Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of Odfjell's Q1 results. Before I start, please note that there is a Q&A tab on the right-hand side of your screen. Please use that tab if you have questions during our presentation. The agenda is as follows a standard format. I will present the highlights. My colleague Terje Iversen will take you through the financial figures, and then I will summarize this presentation with an operational review, a market update, and prospects. Odfjell is today presenting the best financial result in our 110-year-long history. This is, of course, a great inspiration for all of my more than 2,000 colleagues around the globe. The time charter earnings in Odfjell Tankers ended at $195 million, and this compares to $182 million in the Q4 of 2023. We delivered an EBIT of $89 million.
This compares to 71 in the previous quarter. We delivered a record net result of $68 million. This net result adjusted for one-off items was $69 million, and this compares to $50 million in the previous quarter. The rates on our renewed contracts during the quarter were up 14% on average, and we renewed approximately 22% of the estimated contract volume. The net result contribution from Odfjell Terminals increased to $3.2 million, and this compares to $2.4 million in the Q4 . Also, our carbon intensity for the Q1 came in at 7.14, and this is slightly better than what we observed in the Q4 . During the quarter, Odfjell has taken delivery of 1 newbuilding on long-term time charter, and we have also signed an agreement for 1 newbuilding to be owned by Odfjell.
A further 4 new buildings on long-term time charter were concluded in April, and these vessels are all scheduled to be delivered in 2026 and 2027. This brings the total number of new buildings on order to Odfjell to 16 vessels. And by that, 20% of the order book in our segment is for Odfjell account. So this concludes the highlights, and then I give the word to my colleague Terje Iversen.
Thank you, Harald. I will, as usual, start with financials and the P&L this quarter. Starting with the time charter earnings, we saw that increased by $13 million to $195 million this quarter. Main reason, of course, we see an improved market. We see higher vessel contract rates and also spot rates in this quarter. And at the same time, we also saw that we had higher spot volumes compared to contract volumes this quarter. And based on spot volumes versus contracts normally give a higher rate, then also, of course, we see an increase in the time charter earnings on that background. Time charter expenses ended at $2.7 million compared to $5.3 million in the Q4 . Reason for the decline is that we redelivered two vessels on short-term time charters during the quarter. Operating expenses ended at $49.1 million compared to $50.6 million.
It's a bit on the lower end this quarter, I would say. We had some positive deviations due to insurance claims that were reversed this quarter. We also have some lower activity on the dry docking side for our fleet, also then leading to a slight decrease in the operating expenses. Share of net results from associates and joint ventures, being the results from our terminal investments, ended at $3.2 million. And actually, that is the highest contribution from Odfjell Terminals since we did the restructuring of the terminal division back in 2016, 2017. And it's also a pleasure to see that all the terminals are delivering improved results this quarter, then substituting the substantial increase in the results that we have seen from that division in the several quarters now. G&A ended at $19.3 million.
We are comparable to the previous quarter at $19.4 million. Then we delivered an EBITDA of $126.8 million compared to $108.7 million in the Q4 . Depreciation $38.3 million, very much the same as previous quarter, led to an EBIT of $89 million compared to $71 million in the Q4 . Net interest expenses continue to decline. Reason for that is, of course, that we are decreasing the debt of our balance sheet. So we ended at $19 million this quarter. And after other financial items and taxes, we delivered then a net result of $67.8 million compared to $52.1 million in the Q4 of 2023. That gives an earnings per share of $0.86. And as you see from the table here, we also delivered commercial revenue days in accordance with what we delivered in the Q4 .
But we saw a decline in off-hire days, leading to a slight increase in commercial days. Looking at the time charter per day, we saw a substantial increase in that, ended at $33,000 compared to $31,000 in the Q4 . We also saw positive development in the cash breakeven, which ended at $22,500 compared to around $24,000 in the Q4 , bringing the 12-month rolling average to around $23,200 per day. Main reason for the decline in cash breakeven this quarter was that we had lower operating expenses and also lower time charter expenses, as I alluded to, and also that we had lower dry docking activity this quarter compared to previous quarters.
