 million, adjusted net profit of $89 million, and adjusted EPS of $2.33. This is based on our average share count for the quarter. Our board declared the 16th consecutive quarterly dividend of $2 per share. This represents 88% of our reported net income, i.e., on our current, fully diluted share count post our January equity transaction.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

This is the highest quarterly dividend amount since the company's inception, although I assume everyone's already modeling our second quarter. Over the last four quarters, we have distributed $5 per share or 96% of our reported net income for the period. In January, we executed another successful and accretive equity raise of $130 million in gross proceeds. Since our IPO in Oslo, we have distributed approximately 2.5x our initial market cap, with over $550 million paid in dividends. Since we have had a fully delivered fleet in 2022, we have paid out 91% of our reported net income, clearly demonstrating our commitment to distributing value for our shareholders. Slide six, we show the detail of our income statement for the quarter.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

TC revenues stood at $132.2 million. $32.2 million. At quarter end, we had $176.5 million of cash. That included a portion of the equity earmarked for the acquisition of the Nissos Tigani and Nissos Vous. We also had almost $80 million in trade receivables. Our restricted cash figure as of March 31st includes an amount of $45 million we have deposited on short-term against one of our loan facilities, which has the feature that it reduces the interest paid to just 0.5% all in. On a net basis, providing a better return than what we can achieve under our time deposit rates. We may roll forward such cash characterized as restricted or a different amount on a short-term basis, depending on our cash flow needs and applicable rates.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Our balance sheet debt was $683 million. Our book leverage stands at 41%, while our market-adjusted net NAV based on latest broker values and pro forma for the acquisitions and recent transactions is now just over 30%. On slide eight, looking at our fleets, I'm pleased to show the addition of our most recently acquired modern and high-spec vessels. We have a total of 16 vessels on the water, eight Suezmaxes and eight VLCCs, with an average age of only six years, which will further improve once we get delivery shortly of the Nissos Tigani and Nissos Vous currently under construction in South Korea. As a reminder, from a maintenance CapEx perspective, our only drydock for 2026 is that of the Milos 10-year survey. Slide nine, moving on to our capital structure.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

This is a quarterly update that I have been personally looking forward to for a while. We recently announced three new financings for four vessels as follows. We purchased back from its sale and leaseback and refinanced the Nissos Rhenia with a new $50 million bank loan maturing in seven years, priced at SOFR plus 125 basis points. This transaction closed last week. We will purchase back from its sale and leaseback and refinance the Nissos Despotiko with another $50 million bank loan maturing in nine years, priced at SOFR plus 130 basis points. This transaction is expected to close in early June. We have also signed a $90 million bank loan for the Nissos Tigani and Nissos Vous maturing in eight years, priced at SOFR plus 120 basis points.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

The Tigani will close in couple weeks, and the Vous in early July. We have taken advantage of the very competitive financing market and our financiers' appetite to transact with us. Our most recent transactions have demonstrated the relationships and track record we have developed in two key banking markets for us, in Greece and in Taiwan. We now have staggered maturities all the way through 2035, extremely attractive pricing, and we have finally put behind us all our legacy sale and leasebacks. On slide 10, we look at our pricing on a vessel by vessel. All our loans are now priced below 2% with a weighted average margin of 1.47%. That's an improvement of more than 200 basis points compared to where we were prior to the LIBOR to SOFR transition in mid-2023.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

