Global Ship Lease Reports 4Q Loss
UK-based containership owner Global Ship Lease (GSL) reported a loss of $99.1 million in its fourth quarter. It posted revenue of $37.9 million in the period.
For the year, the company reported that its loss widened to $74.3 million, or $1.61 per share. Revenue was reported as $159 million.
Ian Webber, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship Lease, stated, “In 2017, we continued to benefit from our attractive long-term charters and strong relationships with top-tier liner companies. By maintaining full time charter employment for our fleet and extremely high utilization levels in line with our historical averages, we ensured that we would continue to generate consistent cashflows to support our deleveraging and growth efforts."
"Alongside improving market fundamentals, this consistent track record of performance enabled us to refinance all of our outstanding debt on improved terms, not only generating ongoing savings, but also securing Global Ship Lease’s long-term financial strength and flexibility,” he added.
Webber continued, “Over the course of 2017 and into early 2018, the overall container shipping industry has experienced a significant recovery, as continued strength in underlying freight demand has driven increasing supply/demand tension and upward pressure on both spot charter rates and asset values."
"With our consistent long-term cashflows, balance sheet strength, and high-quality fleet, Global Ship Lease is in an excellent position to pursue a range of value creation opportunities, as we have demonstrated with the vessel purchase recently announced, for the benefit of our shareholders,” he said.
On October 19, 2017, agreed a new time charter with CMA CGM for the 2005-built OOCL Tianjin, which has been renamed GSL Tianjin, an 8,063 TEU containership
The charter was for a period of three to eight months (at the charterer's option) at a fixed rate of $13,000 per day, which commenced on October 25, 2017, immediately upon re-delivery from its previous charter. This new charter was extended with effect from January 26, 2018 for a period of eight to 12 months (at the charterer’s option) at a fixed rate of $11,900 per day
