Good morning to all of you, and welcome to Odfjell's presentation of our second quarter results. We will follow an agenda which should be well-known to all of you. I will take you through the highlights, and then my colleague Terje Iversen will present our financial performance. Finally, I will conclude this presentation with an operational review, market update, and the prospects going forward. If we then turn to the highlights, we start with safety. We have seen a very volatile environment this quarter, but I'm still very satisfied to report that our strong safety performance continued throughout the quarter. I'm equally happy to say that our four Odfjell vessels that were trapped inside the Middle East Gulf have all safely left the region, and this is due to fantastic cooperation between the people on board our ships and also onshore on different locations.
We are presently not considering to send vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. If we then turn to our financial performance, we delivered time charter earnings of $195 million. This is up from $167 million in the previous quarter. Our average time charter earnings per day was 29,486. This is also up from 27,232 in the first quarter, and this reflects the stronger spot market that we have observed during the quarter. Our EBIT was $69 million. This compares to $46 million. The net result contribution from Odfjell Terminals was $1.8 million, which compares to $2.3 million in the previous quarter. Summarized, this concludes a net result of $54 million in the second quarter, compared to $32 million in the previous quarter. If we adjust for one-off items, the net result was $56 million compared to $26 million in the first quarter.
Other important items, our carbon intensity, the so-called AER, was 6.9 in the second quarter, and this is down from 7.0 in the previous quarter. We delivered this result despite the obvious inefficiencies that we observed in the Middle East region. We also took delivery of two new buildings on long-term charter during the quarter, and at the same time, we sold one vessel for sustainable recycling. On top of that, we signed an agreement to purchase four super-segregators to be constructed at the Kitanihon shipyard in Japan. Finally, yesterday, the board approved a dividend of $0.52 per share based on our adjusted first half results. By that, I give the word to Terje Iversen, who will take you through our financial performance. Thank you.
Thank you, Harald, and good morning to all of you. I will, as usual, start with the income statement for this quarter. As mentioned from Harald, time charter earnings this quarter ended at $195 million, a significant increase from the first quarter with $167 million. Looking behind the figures, of course, we were helped by higher spot rates, especially in the start of the quarter, which contributed to higher time charter earnings per day. We also had an increase in commercial revenue days, with 6,409 days, increase of 295 days, primarily due to delivery of two new vessels this quarter and also three vessels that were delivered through the first quarter. We also had a slight decline in off-hire days, also then increasing available days this quarter.
Included in the net time charter earnings, we have also included $5.3 million, which is a customer settlement following a favorable outcome of a recent arbitration. That, of course, then helped the total time charter earnings this quarter. Time charter expenses ended at $14.4 million compared to $15.2 million in the first quarter. Operating expenses, we saw a slight increase to $54.6 million, mainly due to new vessels joining the fleet this quarter, while we saw the G&A reduce this quarter from $20.3 million to $18.2 million, mainly due to seasonal effects in the second quarter. After other operating income not shown at this table at $1.4 million, we delivered an EBITDA of $111.3 million compared to $81 million in the first quarter. That also includes net results from our joint ventures with $2.2 million compared to $2.8 million.
Included in that figure is net result from our terminals with $1.8 million compared to $2.3 million in the first quarter. Decline is related to a smaller impairment being done at one of the terminals in this quarter. Depreciation and amortization increased somewhat to $41.7 million, mostly related to more vessels on our balance sheet. After a small capital loss this quarter related to a resale of a newbuilding contract for vessels being built in China of $0.9 million, we delivered an EBIT of $69 million compared to $46 million in the first quarter. Net interest expenses declined somewhat to $13.8 million compared to $14.3 million in the first quarter, also helped by net interest income this quarter related to the customer settlement that I mentioned in the time charter earnings with $1.4 million, then contributing to net interest expenses going down this quarter.