On a consolidated debt of over $750 million, that's pro forma for the upcoming drawdowns, that's an impact of more than $15 million a year straight into the bottom line. quarter-on-quarter for a while, we have been seeing the material improvement into our interest expense, and starting in Q3 of this year, when all this will have concluded, we expect to see the full effect. We are extremely happy with where we are today, but of course, by nature, we continuously monitor the market for opportunities that may further optimize our structure, trying to improve one or all aspects of our debt structure, whether it's pricing, tenure, amortization profile, or other terms that might add flexibility and agility. I will now turn it back to Aristidis for the commercial and market update.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Thank you, Iraklis, and great job on the refis. Now, as I said during the intro, Q1 was a record quarter for the company. Amazing fundamentals, Venezuela reopening, the consolidation of the VLCC market, and likely the biggest shock to oil trading in the past 50 years all converged in the same three months. We concluded fixings in Q1, mostly realized in Q2, that we could never have previously fathomed. Absolutely remarkable. Fleet-wide TCE came in at $93,100 per day, with $106,400 on our spot VLCCs and $81,600 on the Suezmaxes, and we achieved perfect utilization across the fleet. One commercial mistake I want to flag was fixing the Nissos Nikouria for one year at a net rate of $90,000 per day. With hindsight, the market gave us much more. Spot market, that is.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Separately, the Nissos Keros is currently stuck inside the AG, we have an additional line for her on the table. She is being compensated on a commercially agreed rate while she waits to get out. We took delivery of the Nissos Piperi and Nissos Serifopoula also in this quarter. The market was so firm that we were able to fix cargoes from West Africa on our first voyages and get them into our trading patterns. The ballast voyage from Korea to West Africa was far longer than the laden, which did net-negatively impact our Suezmax earnings. On the Suezmaxes, we focused on trading the ships in the Atlantic Basin. We did not fix any vessels into the East and kept the voyages shorter while focusing on optimization in our preferred trades.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

On the VLCCs, early in the quarter, we committed to longer voyages to lock in higher earnings, balancing with some shorter voyages in the east to keep our fixing exposure intact within the quarter. The strategy is what ultimately led to poor Keros being trapped inside the Hormuz, but the same strategy is what set up the Q2 numbers. Comparing our Q1 against the peers who have already reported, we are at 28%, 28.5% higher on our VLCCs and 20% higher on our Suezmaxes. Looking at our guidance for Q2, I believe it is likely that our Q2 earnings will be larger than any previous year's annual earnings. Whether that holds up on Q2 alone or not, Q1 and Q2 certainly combined will be.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

As of today, 56% of our available VLCC spot days are fixed at $223,900 per day, and 60% of our Suezmax days at $187,300 per day, giving us a fleet-wide average of about $202,900 per day on the fixed portion, roughly half of the quarter. Comparing Q2 against our peers who have reported earnings, we are about 45% higher on our VLCCs and 24% higher on our Suezmaxes. We were in the lucky position of having significant exposure right around the spike in mid-March for voyages that were affected in Q2. We're able to fix two ships to load in Yanbu at huge rates, and we fixed the Nissos Despotiko on a long-haul voyage right at the top of the market.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

On the Suezmax side, the shorter trading pattern allowed us to do multiple runs into a rapidly appreciating market. Some of the fixtures concluded those weeks were frankly unbelievable. One additional Suezmax new building, the Nissos Tigani, is scheduled for delivery during the quarter, which will further reinforce our exposure and give us exposure to a potential Hormuz reopening later this quarter. Moving on to Slide 14. We reuse this slide every quarter, and I'm very proud of it, almost as proud as Iraklis is of his refinancing slide. We had a gain quarter-over-quarter of over $25 million just on our commercial outperformance. I hope an analyst or TradeWinds picks this up. If our fleet earned the average of our peers who have reported in Q1, our EPS would be over $0.65 less.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Since Q4 2019, we have generated approximately $256 million of cumulative outperformance versus our peers. On Slide 15, I take two things away from this chart. Firstly, we've had consistently elevated earnings going back to September of last year. That underpins the fundamental strength of the current market, a strength that predates the geopolitical shock and is only amplified by it. Secondly, the consistent strength of the market following the loss of the AG bbl. The message of this chart is that the disruption created the spike, but the underlying market has held the level. To frame the scale of this, roughly 14.9 MMbpd of crude exports and around 35% of global crude ton-miles normally transit the Hormuz. This is the largest single choke point shock the tanker market has ever absorbed.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

