Good morning, and welcome to Höegh Autoliners Q4 presentation. I'm Camilla Knappskog, Head of Communications, and I'm here with our CEO, Andreas Enger, and our CFO, Per Øivind Rosmo. Shortly, Andreas will present the business update, followed by Per Øivind, who will take us through the financial aspects. If you have any questions during the presentation, please reach out to ir@hoegh.com, and we will address the questions after the presentation. Thank you.
Thank you and welcome. I'm coming in with a bit of a cold, so I hope my- the adrenaline of the content will keep my voice going for 15, 20 minutes. This quarter is quite a milestone for Höegh Autoliners. We've had a lot of important milestones, and we have had a good, good sort of run for, you know, a long time. But, going into January this year, first, I've been able to walk the car decks and the engine room of our first new build to be delivered this summer. We have taken stock and concluded that we are now, you know, fully invested on probably the most ambitious renewal program in the industry.
Having fully financed new builds, being about a third of our fleet in number and quite a bit more in terms of capacity, with future fuel-ready, very efficient vessels. We have concluded that our effort to create a robust and resilient balance sheet has now to come to the point where we're able to increase dividend payments to shareholders. All of this is kind of the demonstration of what I think is a successful strategy executed over the last 3 years, obviously helped a lot by a very strong market. Looking at the headlines, our EBITDA for the quarter is $199 million, definitely a record, and also below the EBITDA line, you know, with other items that Per Øivind will come into later.
The net profit is $197 million, also a record number, driven by rates, with a gross rate now at past $95 per cube. We sold 1 vessel, and we have a equity ratio approaching 70%, very strong balance sheet. And that has then allowed us to rethink our dividend policy and, you know, rethink, you know, what, what is a sustainable balance sheet, leading to a payout of $360 million after Q4, which is basically, the dividends for the quarter, and addition, the correction of the cash down to what we consider is a prudent and resilient cash balance for the company.
In terms of the market, continued development with, you know, I think we said for a long time that, you know, we are running full, meaning that volume developments has not been very significant in the quarter, and the high and heavy breakbulk, likewise. So it's the rates that is driving our results, and it's in line with what we said earlier, that we have closed a number of contracts at more attractive levels, and we are also renewing legacy contracts, moving from low to high levels. And that's also an effect that is still ongoing. We have signed several long-term contracts. We do announce, according to our policy, they're now at an annual volume of 3.4 million CBM.
The average rate remains above $100 per cube, and the average duration is now on that contract portfolio is 4.3 years. Correspondingly, on the other side, we still have 4.6 million cube of what we call legacy contracts at an average rate of less than $50 per cube. In this environment, and with the demand in the market, we are also in the process of increasing our contract coverage and have adjusted our target that has normally been in 70%-80% for 2024. So it's a robust contracting situation that is continuing.
I think some of the important milestones in the automotive export market for 2023 is that China has now passed Japan to be the largest vehicle exporter in the world. And the increase in volumes is continuing this catch-up from the very low volumes we've seen during both due to pandemics and semiconductors in the past. High and heavy as well is globally strong, a bit slower, but expecting to continue. So that cargo segment is also contributing positively. Capacity situation not so much changed. You know, there is a substantial new build activity, total of 192 vessels starting to come in, in the Q2 of 2024.
In reality, we get our first vessel in July, going into operations in August. And time charter rates, you know, remain record high. Not relevant for us because we are not active in that market, neither chartering in or out, but it's obviously an indicator of the market and capacity situation in the industry. Our again, our fleet size is stable. The big thing is that we have taken advantage of market and sold 1 and delivered 1, sort of what we call mid-age, 17-year-old vessel at quite high sales price this quarter. And but we are running a stable fleet of mostly wholly owned vessels, and that will continue until H2 of 2024 when we start getting our Aurora newbuilds.
Again, the newbuild contract process is going well. The yard is on track. These are pictures. We showed pictures earlier of the engine and the tanks and other things arrived. This is actually a picture of the first vessel to be delivered in July, now on the water. I was just down a little more than a week ago looking at it, and the building is going well, and also the next several vessels are ahead of original plans. So, quality and progress is as expected. So we're very, very happy with the yard and the process on the newbuild side. Sustainability, we are continuing to expand our use of biofuel.
We are continuing to offer all our customers the ability to use, you know, low carbon, carbon neutral fuels through biofuel. We will, over the next year or 2 then, or actually, towards 2027, expand that substantially by adding LNG, bio LNG, and eventually ammonia into the fuel mix that we're offering to our customers. And in some, I think we clearly stand out as both a leader in introducing 100% biofuel as an option to customers, and a leader in offering new 0 carbon fuels into the future plans, and which is well received by customers and leading us into a host of very interesting discussions on how to help customers decarbonize their supply chain. That is the sort of highlights on the market and capacity side.