Going forward, we expect cash break even to remain around these levels, even though we are still striving to come closer to our cash break even target around $20,000 per day. The balance sheet, not that much development on that. We saw that we took delivery of one time charter vessels, Boeings. That is leading to an increase in right-of-use assets this quarter compared to previous quarter. We see that cash and cash equivalents decreased to $87 million. And if you include underwritten loan facilities, we ended at 152 million US dollars in available cash and liquidity. And we also had to consider that we'd paid out around $50 million in dividend during this quarter based on the results in the second half of 2023. Equity is continuing to increase.
We have a net equity ratio adjusted for our IFRS 16 commitments at around 48%, up 2% compared to end of last year. On the debt side, we did some extraordinary repayments of debt, leading to a continued decrease in our non-current interest bearing debt. We also see that we this quarter reclassified the bond that matures in January of 2025 from non-current interest bearing debt to current portion of interest bearing debt. The cash flow this quarter, we saw operating cash flow at $90.7 million compared to $101.4 million in the Q4 . The increase, that was the decline was then led by the increase in the working capital that we saw this quarter, where we had a negative change in working capital of $12.9 million compared to a positive change in working capital of $14.4 million in, in the Q4 .
Reason for the change in the working capital, negative this quarter, was mainly due to the fact that we, we saw an increase in the revenue through, throughout the quarter towards the end of the quarter, and also the fact that the, the capital the working capital is varying from quarter to quarter and from month to month. On investment activities, not too much to talk about. We did investments related to dry docking activities around $8 million. On the debt side, as I said, we did some extraordinary debt repayments of $25 million in addition to $17 million in scheduled debt installments this quarter. We paid a dividend of $49.7 million in February. Looking at the cash flow on a more long-term basis, we see that we continue to increase deliver increase, free cash flow, from the business.
This quarter, we had an operating cash flow of $91 million. After investment of $9 million, we had a free cash flow of $82 million compared to $64 million in the preceding quarter. The 12-month rolling free cash flow is continuing to increase and at $87 million this quarter. If you adjust for repayments related to the right-of-use assets, it reached $71 million this quarter. Going forward, of course, we have some CapEx commitments to the new building that we have ordered, as Harald alluded to. We also have some CapEx commitments related to the purchase options that we now have exercised, in total, $118 million. The first purchase option will be delivered in December this year, while the second will be delivered in July 2025.
I must add that both these purchase options are quite favorable. We expect to have a quite high gearing, meaning that we are going to borrow 100% of the purchase price for these two vessels and the fact that this will not impact the free cash flow to equity in any material way. This is an overview of the debt maturity going forward. We did a refinancing in this quarter of 6 vessels in total. I must say we did that on quite favorable terms, leading to the lowest margin that we have seen for a very long time. Also due to the refinancing, we are decreasing the cash break even for those vessels included in that facility with around $1,700 per day and also increasing the underwritten capacity for the group at around $26 million.
And also, as we alluded to in the last quarter, this refinancing, including the first of its kind, transition finance tranche that we presented in the last quarter. We did some extraordinary debt repayments, and we have available underwritten for funds total $91 million per end of April. We are considering to refinance some maturities early going forward to reduce the debt burden and also to improve the terms on this financing. We have a bond maturing in January 2025. We haven't decided yet what to do with that. Based on the earnings that we see today, based on the balance sheet we have, we will be able to just repay that with cash on our balance sheet. But we may also consider to go to the market if we find that favorable for us.
On the debts, maturities, on the lower part of this presentation, we see that we have estimated debt end of this year at $784 million, which is somewhat lower than we presented last quarter. End of Q4 2026, we expect to be around $600 million in debt, interest-bearing debt at that time, of course, depending on the earnings and what they decided to do on the investment side in that period. I think that leaves my presentation. Over to you again, Harald.
