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GasLog Partners announces financial results and new charter agreements

28 Ιουλίου 2021.

peterlivanosf21GasLog Partners LP (“GasLog Partners” or the “Partnership”) (NYSE: GLOP), an international owner and operator of liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) carriers, reported its financial results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2021.

 

Highlights

 

Announced three new time charter agreements: a one-year charter for the GasLog Sydney with a subsidiary of TotalEnergies SE (“TotalEnergies”), an eight-month charter for the Solaris with a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”) and a charter with a minimum duration of one year (and a maximum of three years) for the Methane Heather Sally with a wholly owned subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (“Cheniere”).

Post quarter-end signed a new one-year time charter agreement for the GasLog Seattle with TotalEnergies.

Repaid $18.8 million of debt during the second quarter of 2021, or $54.8 million of debt in the first six months of 2021.

Published the Partnership’s Sustainability Report for 2020 on July 20, 2021.

Announced the appointment of Paolo Enoizi, currently Chief Operating Officer of GasLog Ltd. (“GasLog”), as a director of the Partnership and as Chief Executive Officer of the Partnership, effective August 1, 2021.

Executed scheduled dry-dockings for three of our vessels, the Methane Rita Andrea, the GasLog Greece and the GasLog Glasgow, resulting in a total of 82 scheduled off-hire days during the quarter (compared to nil in the second quarter in 2020).

Quarterly Revenues, Profit, Adjusted Profit(1) and Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $70.4 million, $14.7 million, $12.7 million and $45.0 million, respectively.

Quarterly Earnings per unit (“EPU”) of $0.14 and Adjusted EPU(1) of $0.10.

Declared cash distribution of $0.01 per common unit for the second quarter of 2021.

 

CEO Statement

 

Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The Partnership’s fleet performed strongly in the second quarter of 2021, with uptime of close to 100%, allowing us to safely deliver nearly one million tonnes (“mt”) of LNG to customers around the world. We also repaid $18.8 million of debt, bringing the total amount of debt retired in 2021 to $54.8 million. In addition, within the last month we took advantage of a strong LNG shipping market and booked four new multi-month charters with leading customers at attractive rates, that also allowed us to lock in 100.0% charter coverage for the remainder of 2021 and 69.2% for 2022. This fixed charter coverage along with the cash flows generated during the first half of 2021 more than covers all the Partnership’s operating, overhead, dry-docking and debt service requirements for 2021 and 2022.

Our capital allocation for 2021 will continue to prioritize debt repayment to reduce further our breakeven costs over time. We also expect continued reductions to our operating and overhead expenses. With these ongoing improvements to our cost base and continued high levels of service and reliability, we believe that the Partnership continues to position itself to be a leader in the short-term market for LNG shipping.”

 

New Charter Agreements

 

During the second quarter of 2021, GasLog Partners entered into a one-year time charter agreement with TotalEnergies for the GasLog Sydney, a 155,000 cubic meter (“cbm”) tri-fuel diesel electric (“TFDE”) LNG carrier, built in 2013. In addition, following the conclusion of the Solaris’ initial multi-year time charter with Shell in late July 2021, its contract was extended for approximately eight months, through the end of the first quarter of 2022. The Solaris is a 155,000 cbm TFDE LNG carrier built in 2014. Finally, a new time charter agreement was signed with Cheniere for the Methane Heather Sally, a 145,000 cbm steam turbine propulsion (“Steam”) LNG carrier built in 2007. The charter has a minimum duration of one year, with Cheniere having the option, until late August, to extend the charter for an additional one or two years at varying rates.

Post quarter-end, in July 2021, GasLog Partners rechartered an additional vessel with TotalEnergies, the 155,000 cbm TFDE vessel GasLog Seattle, built in 2013, again for a period of approximately twelve months.

 

LNG Market Update and Outlook

 

LNG demand was 95 mt in the second quarter of 2021, according to Poten, compared to 86 mt in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of approximately 11%. Demand growth was particularly strong in Asia and South America. Specifically, demand increased, year-over-year, in China (+4 mt, or 25%), Japan (+1 mt, or 7%) and South Korea (+1 mt, or 9%), the three largest end markets for LNG, as these countries rebuilt inventories following a colder than average winter ahead of summer cooling demand. In addition, demand from Argentina, Brazil and Chile together grew by approximately 3 mt (or 116%) year-over-year due to lower hydroelectric output from the region. Growth from these regions was offset by a decline of approximately 2 mt (or 35%) from the Middle East.

Global LNG supply was approximately 96 mt in the second quarter of 2021, growing by 8 mt (or 9%) year-over-year, according to Poten. Supply growth in the second quarter was particularly strong in the United States (“U.S.”) which increased production by 7 mt (or 61%) year-over-year, due to higher utilization from existing liquefaction trains as well as the ramp-up of production at the third trains at Freeport LNG, Cameron LNG and Corpus Christi LNG. The resumption of LNG exports from Egypt helped grow supply from the Middle East by approximately 2 mt (or 32%) while increased utilization of existing facilities saw Russian LNG production grow by approximately 1 mt (or 17%). Growth from these three regions offset declines from Trinidad and Norway. Looking ahead, approximately 125 mt of new LNG capacity is currently under construction and scheduled to come online between 2021 and 2026.

Headline spot rates for TFDE LNG carriers, as reported by Clarksons, averaged $58,000 per day in the second quarter of 2021, a 61% increase over the $36,000 per day average in the second quarter of 2020. Headline spot rates for Steam vessels averaged $45,000 per day in the second quarter of 2021, 96% higher than the average of $23,000 per day in the second quarter of 2020. Headline spot rates in the second quarter benefited from LNG demand growth from Asia combined with LNG supply growth in the US as detailed above.

As of July 23, 2021, Clarksons assessed headline spot rates for TFDE and Steam LNG carriers at $56,000 per day and $39,000 per day, respectively. Forward assessments for LNG carrier spot rates indicate rising spot rates through the remainder of the year. However, the magnitude and pace of any sustained upward movement in spot rates will depend on both the continued recovery of LNG demand and LNG price differentials between the major export and import regions, whilst the forecasted growth of the global LNG carrier fleet combined with any slow-down in demand could create volatility in the spot and short-term markets over the near and medium-term.

As of July 23, 2021, Poten estimated that the orderbook totaled 126 dedicated LNG carriers (>100,000 cbm), representing 19% of the on-the-water fleet. Of these, 106 vessels (or 84%) have multi-year charters. 31 orders have been placed for newbuild LNG carriers in 2021 as of July 23, 2021 compared with 34 for all of 2020.

 

About GasLog Partners

 

GasLog Partners is a growth-oriented owner, operator and acquirer of LNG carriers. The Partnership’s fleet consists of 15 LNG carriers with an average carrying capacity of approximately 158,000 cbm. GasLog Partners is a publicly traded master limited partnership (NYSE: GLOP) but has elected to be treated as a C corporation for U.S. income tax purposes and therefore its investors receive an Internal Revenue Service Form 1099 with respect to any distributions declared and received.

Full report: GasLog Partners LP