KNOT Offshore Partners Q1 2026 Earnings Results & Report

KNOT Offshore Partners EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.0780
• Consensus EPS: $0.17
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$0.0920
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A
• EPS Beat Rate: 5 of last 8 quarters

KNOT Offshore Partners Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $92.01 million
• Expected Revenue: $90.35 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$1.66 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) is a maritime limited partnership that owns and operates shuttle tankers. The vessels transport crude oil from offshore production facilities to onshore terminals and other destinations, often where pipeline infrastructure is limited or unavailable.

Its fleet serves offshore oil-producing regions, including the North Sea and Brazil. Shuttle tankers are equipped for specialized loading operations and are commonly employed under long-term charter contracts to support offshore production.

Formed in 2013, KNOT Offshore Partners is sponsored by Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers, a company focused on offshore shuttle tanker services. The partnership’s business is centered on vessel ownership and operations for oil companies and other charterers.

KNOT Offshore Partners Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results were solid, with revenue of $92 million, adjusted EBITDA of $56.5 million, and utilization of 97.2% before scheduled dry docks. Management highlighted strong liquidity of $140.7 million, up sequentially.
• Positive Sentiment: The partnership raised its distribution to $0.05 per common unit after quarter-end and said this is the first step in a process of gradual increases. Management tied this to improved charter coverage, liquidity, and refinancing progress.
• Positive Sentiment: KNOP secured additional charter coverage on multiple vessels, including extensions for Hilda Knutsen and Anna Knutsen and a new charter for Raquel Knutsen. The company also noted a strong backlog of $858 million in fixed contracts.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management said Brazil and the North Sea markets are tightening due to FPSO startups, ramp-ups, expansions, and new developments. It also pointed to Petrobras commentary supporting a strong offshore production outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company lowered vessel useful life estimates from 23 years to 20 years starting January 1, 2026, which will increase non-cash depreciation going forward. KNOP also flagged upcoming debt facilities in September and October 2026 as refinancing items to watch.

Presentation

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us and welcome to the KNOP first quarter 2026 earnings call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question-and-answer session with an opportunity for equity research analysts to ask questions. If you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand. If you have dialed into today's call, please press star one to raise your hand. I will now hand the conference over to Derek Lowe. Please go ahead.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Thank you, Jade. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Derek Lowe, and I'm the Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer of KNOT Offshore Partners. Welcome to the partnership's earnings call for the first quarter of 2026. Our website is knotoffshorepartners.com, and you can find the earnings release there along with this presentation. On slide two, you will find guidance on the inclusion of forward-looking statements in today's presentation. These are made in good faith and reflect management's current views, known and unknown risks, and are based on assumptions and estimates that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements, and the partnership does not have or undertake a duty to update any such statements made as of the date of this presentation.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

For further information, please consult our SEC filings, especially in relation to our annual and quarterly results. Today's presentation also includes certain non-U.S. GAAP measures. Our earnings release includes a reconciliation of these to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. We begin on slide four with the Q1 financial and operational headlines. Revenues were $92 million. Operating income was $14.7 million. Net income was $2.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $56.5 million. As of March 31, 2026, we had $140.7 million in available liquidity, made up of $92.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, plus $48 million in undrawn capacity. This available liquidity was $3.7 million higher than December 31. We operated a 97.2% utilization, taking into account scheduled dry docking, which amounts to 92% utilization overall following the dry dockings of Tuva Knutsen and Bodil Knutsen.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Following the end of the quarter, we declared a cash distribution of $0.05 per common unit, which was paid in May under the 1099 structure, and which represented an increase from the previous level. We are pleased to have initiated the process of increasing the distribution after an extensive period of low payouts, during which we restored our charter coverage, improved our liquidity position, and addressed multiple refinancings and dry dockings. On slide five, we have developments during the quarter. Prospectively from January the 1st, 2026, we changed the useful life estimate of our vessels from 23 years to 20 years, reflecting longer-term market trends. This will increase future depreciation quarter by quarter, but that is not a cash item. This step also does not prevent vessels from operating beyond 20 years. On slide six, we have commercial developments.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

We exercised our option to continue the time charter of Hilda Knutsen with Shell through March 2027, and subsequently agreed a new time charter with Eni commencing in Q3 2027 for three years fixed, plus options up to a further three years. TotalEnergies exercised their option to extend the charter of Anna Knutsen for one year until May 2027, and we agreed a time charter for Raquel Knutsen with Transpetro commencing Q3 2026 for a fixed period of two years. Turning to slide seven for a high-level summary of our operating momentum. In both Brazil and the North Sea, we continue to see tightening markets driven by FPSO startups, ramp-ups, expansions, and new developments. This increase in shuttle tanker service volumes across both markets has been sustained and sufficient to tighten the supply-demand balance.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

We have sustained a strong backlog with 858 million of fixed contracts averaging 2.4 years, and rather more if all options are exercised. At quarter end, our fleet of 19 vessels had an average age of 10.5 years, and we are continuing to repay debt at around $90 million per year, which we consider prudent with a depreciating asset base. Having addressed prior refinancing activity, we now look ahead to a $220 million facility in September 2026 and a $65 million facility in October. Over slides nine to 12, we provide the financials for Q1, the highlights which we have covered already. On slide 13 is our debt maturity profile.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