Thank you, Terje. I will, then, continue with our operational review. The rates increased during the Q1 , and this was mainly driven by the trade flow disruptions on top of an already tight market balance. The ODFIX Index was up 6.8% during the quarter, and this relates to an increase of 12.8% for the Clarksons Chemical Tanker spot earnings. We have touched upon a couple of times that vessels are being rerouted, and the graph on your right shows the transits of chemical tankers and product tankers through Gulf of Aden. And since December, there has been a sharp decline. Today, somewhere between 0.3-0.4 million tons of chemical tankers are transiting the Gulf of Aden on a weekly basis.
It's also important to notice that, as far as we understand, none of our direct competitors have been transiting Gulf of Aden during this quarter. The Q1 was an active quarter for contract renewals, and we continued to increase our rates. We renewed 22% of our existing contracts during the quarter, and the average rate increase was around 14%. These figures also include contracts where customers have exercised their option periods with rates rolled over at or around existing levels. Since the market upswing started, the contract rates are on average up around 30%. We saw, as Terje mentioned, a reduction in our total volumes being transported during the Q1 . This is due to the longer sailing distance from the rerouting of vessels away from the Suez Canal and also, to some extent from the Panama Canal.
The contract volumes fell quarter-on-quarter, while we saw some upswing in our spot volumes. The contract coverage in the Q1 came in at 59% measured against the total volumes. Carbon intensity, Odfjell's carbon intensity was within our targets also in this quarter. We report an AER of 7.14, which is slightly lower than the average that we saw for the full year 2023. We have also, as Terje mentioned, launched a Transition Finance Framework. And these funds will be used to finance our decarbonization projects going forward. The testing of air lubrication on board our vessel Bow Sagami is ongoing, and the final test is scheduled to commence later this month. The installation of suction sails on board Bow Olympus is slightly delayed to the Q1 of 2025.
The reason for that is a postponed dry docking and, by that, later arrival in Europe where the installation will take place. Then turning to Odfjell Terminals, the average commercial occupancy rate at our Antwerp terminal was 100% during the quarter. And we also saw that the Ulsan terminal experienced a quarter-on-quarter increase in occupancy. We saw a slight reduction in commercial occupancy at our U.S. terminals during the Q1 . And this is partly related to the commissioning of more than 32,000 cubic meters of new tank capacity at our terminal in Houston. Our terminals continue to perform well with an average occupancy rate at almost 97% in the quarter. This is in line with the previous quarter. Higher shipping costs due to the deviation away from the Panama Canal has to some extent reduced imports and exports between Korea and the U.S.
This, in combination with a reduction in end-consumer demand in certain regions, has resulted in a moderate reduction in activity levels at our terminals compared to mid-2023. However, the prospect of a macroeconomic soft landing globally can indicate an upside to activity levels for the second half of 2024. To the market update and our prospects going forward. Starting with the markets west of Suez. We saw a stabilizing of spot rates west of Suez throughout the quarter but also with an upswing in the U.S. Gulf to Europe trade lane during the quarter. The situations in the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal are contributed to limited tonnage supply in the Atlantic Basin. The picture was slightly better east of Suez, where we saw spot rate increases throughout the quarter.
The rates for the Middle East export to trade lane to Europe increased the most, while rates Middle East to Far East were stable. Here we also have to take into account that the Middle East, Europe trade lane is the trade lane that perhaps is most affected by the deviation away from the Suez Canal. Total chemical volumes were stable in the quarter. We now see that the influx of swing tonnage is less than 3% of the total product tanker fleet, meaning that more or less only IMO tonnage that has traditionally sailed all the time within chemicals are those being left in our segment. Order book remains at low levels. During the quarter, we have seen some new additions of orders for Super Segregators. The order book today is around 7.2% of the total fleet.
Approximately 2% of that order book is scheduled to be delivered in 2024. It's also important to notice that approximately 20% of the total order book are vessels for Odfjell account. Trade flow disruptions are likely to continue into the second half of 2024, and this will limit supply in an already tight market. Geopolitical tension, particularly the situation in the Red Sea, will continue to affect our markets. We also see a forecasted increase in GDP of approximately 3.1% in the global economy. We are foreseeing a soft landing. We also see positive figures both from the U.S., from India, and partly also from China. On top of that, we see that parts of the value chain are currently having low inventories. This indicates that the destocking of the pandemic and inventory buildup may now be coming to an end.