The well-known effects are visible on this page, extended ton-miles, vessels trapped inside the AG, and the redirection of Saudi and UAE volumes from Yanbu and the Sea of Oman, which has been the single biggest mitigating factor since the closure. I wanna highlight one other factor that I think is underappreciated by the market, the number of VLCCs waiting outside the AG for a potential reopening. Earlier this week, we counted 55 VLCCs in ballast sitting outside the high-risk area hoping for the reopening. The figure does not include, as I mentioned earlier, vessels positioned further afield by Sri Lanka, off India, Singapore or the Sinokor fleet. When you put it all together, 63 laden VLCCs trapped inside the AG, over 55 waiting outside of the AG, and roughly 36 holding at Yanbu. This is 155 VLCCs effectively removed from spot supply.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

On a global VLCC fleet of 920 vessels, that is approximately 17% of the worldwide fleet either trapped or waiting. If we assume the compliant fleet is around 700 vessels, and this is what affects us, that jumps to 22%. That is a massive restriction on compliant supply and is very supportive of rate. One more dynamic to note. In recent weeks previously, we have seen reduced interest from Asian buyers for Atlantic bbl, which in my view reflects an expectation of the Hormuz reopening. The longer that reopening is delayed, the more those Asian buyers will be forced back into the market from the Atlantic, which we are seeing this week, which would tighten supply further and push rates higher again. Looking forward, on Slide 17, we lay out three scenarios we see for how this resolves.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

I want to be clear upfront, we do not take a view on the macro conditions to deteriorate. Our scenarios are about the shape of the Hormuz outcome and not about the demand side. All three paths are supportive to tankers. What changes between them is the timing, the shape, and the duration of this strength. Before I walk through them, the key number to anchor is that the pre-destruction Hormuz exports were around 14.9 MMbpd. The total pipeline rerouting capacity is only around 7.4 MMbpd. That leaves a structural shortfall of about 7.5 MMbpd, which we can only clear via long-haul ton-mile by sea. That gap is what underwrites the demand backdrop in every scenario. Scenario one, continued closure. Pipeline reroutings stay maxed out. Asian inventories continue to drain.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Western barrels reroute to Asia. The trapped tonnage inside the AG persists. The result is long-haul ton miles maximized and the compliant fleet supply structurally constrained. The only meaningful risk in this path is demand destruction if it drags along for too long. Scenario two, partial reopening. Iraqi exports ramp up. There's roughly 3.1 MMbpd of capacity that could come back relatively quickly. Floating storage gradually releases the market. The Yanbu and Fujairah reroutings continue at capacity. There are less Western barrels flowing east. Vessels repositioning will affect supply due to vessel repositioning. The whole scenario depends on transit normalization holding. Scenario three, full reopening. Middle East exports normalize over, let's say, about 3 months. Importantly, that is the same dynamic we saw with Venezuela.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Any national oil company-linked sanctioned tonnage might find its way back, but the broader fleet stays isolated. On top of that, you would see Asian and SPR restocking demand coming through. There is initial spike as oil storage drains and restocking provides a ton-mile tail and supportive demand, and returning supply moderates rates over the medium term, supportive. We assume that cargoes will only be lifted on conventional vessels. On slide 18, beyond the Hormuz dynamic and directly linked to the current situation is another structural tailwind sitting in plain sight, inventories. OECD commercial inventories have been drawing and are sitting well below the five-year range, as you see on the right-hand side of the graph. To this, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Inventory builds translate directly into tanker demand, which we read as positive.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Slide 19, the order book, a topic that is starting to become relevant. It wasn't a few quarters ago. Yes, the order book is up. VLCCs stand at 27.5% of the fleet. Suezmaxes are at 28.5%. About 3.3 percentage points of the Suezmax number is shuttle tankers. On the face of it, that is a large number. I understand the reflex. There is an old saying in shipping that given enough time in a good market, owners will find a way to shoot themselves in the foot by over-ordering. I will be first to admit, historically, the saying has not been wrong. I would argue this cycle is slightly different. The reason is on the right-hand side of the page. It is supported by the next page as well, where we dive a little bit deeper into the actual numbers.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Even today, in 2026, 48% of the global VLCC fleet is over the age of 15, 22% is over 20. By 2030, those numbers grow to 61% over 15 and 41% over 20. The Suezmax picture is essentially the same. If you also add the shadow or dark fleet, which sits within the high rate bracket of the, of the above, we know for certainty that most of the vessels will never come back. When you take those vessels out of the supply equation altogether, and we should, because they're not competing for the same cargoes as we are, the compliance supply picture gets meaningfully tighter. Yes, the order book is up, but the aging fleet plus the dark fleet isolation gives you, in my view, a structurally tight compliant market for the next couple of years.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

