GasLog Posts Good Results
GasLog Partners LP, an international owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, increased quarterly cash distribution by 10% to $0.478 per unit for the third quarter of 2015, equivalent to $1.912 per unit on an annual basis.
It has acquired three LNG carriers from GasLog Ltd. for $483.0 million ($480.0 million net of working capital) with attached multi-year charters to a subsidiary of BG Group plc.
Andrew Orekar, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “GasLog Partners’ operating and financial performance this quarter has been strong. We achieved our highest ever quarterly results following the second successful drop-down acquisition since our initial public offering (“IPO”). As a result, we are increasing our cash distribution by 10%."
"With this increase, we have grown our distribution by a total of 27.5% since our IPO, or a 21% compound annual growth rate. Furthermore, our conservative coverage ratio of 1.37x for the quarter provides us the opportunity to consider future distribution increases without raising new capital," Andrew added.
This performance highlights the strength of GasLog Partners’ business model – long-term, fixed-rate charters with strong counterparties.
"We take no commodity price risk, and our fleet is 100% contracted through May 2018, when we expect significantly increased demand for LNG shipping. With the recently announced $1.3 billion credit facility at GasLog, our parent company does not require additional financing for its newbuilding program of 8 vessels, 7 of which have long-term charters and are eligible for drop-down into GasLog Partners. In total, we have a drop-down pipeline of 12 vessels, each with attractive contracts for future acquisition by the Partnership," he said.