I'll leave it to Per Øivind to go through the financials in some more details.
Thank you, Andreas. Starting just with a short recap of volumes. As you have seen from this slide, we had very stable volumes through 2023. The volumes was, for all practical purposes, kept by our capacity. A small increase in Q4 compared to Q3. We transported 75,000 CBM more in Q4 than in Q3. The net rate and also the gross rate continued to increase. We achieved a net rate of 83.4. That was an increase of 6.3% compared to Q3. The top line, as we have talked about before, is the main driver for the increase in the EBITDA and the net profits. Looking at the revenues, they increased from $355 million in Q3 to $382 million. That is an increase of $27 million.
$7 million is coming from the increase in volumes, and $20 million is coming from the increase in the net rates. The adjusted EBITDA increased to $199 million, up from $185 million, and we see from the graph that we have had an increase in EBITDA every quarter since Q4 2022. We actually have had an increase in EBITDA every quarter since we did the IPO, a little bit more than 2 years ago. The net profit is $195 million. That's also a new record, up from $143 million. Out of the $195 million, $36 million is related to a sales gain from the vessel we sold, Höegh Bangkok. So the underlying net profit, adjusted for that sales gain, is $159 million.
Looking at what was the driver from the increase from 185 to 199, as I said, $27 million is coming from increased revenues, $7 million from volumes, $20 million from rates. Then we had the bunker price increases of $10 million in the quarter. Out of the $10 million, $3 million was offset by increased BAF. As we have talked about before, there is a lag in BAF compensation when oil price increase, and we saw an increase in bunker prices during Q4 . And then we also have somewhat higher other operating expenses. That is mainly voyage expenses coming from the additional volumes that took us to the $199 million in EBITDA. The balance sheet is, as Andreas also touched upon, extremely strong. We have a net interest-bearing debt of only $52 million by the end of the quarter.
The mortgage debt is $360 million by the end of the quarter, and you see to the right here that the cash balance was $458 million. The reason why we have positive net interest-bearing debt is that we also have some leases included in the debt, according to IFRS accounting principles, and the leases also include the vessels on time charter. We have 3 vessels on time charter by the end of Q4, and we have 3 vessels on bareboat charter. We have exercised an option to purchase one of the vessels that we have on bareboat charter. That will be delivered to us in April 2024. Net interest-bearing debt/EBITDA ratio is close to 0, as you see, 0.8.
Book value of the equity has increased every quarter and is now at 69%. We have a book equity of $1.4 billion, and the cash balance increased considerably through the quarter. We had $458 million by the end of the quarter in cash, and the cash is actually cash in bank. We are not investing in papers or anything. We keep the dry cash on bank accounts. In addition to that, we had $81 million in undrawn revolving credit facilities by the end of the quarter. Looking at the cash development through the quarter, we started with $332 million, and then we have cash from operating activities of $203 million. We had then a positive development in the working capital through the quarter, reducing the working capital.
We have net $28 million from investing activities. That is the sales proceeds from Höegh Bangkok, but we also paid equity installments for the new builds through the quarter. So the net was a positive cash flow from investment of $28 million. We used $20 million for debt amortization and interest payments, and we paid $70 million in dividend to the shareholders in November. We also used $16 million on lease and time charter payments, and then we have a currency gain of $2 million. So that took us from $332 million to $458 million, and as I said, on top of that, we have $81 million in unused credit facilities. Looking at the balance sheet, it's...
As I have said before, we have a balance sheet that our assets is, for all practical purposes, vessels and the equity installments that we have done under the new buildings. That is $1.3 million, and then we have the right of use assets, the value of the leased and bareboat chartered vessels, $142 million. We had bunkers and receivables of $135 million, and we had the cash balance of $458 million. Equity, $1.4 billion, and the interest-bearing bank debt, $346 million. I said $360 million earlier. The reason why we have $346 million here is that we recognized the mortgage debt with debt modification. That is also an IFRS technical thing, but the outstanding debt towards the banks is around $360 million.
Then we had the current liabilities, mainly trade-related vendor debt of $164 million. We had other non-current liabilities, mainly pension. Sorry, deferred tax of $40 million, and that took us to a balance sheet of $2.1 billion. That is approximately NOK 75 per share. If you adjust the vessel values with the broker values instead of using book values, we calculated the value-adjusted equity to be NOK 142 per share by the end of the Q4 . As Andreas touched upon, we are building resilience, and we have also updated the dividend policy. We now have a solid contract backlog.