The numbers on the next slide make this clear. Slide 20 takes the point I just made and puts it into absolute numbers, which I think is the cleanest way to see it. On the VLCCs, fleet of 919 vessels today, order book of 250. By 2028, cumulative deliveries, including what has already arrived year to date, gets you to 184 vessels. Over the same period, 265 vessels will be over 15 years old, while 124 will be over 20 and 90 will be over 25. By 2030, you have 250 cumulative deliveries against 375 vessels over 15 and 180 20+. Put simply, 250 deliveries chasing a retirement queue of 375 ships.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

The order book doesn't cap the aging fleet. On the Suezmax, the same story. By 2030, 204 deliveries against 274 vessels over the age of 20. That is the structural tightness I was describing about in the previous slide in absolute numbers. To tie the above all together, on the demand side, we have the Hormuz ton-mile reset, inventory restocking ahead, plus all the fundamentals that existed prior to the Hormuz situation. On the supply side, we have a record order book that still does not capture a wave of vessels reaching the end of their useful life. Both sides of the equation point towards the right. I'll pass it to the moderator for the Q&A.

[Operator]

We will now take questions. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. That is star one on a telephone keypad to raise your hands. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Kristoffer Skeie with Arctic Securities. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

[Kristoffer Skeie, Analyst at Arctic Securities]

Hello, guys. Thank you for taking my question and congrats on a record Q2 bookings. Really impressive. It has been quite wise to keep the fleet open, what we see now is the term rates are sort of creeping back up again now. We see one year TC on VLCCs around $120. My question now is more on commercial strategy. Would you be keen to have more coverage, given that you targeted quite right in 2020 would be interesting to get your take on it?

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Hi, Kristoffer. Thank you for your question. Look, I mean, we even mentioned on the call the mistake of fixing the Nissos Nikouria on the $90,000 per year. I think at this point, the time charter market isn't that interesting for us, and especially given the reopening of the Hormuz and how aggressively the rates can go up in that case, it will probably just one voyage at those rates, you know, it will outperform even in a moderated spot environment afterwards, any one year time charter. Just to add some more color to your question, we're also seeing significant increase in longer-term charter rates on all sizes, and I think the VLCC market for three years should be closer to the $70,000 mark.

[Kristoffer Skeie, Analyst at Arctic Securities]

Great. Okay. Thanks. I am back.

[Operator]

The next question comes in the line of Liam Burke with B. Riley Securities. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Yes. Thank you. Can we go back to your scenario three of a post, Strait of Hormuz opening? Would you anticipate in, whenever more normal times occur, that there'd be more demand out of the Atlantic because buyers of crude would like to diversify away from the Mid East? What would that mean for the demand on the Suezmax side?

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Sorry, Liam, can you repeat your question? It came in a bit muffled.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Okay, sure. Post at scenario three you discussed a scenario where the Strait of Hormuz is completely reopened. What I was asking was, is there a situation where buyers of crude would wanna diversify away from the Mid East, even with an open strait, and buy more out of the Atlantic, and what that would mean for the Suezmax understanding the low order book relative to the age of the fleet?

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Thank you, Liam. I got the question now.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Thank you.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

It's a good question. I think the We've also speaking to some refiners and charters, and reading news in the media, it's obvious that some of the Asian countries that have a very high reliance on AG crude will need to diversify going forwards. Like for example, the Japanese have 90% of their crude imports from AG. That will have to meaningfully come down, and it may come from imports from West Africa or Brazil or the U.S. Gulf. I think at the beginning at least of the Hormuz reopening, everyone will buy whatever crude they can get their hands on. As we move into more the medium term where there's like more strategic and medium term approach towards buying crude, they're gonna start diversifying their purchases.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

