Costamare Inc.

Costamare Inc.

12.61
EUR
+0.22
(+1.78%)
2.50EPS
5.32P/E
1.48BMarket Cap
Nov 04Next Earn

Q1 FY2026 · Earnings Call TranscriptApril 29, 2026

Operator

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Costamare Inc. conference call on the first quarter 2026 financial results.

We have with us Mr. Gregory Zikos, Chief Financial Officer of the company.

At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session.

At that time, if you wish to ask a question, please press * then 1 on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. I must advise you that this conference call is being recorded today, Wednesday, April 29th, 2026.

We would like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking statements. Please take a moment to read slide number 2 on the presentation, which contains the forward-looking statements.

I will now pass the floor over to your speaker today, Mr. Zikos.

Please go ahead, sir.

Gregory Zikos

Thank you, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. During the first quarter of the year, the company generated net income of about $75 million.

Total liquidity amounted to about $645 million. Executing on our strategy of renewing the fleet and securing long-term cash flows from high-quality counterparties, we have ordered a total of 16 newbuildings from two first-class Chinese shipyards.

12 of the ships are 9,200 TEU and four 3,100 TEU capacity. The vessels are expected to be delivered between the fourth quarter of 2027 and the second quarter of 2030.

Upon delivery, all ships will commence long-term charters with COSCO Shipping of 15 and 8 years for the 12 9,200 TEU ships and the four 3,100 TEU vessels, respectively. We are pleased to expand our valued and long-lasting relationship with COSCO through the conclusion of our latest 16 newbuilding transactions.

Incremental contracted revenues for the new charters amount to about $2.8 billion. The acquisitions will be funded with equity and debt.

Pre- and post-delivery financing for a tenor of up to 15 years has been arranged for all 16 ships with two leading Chinese financial institutions. In addition to the above, we have agreed to acquire two secondhand 5,600 TEU vessels built in 2001.

The acquisitions are expected to be completed in Q4 '26, upon which each vessel shall commence a 42-month time charter with a leading liner operator. As a consequence, total contracted revenues have reached $6.2 billion, with a remaining time charter duration of 6.1 years.

In light of the above, management is pleased to recommend to the Board of Directors to increase the quarterly dividend per share from 11.5 to 12.5 cents. While rewarding our shareholders as a result of increased cash flows, profitability, and visibility, the payment of that dividend is not expected to affect our capacity to continue growing on a healthy basis in a volatile market environment.

Moving now to the slide presentation. On the first slide, you can see our first quarter results.

Adjusted net income for the quarter was $76 million or 63 cents per share. Net income for the quarter was $75 million or 62 cents per share.

Our liquidity stands at above $640 million. Management has announced its intention to recommend a dividend increase to the board, subject to approval.

The quarterly dividend would increase from 11.5 to 12.5 cents per share, starting with the second quarter of 2026. Slide 4, we have concluded newbuilding contracts for 16 containerships with expected deliveries between Q4 '27 and Q2 2030, bringing the total number of our vessels under construction to 22.

Upon delivery, each vessel will commence a long-term charter with a leading liner company. We have already arranged pre- and post-delivery financing for all the newbuildings.

Slide 5, here we show our newbuilding program. In total, we now have 22 vessels under construction, increasing the weighted average duration of our charter book by about 2 years.

All our newbuildings have long-term employment and signed pre- and post-delivery financing already in place. Slide 6, this slide highlights the effects of the newbuilding program on our fleet age.

By 2030, the program reduces average fleet age by about 3.7 years, compared to the average age of our fleet had we not entered in the newbuilding contracts. Slide 7, regarding S&P activity, we have agreed to acquire two secondhand 5,600 TEU capacity containerships, with expected delivery in Q4 '26.

Upon delivery, each vessel shall commence a 42-month time charter with a leading liner. Both acquisitions are expected to be financed with debt and cash on hand.

On the employment side, our revenue days are fixed 97% for '26 and 94% for '27, while our contracted revenues are $6.2 billion, with a TEU-weighted remaining time charter duration of 6.1 years. Moving to the last slide, charter rates in the containership market remain at robust levels.

The idle fleet remains at very low levels, at 1%, indicating a fully employed market. With that, we conclude our presentation, and we can now take questions.

Thank you. Operator, we can take questions now.

Operator

Thank you. As a reminder, if you would wish to ask a question, please press * then 1 on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced.

If you wish to cancel your request, please press * then 2. That's *1 to ask a question.

As there are no further questions, I would like to pass the call over to Mr. Zikos for any closing remarks.

Gregory Zikos

Thank you for dialing in and for your interest in the Costamare Q1 results call. We're looking forward to speaking with you again during the next quarterly results call.

Thank you. Operator, we can conclude the call now.

Operator

Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today.

Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.