We expect that between 70% and 80% of the cargo that we will transport in 2024 will be under contract, and the average rate for the contract cargo is now very close to the average rate that we have for all cargo, actually. It has increased considerably, and we are now seeing the full effect of the contracts that we entered into during 2023. We have attractive financing in place. We have financed all the 12 new buildings at very attractive terms. And we are also in the process. We have signed commitment letters from our lender group of refinancing of the legacy debt and the purchases of the leased vessels that we plan to purchase this year. CapEx is reduced. We have done most of the installments for the new builds.
We have, as of today, $50 million left in equity installments for the new buildings. Cash break-even rate is at historically low level. We have reduced the cash capacity cost considerably over the last 4-5 years, and we are also cost conscious when it comes to other expenses, so the difference between the rate and the break-even rate is in a way wider than it ever has been. We will pay $360 million in dividend, but we will continue to keep prudent and solid liquidity reserve in the balance sheet.
So the new dividend policy, it is stated here, our intention going forward now is to pay out in dividend around 100% of the cash that we generate through the quarter, after CapEx, after debt amortization, and after taxes. So for all practical purposes, the net free cash flow will be distributed as dividend. And Andreas mentioned it, we are increasing the dividend to $360 million. That is paying out the cash that we have accumulated through 2023, and also to some extent the cash flow that we will have during Q1 this year. But as I said, we will continue to keep a prudent cash balance also going forward.
Thank you, Per Øivind. Again, we are ending a historically strong quarter. I think it's also fair to say that we are in a situation where there are some complications regarding the outlook, which in our view is not related to the market. We see a continued, as we said, as Per Øivind said, a strong backlog. We see healthy rates. We are quite optimistic about the outcomes of the renewal processes that we are engaged in and consider the general market to be strong and rates firm. That being said, it's clear that, you know, discontinuing transits through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, you know, late December, is creating substantial operational challenges for us, and I think the industry as a whole.
I think we have actually by now also released the January trading update, and I think that is maybe the immediate effect of that, where our volume is down in January to 1.1 million. I think that is a compound effect both of the longer voyages and disruption, but also that, you know, in the immediate immediately following the changes, it's hard to really manage the network effectively. So we have a volume loss in Q1. Might improve some, but it will remain, volumes will remain constrained as long as the Suez situation continues. We have a good process and are in the process of implementing surcharges for the rerouting.
It's clear that if this situation sustains, it will, you know, consume substantial capacity in the market, and, in that sense, be supportive to the remaining volume. It's also an important to note that we are actually getting, you know, substantial additional capacity into our fleet in the Q3 . But, as long as the Red Sea situation prevails, there will be some loss of capacity from longer voyages. It will be partly compensated by surcharges, but it will consume capacity from us and the entire industry.
But I think it is important for us to sort of reiterate what I said in the beginning, that, you know, we've had objectives over the last several years or since we IPO'd, it's really threefold. We wanted to renew our fleet with, you know, modern, cost-effective, and carbon-efficient vessels. We wanted to establish a resilient balance sheet to be able to, you know, meet future cycles, and we wanted to, you know, serve shareholders well.... and it's quite clear that where we are now, we have with our investment program, we have a fully funded investment program that will give us the most modern, the most carbon efficient, and the most cost-efficient fleet in our industry in 2027.
We have a resilient balance sheet with, you know, long durations, very attractive financing, very attractive terms. We see a market—we have then a financial situation allowing us to pay out all cash generated, net cash generated to shareholders, and we have a market view that, that, you know, obviously, that it gives, good prospects for, for that payout going forward. Although I have to say that, three hundred and sixty million in a quarter is quite extraordinary. But, thank you for listening. And, Camilla, do you have any questions?
Yes, we do. The first question is from Erik Hovi in Nordea. Can you walk us a bit through how the dividend will pan out into the ongoing delivery schedule, as you will have a lot of in and outflows on CapEx and debt inflows that could impact the levels?
The dividend policy is, in a way, stated very clear. We will pay quarterly the net free cash flow. So if we have CapEx in a quarter, that will reduce the dividend, that's a quarter. And so the dividend will be somewhat. So it can be somewhat volatile, depending on when we pay the CapEx. The remaining CapEx is only $50 million. Most of it is coming this year, and we will draw on the loans for the first 2 vessels in Q3 . That will improve the cash flow in Q3 , but we can expect that the dividend will be somewhat volatile, depending on when we pay new building installments, but that is basically the only disturbing factor here.
Other than that, it will be the operational cash flow, less the normal debt, amortization.
Yeah. And the total effect for that-
Mm-hmm
in 2024 is roughly $50 million.