In terms of the Suezmaxes, all this reopening and this diversification of crude purchases for strategic geopolitical reasons create inefficiencies. The Suezmax is often a very versatile vessel that does well when the market is inefficient. There's trading patterns that, you know, are less accustomed to and people need options and there's different ports. I think that generally on a relative basis over the past five years, we've been able to outperform on the VLCCs and our Suezmaxes. I do think that the Suezmaxes will still be very strong assets going forwards compared to both the larger and smaller crude tankers.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Great, thank you. Just quickly, your operating cash flow should probably be stronger in the second quarter. I know you're taking two deliveries of two Suezmaxes later in the year. Post delivery, your capital allocation I presume is going to remain the same with the priority on returning cash to shareholders, or is there any thought about accelerating debt reduction?

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Hi Liam, it's Iraklis.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Hey, Iraklis.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Hey. Our capital allocation policy will remain the same. We have been committed to distributing out as much as possible within the constraints of our capital structure, of course. As we have explained in the past, it's not possible for us to maintain 100% of our EPS distribution given our capital structure and cash flow. We aspire to increase that as much as possible, and we have been averaging around 9% for a while. Obviously, you know, we have added already two Suezmaxes at the beginning of the year. We're gonna be adding a couple more over the next few weeks or through the middle of the summer.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Our fleet has expanded a bit and that should be reflected in how we approach our capital structure and balance sheet. Having said that, we will of course continue to, you know, distribute as much as possible.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Yeah. Just to add to that, I mean, as a company, we're very comfortable with our LTV and, if anything is probably on the lower side, but we're very comfortable with that. We prefer, given our comfort, to return our profits to shareholders directly rather than paying down debt in advance of the normal repayment schedule.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Great. Well, thank you very much.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

No, thank you.

[Operator]

The next question comes to the line of Even Kolsgaard with Clarksons Securities. Your lines are open. Please go ahead.

[Even Kolsgaard, Analyst at Clarksons Securities]

Thank you. My first question is about your second quarter bookings. Obviously, super strong, but if you look at this [audio distortion].

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Yeah, Even, hi. It's Iraklis. Sorry, I, a part of your question was a bit muffled. I think you inquired about our Q2 guidance and the impact, I guess, of how our bookings are recorded into our books and the impact of ballast days. Is that right?

[Even Kolsgaard, Analyst at Clarksons Securities]

Yeah, that's all right.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Okay. Okay, perfect. Sure. Yes, as we have explained in the past, given our accounting policies, revenue recognition has an impact when we look at cut-off dates between quarters. Rest assured that obviously when something is not booked in the previous quarter, we obviously pass it on and recognize it in the following quarter. We have seen in the past certain instances where this came into play, and that was also the case a little bit with our Suezmaxes in Q1, with certain fixtures that came in late in the quarter. For Q2, it's a little bit early to be able to have visibility on the ballast days of the quarter.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

We still have a month and a half ahead of us. Depending on how the vessel trades, you know, there may be some input, but obviously if you look at it from a TCE perspective, you know, this gets averaged out.

[Even Kolsgaard, Analyst at Clarksons Securities]

Yeah, that makes sense. Another one, which you touched upon, briefly. Where do you want to position your fleet at the moment? If you do see a reopening of or when you see a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, do you then want to or do you want to take a risk and wait and see for when that opens, or do you rather want to trade in the Atlantic until you are certain that the Strait of Hormuz is open?

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Sorry. It's, again, it's a bit muffled. Your question is whether we want to trade in the Hormuz if it reopened?

[Even Kolsgaard, Analyst at Clarksons Securities]

As Hormuz, do you want to take the risk and wait outside the Hormuz at the moment, or do you prefer to just stay away until it actually is open?