All in all, the global chemical production is predicted to grow by approximately 3% in 2024 after moving sideways in 2023. So all in all, we have a positive demand outlook with growth in production and continued high demand for ton-mile production. While we on the supply side see a stable development with limited new orders, we see swing tonnage remaining in CPP. And we continue to see that older tonnage is leaving our core trades. To summarize this presentation, Odfjell achieved a record result in the Q1 with strong markets and a very good operational performance. The time charter earnings for Odfjell Tankers increased significantly in the Q1 as the rerouting of vessels away from the Red Sea has elevated freight rates further.
The net contribution net result contribution from Odfjell Terminals increased in the Q1 as new capacity came on stream both in Antwerp and in Houston. Market outlook: we expect steady growth in demand and limited new supply. The net growth forecasted for 2024 is around 2% of the total fleet. The current situation in the Red Sea remains dangerous and uncertain. And we continue to increase the rates for our contract portfolio. And by that, we expect stable result contributions from Odfjell Terminals in the coming quarter. In sum, we expect our earnings to increase further in 2024 in the Q2 of 2024. Before we turn to the Q&A session, I would like to remind you that on Monday, the 13th of May, the coming Monday, then Odfjell will arrange our Capital Market Day in Oslo at the Hotel Continental.
I hope to see many of you there. If you would like to attend, then please send what you see on the screen, right now. We turn to the Q&A session. I'm curious to see whether anyone has questions for us today.
Yes. We have a few questions that have come in during the presentation. And I think we can say that there are a couple for each of you. I'll start with the first one to you, Harald. It is just a question concerning the volumes. And the fact that you mentioned it in your presentation, but volumes are slightly down compared to last quarter. And this relates to the quarter. Do we expect this to level out for the coming quarter, or can we expect further decrease related to the sailing distance?
Well, I think my first observation when it comes to our total volumes is that the decrease has been less than what we anticipated when we started to reroute vessels away from Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal. So, that takes away 6%-7% of the total capacity. But we haven't seen that high reduction in our total volumes lifted. So and that indicates that we become even better in utilizing the capacity of our ships. Now, we see that the capacity in Panama is slightly coming back. So, in volumes, for the coming quarter.
Okay. Thank you. Next one goes to you, Terje. And I think this is a question that we have gotten before. And it's related to, given the low financial ratio going forward or share buybacks?
That's a good question. Up until now, our finance strategy has been about capturing the short term and de-risk the long term. At the same time, we announced a dividend policy, I think, two years back, saying that we want to return 50% of the net results to our shareholders. And we, we have done that. And that has been well received, I must say. Going forward, of course, we see that our balance sheet is strengthening. Not at the target yet. I would love to be closer to that target, but that, that could be challenging. But at the same time, we want to, to keep and, and continue to strengthen our balance sheet and also building investment capacity for the future. As we have said, here we are, extending or expanding our fleet, mostly through time charter, doing the, the expansion on a capital light way.
But at some stage, we would also like to invest in our own fleet and build capacity to do that. So up until we decide otherwise, we continue, I think, on our strategy to capture the short term and de-risk.
Next question is for you, Harald. I guess on the subject of ordering ships, we did order one vessel for our own account, or directly, during the quarter. The question is, why did you order a single ship and not a series?
Well, that particular vessel is a 25,000-tonner that is being built in China. Delivery is expected to be in Japan. And then this vessel has been ordered for replacement in our fleet for our cabotage operation on the east coast of South America. So this is one vessel that is dedicated for one specific trade in South America.
Okay. Thank you. I actually think that was the final question. So, with that, the Q&A is concluded.
Thank you. Thank you all for listening. I'll see you on Monday next week. Have a nice day.