Yeah. It's $50 million remaining in CapEx.
Okay. Is it fair to say that the new policy is at least double your previous policy?
Say it again.
Is it fair to say that the new policy is at least double your previous policy?
In monetary, it's depending on what you compare with, but if you compare with the $214 million that we paid in 2023, I think you can... If the income continues at the current levels, you can roughly say that you will double the dividends.
Okay, next question is from a private investor, Kåre from Bergen: How will the uncertain situation in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal affect costs, rates, assignments, and earnings in 2024 if the situation continues as it is indefinitely?
I think that is an invitation to speculate that I don't think we will go into, but what I think we have said is that, I mean, clearly, taking out capacity will be supportive to rates, although it will take some time before that kicks in. It will, we will have additional costs that we expect to be largely covered by surcharges on cargo. We will have a loss of capacity and volume through longer voyages that will be a negative. And exactly how that adds up, I think, is we'll have to wait and see.
Okay. Thank you. Next question is from Jack Sjuve. He's a shareholder: Do new contracts have minimum volume commitments?
Generally, yes. But I have to say, as we are substantially firming up the terms on the contracts, particularly on the large contracts and large trade flows, you know, those terms are specialized for each contract. So it's not the general answer, but we have substantially more volume commitments from customers in the new contracts than we had in our previous contract portfolio. That's fair.
Okay. Thank you. Next question is from Kristoffer Haugland, Arctic Securities: Can we expect full mitigation by increased bunker costs in Q2 already?
Yeah, as long as oil prices stay more or less stable, we can expect full recovery coming back in Q1. Mm.
Very good. Are you looking to divest any more of your older vessels, as there is clearly appetite for those, given the Gram divestment?
We are continuously looking at, you know, our fleet composition in light of the new builds. And clearly, the accelerated delivery of our new builds provides some more optionality. But that's, you know, assessments we are doing continuously and will do continuously through this year, and we will report on it when we decide.
Okay, thank you. Next question is from Fredrik Dybwad. Congratulations on a successful quarter. Having been busy in renewing your contract portfolio, how much renewal is left until all legacy contracts are renewed on current rates?
... I think, I think we, we had it on the slide. We are, we are, about to renew $4.6 million through this year, and after that, at roughly $2 million that we have, will still have, to renew, and, and most of that in 2025.
Okay.
Which means a little more than a third of our-
Yeah
... capacity.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
How long is the average duration of your contract portfolio today on a fleet-wide basis?
Oh, we said. I mean, I think we said—I mean, I think the good thing, we haven't looked at that yet.
The new contracts have an average duration of 4.3. We still have contracts that are expiring now in 2024, so of course, if you look at all contracts and the duration, it is shorter. But of course, we expect to renew that contracts during 2024 for at least 3-5 years.
Mm.
So I think going forward, the average duration time of the contract portfolio will be between 3 and 5 years.
Yeah. But I think it's important for that one is, our best paying contracts have an average duration of more than 4 years.
Yeah.
Our lowest paid contracts have an average duration of less than 1 year.
Yeah.
I think that is the important-
Yeah
... part in terms of the-
That is the main message.
... the renew.
Yeah.
Yeah. Okay, next question is from Eirik Haavaldsen in Pareto. Ref the surcharges on the Red Sea situation, how have they been met by your clients? Are they accepting this without any issue? Are you able to charge these on all contracts?
I think, I think the answer to that is that, I think it's met with the general understanding, and we are in the process of implementing it in a large share of our contracts. But I think it's also reasonable to expect that there will be questions and discussions, so we are obviously in close dialogue with customers. But I think the short answer to that is that we are implementing surcharges, and that the customers recognize the additional costs and those discussions are constructive.
Okay, thank you. Last question is from Friedrich Kösters. If all vessels which used the Suez Canal before the Red Sea crisis will continue to sail around the Cape of Good Hope for the entire year of 2024, by how much or how many % would total volumes be reduced?
We have done some rough calculations. It absorbs approximately 2 vessels per month or per year, and the average vessel will carry around between 400,000-450,000 CBM. So the volume effect of going around is between 800,000-1,000,000 CBM on an annualized basis.
Okay. Last question: Will the Aurora new buildings be financed at 100% LTV? Or if not, how big will the equity portion of the new build capital be?
The equity, the equity portion of the new builds is, they are financed with credit of approximately 77%, meaning that the equity portion is 23%. And as we have touched upon before, we have paid most of that, and we have $50 million left.
Okay, very good. Okay, this was the last question we had for now. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to ir@hoegh.com, and we will reply later. Thank you for joining us today, and we hope to see you when we're back for the next quarter presentation in May. Thank you.