While no guarantees can be made, we have historically benefited from access to a wide pool of lenders and attractive bank finance, and we've been encouraged by our refinancing experience in recent years, including during significantly weaker shuttle tanker markets than the current one. Notably, the average margin on our floating rate debt during the first quarter was 2.22% over SOFR. Moving on to slide 15 and our charter portfolio. I believe this remains a very useful resource for investors looking to track the primary movements where change can occur in a highly stable portfolio of cash flows. Based on current charter rates, we believe charterers' options are likely to be exercised given the strength of the charter market. On slide 16, you can see our strong coverage through the coming quarters.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Some charterers' options that we believe have a good likelihood of being exercised and a small amount of open time. On slide 17, you can see the drop-down inventory held at the sponsor. Drop-downs have been the route to growth in the fleet throughout the life of the partnership and remain the means of replenishing and rejuvenating the fleet. As mentioned in the earnings release, we anticipate pursuing these acquisitions over the next four to five years to the extent that the relevant terms are attractive and are approved by our conflicts committee. At the same time, we believe that the combination of accretive drop-downs and improving charter market should support multiple gradual distribution increases over the coming quarters and years, in addition to materially extending our long-term cash generation runway, as certain of our vessels begin to age out in the years ahead.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

On slides 18 to 20, we include market commentary, particularly from Petrobras, which continues to highlight a strong and expanding offshore production outlook and continued FPSO deployment. We would encourage you to review this as well as the copious materials that Petrobras publishes as the largest player in the Brazilian market, where we primarily operate. To summarize on slide 21, during the first quarter, we had strong utilization and solid financial results. We secured additional charter coverage across key vessels. We maintained a constructive backlog and market outlook, and we paid a quarterly distribution of $0.05 per unit. Looking ahead to the coming quarters and years, we believe the successful execution of accretive drop-down transactions, combined with rechartering vessels into a strong market environment, should create the conditions for multiple gradual increases to our sustainable distribution. With that, I'll hand the call back to Jade for any questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session, which is open to equity research analysts. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press star one again. Please pick up your handset when asking a question, and if you're muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Fredrik Dybwad from Fearnley Securities. Please go ahead.

[Fredrik Dybwad, Analyst at Fearnley Securities]

Thank you. Hello, Derek.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Hello.

[Fredrik Dybwad, Analyst at Fearnley Securities]

Congratulations with the results. You have a pretty robust cash position, even more robust, the liquidity position. I'm happy to hear that you are talking about modestly increasing the dividends or distributions going forward, in addition to be able to take the potential drop-downs as well. How should we think about when you say modest gradual increases in the dividend, in terms of magnitude, how should we think about this?

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Well, that's something that gets decided on by the board each time they make a dividend or distribution declaration. That can only follow the end of each respective quarter. We don't have specific guidance on numbers that may be coming. The board will make their decision following the end of second quarter for the next distribution.

[Fredrik Dybwad, Analyst at Fearnley Securities]

Yeah, if you can provide some color about if you look at your backlog or cash generation going forward, you can sustain a dividend much higher than $0.05 per unit. Should we think about when you say modest increases, should we think about an increase similar to the one you did this time, or should it be more? That's just for, in terms of how we should think about it as investors.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Yeah, I appreciate the question, but until we have a distribution decision from the directors after the end of the second quarter, we don't have a number to provide you with.

[Fredrik Dybwad, Analyst at Fearnley Securities]

Okay. Thank you. That was all I had in terms of questions.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

My pleasure.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Liam Burke from B. Riley Securities. Please go ahead.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Thank you. Hi, Derek. How are you today?

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Hi, Liam. Good, thank you. You?

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

I'm fine, thanks. Derek, I had a macro question for you. There's more oil obviously being sourced out of the non-Gulf area due to the conflict in the Mid East. Now, eventually, the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened, but do you anticipate even post Strait of Hormuz opening, a higher than normal increase in offshore oil production development? Does it change your markets for the better?

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Well, I don't particularly have a view over the medium to longer term. I can understand people being quite cautious in the nearer term as developments come along because the news flow varies from one day to the next, and I'm sure people will be seeking to interpret that as best they can and even remain cautious once the Straits are open again. I don't really have a view on whether it would change what will otherwise happen in the medium to long term, because there could be other factors relating to that as well.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Okay, fair enough. On the supply side, just in the vein where you reduce the useful life of the assets, could you give me a sense as to where we are in terms of the order book and the aging of the shuttle tanker fleet globally?

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Well, you can see the aging of our vessels.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Right.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

I guess the 20-F is the best place to look at that to get that listed out. Although I don't particularly have a comment on the aging of other ship owners' fleets. Clearly with the ramp up, particularly in Brazil, the new build inventory is clearly in excess of what's going to retire from the market. It's intended to serve new volumes that are coming online.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Okay. There is an aging of the fleet on the other end of it that could further tighten supply.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

That's right. Yeah.

[Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Okay, great. Thank you, Derek.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Poe Fratt from Alliance Global Partners. Please go ahead.

[Poe Fratt, Analyst at Alliance Global Partners]

Hey, Derek, I apologize, I logged in a little late, and you may have addressed this in your prepared remarks. Could you just talk about the sequential decline in revenues, and was that totally associated with the downtime you experienced, or were there some time charter rollovers that impacted revenues?

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Yeah. Thanks, Poe, and no problem, we didn't address that at the time earlier on. Yes, it will relate to the dry dock schedule, and also simply the terms of the contracts that are outstanding between the different periods.

[Poe Fratt, Analyst at Alliance Global Partners]

Great. Thank you.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Thanks.

[Operator]

At this time, there are no further questions. I will now turn the call back to Derek for closing remarks.

[Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO at KNOT Offshore Partners]

Thank you, Jade. Thank you all again for joining this earnings call for KNOT Offshore Partners' first quarter of 2026. We look forward to speaking with you again following the second quarter results. Thank you.

[Operator]

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

Participants

Executives

• Derek Lowe, CEO and CFO

Analysts

• Fredrik Dybwad, Analyst at Fearnley Securities
• Liam Burke, Analyst at B. Riley Securities
• Poe Fratt, Analyst at Alliance Global Partners