After other financial items and taxes, we then delivered a net result of $53.5 million compared to $32.1 million in the first quarter, leading to earnings per share of $0.68 compared to $0.41 in the first quarter. If you adjust for non-recurring items, we delivered a result of $56 million. That is then related to the impairment I mentioned and also the capital loss and all the other finance, improving the results to $56 million compared to adjusted results of $26 million in the first quarter. Time charter earnings per day strengthened this quarter. At the same time, we saw a lower cash break-even. Our time charter earnings per day ended at $29,486 compared to $27,232 in the previous quarter. Main driver, of course, the stronger spot markets, especially as we saw in the start of the quarter.
This is also worth mentioning that this time charter earnings per day excludes the customer settlement that I mentioned on the previous slide. Cash break-even declined to $21,804 compared to $22,984 in the first quarter, bringing the 12 months rolling average to $22,165. Decrease was driven by added revenue days from the five newbuildings that were delivered during the first half and also less off-hire days in the second quarter. Going forward, we expect the average cash break-even for this year to be around $22,000 per day. Also worth mentioning, our P&L break-even was around $22,281 compared to very much the same figure in the previous quarter. Looking at the balance sheet, we saw some changes on the ships and newbuilding contracts. As mentioned, we sold one newbuilding under construction. We also sold one vessel for recycling.
On the other hand, we also paid pre-delivery installments for the four newbuildings 40,000 dwt vessels being built of $35 million in April. We also took delivery of the two vessels on long-term time charters, increasing the total value of ships and newbuilding contracts this quarter. The right-of-use assets also increased from $285.7 million to $321 million this quarter. While we saw investments in associate joint ventures decline somewhat from $182.8 million to $180.9 million this quarter, the main effect was related to that we took out dividend from the terminals of $3 million this quarter. Cash equivalents ended at $165 million, while including available drawing facilities, we had $385 million in available liquidity end of second quarter.
Also worth mentioning that we paid the newbuilding Bow Pluto that we took delivery of in July with cash, and that will later be included in existing loan facility. On equity, we saw that equity increased by $46 million in line with the comprehensive income we booked this quarter, leading to equity percentage end of second quarter of 46%, very much in line with previous quarter. On the debt side, we saw that other current assets increased, and that was primarily due to the fact that we have more expensive bunker on our vessels and also increase in other inventories during this quarter being also impacted by new vessels being added to our fleet. Cash flow this quarter, we ended with a very strong operating cash flow of $81 million, an increase of $30.9 million compared to first quarter. Of course, that is mainly related to higher earnings this quarter.
On the investment side, we sold the newbuilding under construction in China, and we also sold one vessel for recycling. In total, that gave us cash of $33.2 million. On the other hand, we invested in the four newbuilding vessels with $35 million and also had some expense to dry docking and other projects. So in total, we are then left with net cash flow for investing activities of $19.5 million this quarter compared to $21.7 million in the first quarter. Not much going on the debt side when it comes to refinancing or new facilities, only ordinary repayments, leading to net cash flow from financing activities of - $27.2 million. In total, we then saw an increase in that cash and cash equivalents this quarter of $33.9 million.
Looking at the last 10, 11 quarters, we see that we are delivering a quite strong quarter with $80.6 million in operating cash flow, up from $49.7 million in previous quarter, relates to higher time charter earnings, as mentioned. Net cash flow from investment was - $20 million due to the installments on the newbuildings, primarily. On the other hand, we also had the proceeds from the sale of ships during this quarter. Net cash flow, free cash flow then ended at 80 minus 20 is $61 million this quarter, up from $28 million in the previous quarter. Looking at the 12 months rolling free cash flow, we are at $49.7 million. If we adjust that for repayments related to right-of-use assets, we reach $37 million compared to $35 million in the previous quarter.
On the debt side, not that much going on when it comes to maturing facilities the next quarters, not before in the fourth quarter 2027. Looking at the total debts end of second quarter, we have around $738 million in interest-bearing debts. We expect a slight increase year-end due to the level of Bow Pluto that will be financed by the new tranche that will be drawn upon in these days. We expect a small decline going forward based on existing profiles and a maturing loan going forward. Not included in this slide is the financing of the four newbuildings, the 40,000 deadweight tons vessels being delivered from first quarter 2027 until second quarter 2029. That will increase these estimated numbers. On the projected debt right-of-use assets, that is $321 million end of second quarter.
That will increase end of this year around $400 million, mainly due to delivery of four newbuildings that we deliver on time charter throughout the second half. We also will see an increase in right-of-use asset debt in 2027 and 2028 due to the new buildings being delivered on long-term time charters to Odfjell. When it comes to the four newbuildings, we are in process, and we are evaluating [alternative stay dates], and we expect that financing to be finalized within end of this year. CapEx and time charter commitments. In total, we have time charter or CapEx commitments at $289 million end of the total for the four newbuildings and including Bow Pluto, which then was paid in July with $35.4 million. We are left with the four 40,000 dwt new buildings being scheduled to be delivered from first quarter 2027 to second quarter 2029.
On long-term time charters, we are signalizing that we are having a lot of commitments when it comes to newbuildings being delivered from second half 2026 until 2029. If we summarize a total time charter hire for all these vessels, we are close to $970 million. On our balance sheet, that means that we will add around $500 million in new assets from second half 2026 to end of 2029. Harald will come further into that, but these vessels that we have on time charter that are going to be built and our own newbuildings accounts for around 13% of the current order book in our core segment. I will leave the word to you again, Harald.
Thank you very much, Terje. By that, I will continue with an operational review. We start with the volumes, and as you can see on the left-hand side of this slide, we have relatively stable volumes quarter -on -quarter. We lifted 3.2 million tons of cargo during the second quarter, which is the same as we did in the first quarter. However, if you look at the quarters reported in 2025, you see that the volumes are down from previous levels, and that is, of course, the effect of the Middle East Gulf situation. The split between spot and contract volumes were relatively stable also during this quarter, and we are reporting a contract coverage of 46%, which is up 1% compared to last quarter.
If we then turn to the markets in general, the Clarksons Chemical Tanker Spot Index reported an increase of 24% during the quarter, while the Odfjell Index is up 9.8%. It's important, once again, to notice here that Clarksons is reporting the difference between rates at the end of the first quarter and compare these with the rates at the end of the second quarter. The Odfjell Index is reporting average earnings during the quarter. So those two graphs are not entirely comparable. If we look at the volumes, we see that there is a slight decrease on specialty and commodity chemicals, but this is to a large extent outweighed by an increase on vegetable oils and biofuels. During the second quarter, 19% of the volumes that we lifted were vegetable oils and biofuels.
In the second quarter, this figure was 12%, and this compares to an average of 8% in 2025. So we clearly see that there has been a bigger influx of vegetable oils and biofuels during the first half. I must say, I'm satisfied by my organization's ability to change operation modus in line with changing market conditions. CPP was stable at approximately 4% of our total volumes. On to sustainability, we reported an AER of 6.9, which is down from 7.0 in the previous quarter. It's important to notice that we delivered those strong figures despite the fact that we see significant inefficiencies in and around the Middle East Gulf. Going forward, we will add more and more super-eco vessels, and that will have a positive impact on our AER performance in the future.
Finally, we are watching carefully the build-up of the El Niño in the Pacific Ocean. We do believe that this will have an impact on transits through the Panama Canal. It will likely have an impact on energy prices from November onwards, and we are also curious about the effects that it will have on the crop yields and by that production of vegetable oils and biofuels. Turning to our terminals, the headline here is stable performance despite significant volatility in the global markets. Our average commercial occupancy rate increased to 96%. That's up from 94% in the previous quarter. Throughput was up 6%, and the number of handlings was relatively stable. Our consolidated EBITDA for the terminals was $ 10.7 million, and this compares to $ 10.6 million for the previous quarter.
We have previously disclosed a shareholder dispute at our terminals in the U.S., and this dispute was referred to the court. We are satisfied to see that the judge ruled in favor of Odfjell on all the counts handled in the court. Going to the market situation, the storage demand in the U.S. is relatively soft. This is due to the world geopolitical situation, and we see the same tendency in Asia, where there are direct and indirect headwinds due to the shortfall or disappearance of Middle East volumes. We expect this situation to continue as long as the situation is as it is in the Middle East. We have previously reported two important expansion projects, one at our terminal in Antwerp, where we are building 18 duplex stainless steel tanks with a total capacity of 36,000 cu m .
This project is on schedule, it's on budget, and we expect the tanks to be on stream by the first quarter of next year. We are also building out at our terminal in Ulsan. Here we are building 88,000 cu m of carbon steel tanks. This project is on time and below budget, and we expect the tanks to be on stream towards the end of this year. Then to the market update and prospects going forward. We see that there are being reported strong earnings from the other tanker segments, both for VLCC and for the MR earnings. This situation has obviously an effect on chemical tanker freight rates. We did see a sharp increase in rates at the start of the quarter, particularly West of Suez, but also East of Suez.
West of Suez, this increase has been tailing off towards the end of the quarter, but the rates are still at very robust levels. We also saw some tailing off of rates East of Suez towards the end of the quarter. Of course, this area was characterized by surplus of tonnage due to the disappearance of the two Middle East trades. Naturally, rates have not been reported for those two trades since the outbreak of the war in the region. Then to the volumes and swing tonnage situation. I think the most interesting takeaway from this graph is the shortfall of volumes during the past three months, where we see that volumes are lower than what we have seen in the previous months and quarters, and the shortfall is approximately 6% of the total volumes.
We are also satisfied to see that swing tonnage is being maintained at very low levels. Then to the order book. The order book today stands at 20% of the sailing fleet. Odfjell has 13% of that order book, and that is at the end of the second quarter, we had 20 vessels on order. Since then, one vessel has been delivered, meaning that today we have 19 vessels on order, of which 17 are being built in Japan. The biggest fleet increase will be seen in the medium stainless steel segment, while we see more modest increases in the super-segregator segment, which is Odfjell's core segment. Going forward, we have seen the total volumes decline during the second quarter.
We've also seen that there has been an increase in volumes out of the U.S. and Asia, but these increases have not been enough to totally compensate for the lost Middle East volumes. The uncertainties in these figures relates to what is related to production increases and what is related to drawing on feedstock inventories. So that is one uncertainty when it comes to the chemical tanker markets going forward. The economic growth figures are relatively stable, but there are signs of increased inflation, which again, can have an impact on interest rates. Finally, we clearly see that the inefficiencies in the Middle East have a significant impact on the ton-mile production, which is the main reason why we have seen freight rate increases both East and West of Suez.
On the supply side, we do see that there will be vessels delivered over the rest of this year and also next year, and that will, of course, have an impact on the freight rates. At the same time, we see that we are building up a rather significant book of recycling candidates, which will provide a buffer for the vessel deliveries in the coming years. When it comes to swing tonnage, we expect that the other tanker segments will continue to maintain the present rate levels, and that will prevent the influx of swing tonnage into the chemical tanker business. Going forward, we expect the volumes to be more or less in line with what we've seen in the second quarter. We don't observe any important changes in the world GDP growth. We expect the geopolitical situation to continue throughout the third quarter.
Here I would like to add that the situation that we are facing today with unrest in the Middle East, we have seen increased unrest in the Black Sea. We have seen increased volatility in the Red Sea. We have seen attack in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Finally, we've also seen increased activity on the coast of Somalia. I think this is the first time that we see increased volatility in all these areas at the same time. On the supply side, I've mentioned the increase in the total sailing fleet, and I also touched upon the modest influx of swing tonnage. To summarize this short presentation, Odfjell reported a net result of $54 million. This compares to $32 million in the previous quarter.
For Odfjell Tankers, we saw an increase in average time charter earnings per day, and we also saw an increase in total time charter earnings during the quarter. We reported an increase in commercial days, and we also had a relatively low activity on the dry docking site. For Odfjell Terminals, stability is the key word. EBITDA and net result was very stable quarter-on-quarter, but the volatile geopolitical situation has an impact on storage markets, both directly and indirectly, and we expect this to continue throughout the third quarter. Going forward, we have seen that the spot markets have softened, but the rates are still at very attractive levels. Chemical tanker fleet will continue to grow, and the swing tonnage will remain low.
All in all, we do believe that this will continue to support the present rates, but there might be a potential downside with respect to vessel deliveries and the potential uncertainties related to diminishing inventories around the world. For the next quarter, we expect underlying net result to be lower and closer to the levels reported in the first quarter. By that, we have concluded our presentation, and we are now open to answer any question that you might have.
Yes. We have received quite a few questions during the presentation, so I will, as per usual, read them chronologically. I think some are of the same topic, so maybe we will try to bundle a little bit together here. Starting with the first one here. This goes to you, Harald. If Asia and the U.S. were unable to compensate for lost Middle East Gulf volumes, why did freight rates spike, and why are they still elevated? Do you expect rates to soften for the remainder of 2026?
If we start with the volumes, I said that the total volumes transported by chemical tankers was down approximately 6%. At the same time, we do know that the Middle East is delivering some 15%-20% of the total production of the world. That means that when those 15%-20% disappear from the market, but the total decrease is only 6%, that means that volumes are increasing in other regions of the world. So we have seen, first and foremost, a compensation for the volumes that have disappeared. That compensation is now being transported over much longer distances, meaning that the total ton-mile production during this quarter has been higher than what we have seen in the previous quarter. That, again, explains why the freight rates are going up. So this is, to a very large extent, ton-mile driven.
Yeah. Thank you. Next one is to you, Terje. It is quite a specific question, and I think you touched upon it during your presentation, but just for any confusion, I think this is relevant. In your Tankers report, you show an EBITDA of $116.8 million, but after adding elements, this is in fact, $115.5 million. What is the difference?
As I mentioned during the presentation, is that we had the order operating income of $1.4 million U.S. this quarter.
Yeah.
-which is included in the EBITDA, but not specifically shown in the P&L that we showed on the screen. If you look into the detailed P&L and also the notes, you will find further details related to that.
Yeah. Thank you. I think there are a few questions here, and this, I think, goes back to you, Harald. It is relating the current market and our outlook, and also the fact that we are taking delivery of vessels for the second half of 2026 and, of course, for the coming years. Maybe if you could just elaborate a little bit on how we see taking new vessels into a potentially somewhat softer market, and a little bit around that development.
Yeah. I can do that. We have been taking vessels into our fleet for more than a year already. All those vessels have been planned into our schedule. They go immediately into production, and they are making money from day one. I am not for a second concerned about the vessels that will come into our fleet in the coming quarters and years. We have a plan for every one of them. Secondly, we also have some buffer with existing vessels that are either due for recycling or where the time charter agreement is expiring. We have plenty of opportunities to balance our fleet. But I think the main message is that for more than a year, we have been taking those vessels into our fleet.
We have been making money on them, and we will continue to do so also for those 19 vessels that are due to enter our fleet.
Thank you. Next question is a bit specific on products here. If I may, I believe I have some of the figures that he is asking for here. But the question is, I read that sulfuric acid volumes are declining due to export bans. I assume that refers to China. Given our large stainless steel fleet, would that have a big impact on us? It is correct that acid volumes out of China have declined. At the same time, we see that our total acid volumes, first off, we have a diversified mix of products that we carry, so we will never see that one particular product will impact us in a significant way, but I believe our volume of acids was around 8%-10% before the crisis, and this has actually been quite stable for us, even after the export ban from China. Yeah.
The next question is to you, Terje, again, and you touched upon it in your presentation, but the question is if you could elaborate a little bit more on the planned timing of when you will secure financing for the owned new buildings on order.
Sure. I must say that we started to look into alternatives right after we placed the new building orders a couple of months back. We have been working on alternatives, and I would say we are quite advanced in our discussions with alternative structures. I must say that we are very happy to see large interest out there to finance us and offer us competitive financing. So I am quite optimistic that we are, during this fall, going to conclude financing at least for a couple of these vessels. We may wait a bit because some of these vessels are delivered in 2028 and 2029, and to avoid paying commitment fees and being stuck with that for a couple of years, we may conclude only a couple of those before end of year and wait with the two last ones. But that remains to be seen.
As I said, we are seeing great interest, and we expect to land a really good competitive financing for these vessels.
Great. Thanks. Next one is back to the Middle East situation. Again, you did touch upon this in your presentation, Harald, but as the Middle East Gulf remains shut, which markets do we have some sort of advantage in and can we pivot to?
Odfjell is luckily present in all the important global markets in the world, and the advantage of that is seen in the situation that we are in now. We have the capacity to change our vessels around. The shortfall of Middle East means that we are moving our vessels into other trades and also other products. I think this is best showcased with the 90% of total volumes that I mentioned for vegetable oils and biofuels. This is just an example of how we are utilizing our fleet to maximize earnings.
Thank you. Next one is regarding COAs, and the question is, how has your COA rate renewal evolved in 2026 so far? There is also another question: How do you see your COA rate as a relative share of volumes going forward?
When it comes to the renewal rates, I do not have the exact figures, but we do see a moderate increase when we are renewing the contracts. I also have to add that the second quarter was not a particularly active month when it comes to contract renewals, so it remains to be seen how this will develop throughout the year. I am equally happy to see that we continue to attract new contracts. We had several contracts being added to our portfolio during this quarter, and that is, I would say, a very positive sign. The second part of the question was?
How do we see the development of contract volumes versus spot volumes-
Yeah.
-going forward?
Of course, the main reason why we see a reduced contract share during the two last quarters is the absence of Middle East volumes. All the contract volumes from that region have disappeared, and they are being replaced by spot volumes in other markets. That is the reason why we see a decline on the contract side. The most important takeaway here is that we are able to turn around, and we are able to attract spot volumes to compensate for what is disappearing. Going forward, unfortunately, I think there is no immediate sign of a resolution to the situation in the Middle East, so I think we will continue to see this type of situation also in the coming quarters.
Thank you. The final question that we have received is regarding the Panama Canal, and the question is: The Panama Canal yesterday announced a cut in all daily transits effective in September. In 2023, 2024, when slots were last cut, chemical tanker rates improved significantly. How do you view the potential implications for your segment?
Chemical tankers are not the major ship type in the Panama Canal. But of course, those vessels that are bringing chemicals from the U.S. to Far East, typically utilize the Panama Canal. The last time that we saw a decline in Panama Canal transits, then most of the chemical tankers were rerouted and sailing eastwards around Africa, and then that way to Asia. My first observation is that it seems that the Panama Canal is much better prepared this year than what they were the last time that they had a drought in Panama. They have taken action at an earlier stage. They have, on two occasions, reduced the maximum draft, and now they are making new efforts to reduce the effects of a potential El Niño effect in Panama. I think this time we will see a more controlled development of the situation in Panama.
But still, there will be effects for chemical tankers simply because chemical tankers are not a prioritized ship type when it comes to transits through the canal. The prioritized ship types are, above all, the gas tankers, and secondly, the container vessels.
Thank you. That was the final question that we have received today.
Okay. Then I thank all of you for listening in. I thank those of you who have sent in questions for very interesting questions. I wish you a nice day ahead and also a nice weekend when that time comes. Thank you for attending.