(Singapore, 30 May 2018)
- VLGC TCE rates averaged US$17,300 per day
- TCE income of US$73.3 million, EBITDA of US$25.3 million and loss after tax of US$8.4 million, resulting in a loss per share of US$0.05
- Purchased 2,122,000 common shares at an average price of NOK 35.96 per share through share buyback program
- Announced proposal to combine with Dorian LPG Ltd. (“Dorian”) in an all-stock transaction valued at US$1.1 billion
EBITDA for the first quarter amounted to US$25.3 million (Q1 2017: US$41.9 million), a decrease of US$16.6 million from the same quarter last year mainly due to a decline in LPG spot rates and lower fleet utilisation.
Loss after tax for the quarter amounted to US$8.4 million (Q1 2017: profit after tax of US$8.0 million), primarily due to depressed LPG spot rates and lower fleet utilisation.
The VLGC market began the year on a light note with the benchmark Baltic route for VLGCs averaging US$29.2 per ton or US$15,900 per day in the first quarter of 2018. For the first quarter, the recovery in freight rates remained slow mainly due to weaker demand in Japan, India and Southeast Asia. Increased winter heating demand in U.S. also drove up domestic consumption and resulted in lower net exports, partially offset by higher Middle Eastern exports.
Through the share buyback programme announced on 6 March 2018, the Company purchased a total of 2,122,000 common shares at an average price of NOK 35.96 per share.
Please see attachments for the full quarterly report and presentation.
1 BW LPG Financial Results Presentation Q1 2018.pdf
2 BW LPG Q1 2018 Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Info.pdf
Separately, on May 29, 2018, BW LPG proposed a combination of BW LPG and Dorian LPG in a transaction in which Dorian’s stockholders, including BW Group, would receive 2.05 common shares of BW LPG for each common share of Dorian they own. Under the proposal, BW LPG would undertake a dual-listing of the BW LPG common shares on the New York Stock Exchange and the stockholders of Dorian would receive NYSE-listed BW LPG common shares representing in the aggregate 45% of the combined company at the completion of the transaction. BW LPG also posted a presentation to its website regarding the potential combination that can be found on the investor relations portion of the Company’s website, www.bwlpg.com.
BW LPG will host an investor presentation to discuss the financial results and the Dorian proposal at 14:00 PM CET today. The presentation will be made by Martin Ackermann (CEO) and Elaine Ong (CFO).
The investor presentation will be available via audio webcast which can be accessed at https://www.bwlpg.com/investors/reports-presentations/.
The webcast will be available on BW LPG’s website, www.bwlpg.com as soon as possible after the presentation.
For further information, please contact:
Elaine Ong, CPA, CA
Chief Financial Officer
BW LPG Limited
Tel: +65 6705 5506
E-mail: elaine.ong@bwlpg.com
About BW LPG
BW LPG is the world’s leading owner and operator of LPG vessels, owning and operating Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGC) and Large Gas Carriers (LGC) with a total carrying capacity of over 4 million cbm. With four decades of operating experience in LPG shipping and experienced seafarers and staff, BW LPG offers a flexible and reliable service to customers. More information about BW LPG can be found at www.bwlpg.com.
BW LPG is associated with BW Group, one of the world’s leading shipping groups. BW’s fleet of over 180 vessels includes refined oil tankers, LNG and LPG carriers, floating storage and regasification (FSRU) units, chemical tankers, dry cargo carriers and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units.
This information is subject to disclosure requirements pursuant to Sections 4-2 and 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