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

No, like, look, that's a good question. If you take, Well, I mean, one thing, just to give you some numerical examples, like if you open, if one of our VLCCs opens in Singapore today and we ballast to the AG and we, and we wait a whole month and we fix, TD3 voyage, so AG to China, and where the futures are pricing, I guess those would be July dates, the vessel would earn $300,000 a day. I assume if you wait an extra 60 days, you'd earn, you know, $200,000 a day, a bit less. Clearly, the, at least where the futures, the FFA market is pricing the AG reopening, the market's gonna be extremely firm.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

I mean, the way that we kind of thought about it is that if you usually fix cargoes from the AG three weeks ahead. There's around 160 cargoes a month. Recently, you know, that's about 110 cargoes in the over three weeks. Usually a cargo will fix three weeks ahead, like I said. Today is day 0, and three weeks is day 21. You need to cover for 110 cargoes. I think all these ships that are sitting outside will be absorbed very, very quickly. That doesn't even include how whatever production, or not production, but whatever exports can be increased because of crude sitting in storage. I think the immediate reopening will see a huge, like sucking of whatever prompt tonnage is available in the area.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

I mean, you need to be a bit careful because, okay, the future market might be wrong, it could be a little bit lower, or it could stay closed for a lot longer. You know, the 30 days waiting for, to do a TD3 and earning $300,000, while the market today on a cargoes that we're looking at are between $120,000 and $150,000 is a big difference. I think, you know, we've seen companies like Sinokor who are willing to just take the risk and look for the maximum upside and just wait on some ships, or as a general chartering strategy, as a business, as a company. We've been a bit more pragmatic and looking to find the optimal cargoes that we like and not have too much waiting.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

We need to do a bit of a combination. I mean, we made a bit of a matrix internally, and we wanna make sure that we have ships or at least a ship, you know, every week that could be in the area to do an AG cargo. I think it would be quite risky just to park everything outside of the AG and wait. The analysts would start yelling at me because we wouldn't recognize any income for the rest of the Q2. We'd have like a huge Q3, but the Q2 actuals would come off of it. Even would be asking me questions about it, but that's okay otherwise. We're balanced.

[Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

I mean, we're gonna try to make sure we don't lose all our exposure to, you know, reopening on any given date, but we can't just sit everything off there and be completely risk on. The other good thing is that we have a Suezmax that was fixed east, so she'll be open in the east in, you know, in the next month. We also have the two newbuildings which will be delivering end of May. That's like mid-June, mid, late June dates for the AG, and the other one is July. We have three Suezmax in our whole VLCC fleet that will have exposure to the reopening at some point in the next three months. I think we're in a relatively good position on the bigger ships.

[Even Kolsgaard, Analyst at Clarksons Securities]

That's very good color. Thank you. That's all for me.

[Operator]

Your next question comes to the line of Climent Molins with Value Investor's Edge. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

[Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor's Edge]

Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. Most has already been covered. I wanted to ask you about the G&A for the quarter. I'm guessing there was an impact due to the offering to acquire the last two Suezmaxes as well as for bonuses. Where do you see the run rate for Q2 and thereafter on a, let's say, normalized basis?

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Climent, hi. You're right. This is more a timing issue. We currently expect to finish the year maybe slightly higher than last year, 10-15% higher, something like that. Obviously from a timing perspective, Q1 has been much more heavy than the rest of the quarters. The rest of the quarters, I expect we will go back to the usual run rates and spread relatively evenly at the moment. Just keep in mind, we also face, you know, because quite a lot of our expenses, including G&A, are in euros, so exchange rates. There's volatility on exchange rates also plays a role.

[Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor's Edge]

Makes sense. Thanks for the color. This one is just to confirm regarding the vessel trapped inside the AG. You show 39 days fixed in Q2. Will the $74 per day be payable until it gets out?

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Yeah. I mean, this, under our commercial agreement, yes, we obviously have to show the number as of the latest information. So long as it remains in, that's the number to show for now.

[Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor's Edge]

Okay. Thank you. I'll turn it over. Thank you for taking my questions.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Thank you, Climent.

[Operator]

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Iraklis for closing remarks.

[Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO at Okeanis Eco Tankers]

Yeah. Thanks everyone for dialing in. As you probably are, we're also looking forward to our next update in early August. Thank you very much.

[Operator]

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Aristidis Alafouzos, CEO
• Iraklis Sbarounis, CFO

Analysts

• Climent Molins, Analyst at Value Investor's Edge
• Even Kolsgaard, Analyst at Clarksons Securities
• Kristoffer Skeie, Analyst at Arctic Securities
• Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities