Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the presentation of Odfjell's third quarter results. This presentation will follow a standard agenda. I will go through the highlights, and then my colleague, Terje Iversen, will present our financial performance, and I will conclude this presentation with an operational review. I will go through the market update and finally, our prospects going forward. Turning to the highlights, the third quarter was another strong quarter for Odfjell. The time charter earnings for Odfjell Tankers ended at $184 million, and this compares to $185 million in the previous quarter. We delivered an EBIT of $76 million, and this compares to $79 million in the second quarter.
We delivered a solid net result of $52 million and adjusted for one-off items, the result was $49.4 million, compared to $53 million in the second quarter. The rates on our renewed contracts during the quarter were up 18% on average, and this covered approximately 7% of our total, estimated contract volume. Net result contribution from Odfjell Terminals was stable at 2.1, compared to 2.3 in the previous quarter. Our carbon intensity, the AER for the third quarter, came in at 7.2. This is due to, seasonal changes such as, weather and trading patterns. So, the third quarter was, as expected, slightly higher than the record low 7.0, recorded in the second quarter. And finally, on September 19, we fully redeemed our $113 million bond.
And by that, I give the word to Terje.
Thank you, Harald. I will go through the financials this quarter, and, as usual, I will start with the revenue or the income statement for the quarter. If you look at the time charter earnings, we ended at $184 million in time charter earnings this quarter. Quite close to preceding quarter with $185 million. We saw that there were some lower spot rates this quarter, but that's what countered by more revenue days for our fleet and also slightly higher contract volumes this quarter. The increase in revenue days, that was due to less off-hire days than in the preceding quarter, and also that we have one more calendar day in this quarter.
Time charter expenses ended at $6.8, compared to $4.9, increased because we have slightly more time charter vessels on short time. The time charter operating expenses slightly lower than in the preceding quarter, with 48 compared to 49.3. Then we saw the share of net result from joint ventures being our terminals at $2.1, compared to $2.3. We also saw a decline in G&A ended at $17.0, compared to $15.5 in the preceding quarter. The reduction has more to do with seasonal effects that we had lower G&A in the second quarter than we normally have in the other quarters through the year.
Depreciation ended at $39.4 million, compared to $39.3 million, and we also had a small capital gain related to the sale of Bow Pioneer at $1.3 million, and that leaves us with an EBIT of $76.1 million, compared to $78.5 million in the second quarter. On finance side, we saw that we had the increase in net interest expenses, $24.8 million compared to $22.9 million. The reason for that is that we had to expense capital interest or financing costs related to a refinancing that we did with around $2.8 million this quarter. And that was due to a refinancing where we refinanced some leases and refinanced that into the bank market. I will come back to that a bit later in the presentation.
After other financial items and taxes, we ended at $51.9, compared to $52.6 in the second quarter. That leaves us with an earnings per share of $0.66 per share, compared to $0.67 in the second quarter. If you adjust for capital gain and also other financial items, we are left with an adjusted net result of $49 million, compared to $53 million in the second quarter. Moving on, we see that the time charter earnings this quarter ended just above $30,000, compared to $30,842 in the second quarter. On the cash break-even, we see that that is kind of flattening out this quarter.
We have seen that increasing for a few quarters now due to increased interest and also some inflation. But happy to see that we ended this quarter at around $22,800, around $500 lower than in the preceding quarter, and bringing down the 12-month rolling average to $23,300. Going forward, we of course continue to chase possibilities to reduce cash break-even, but we have done a lot on the debt side, stretching maturities, refinancing and getting cheaper financing cost. But going forward, I think the main contribution will be to continue to reduce debt, to be able to approach our target, which is still below $20,000 per day in cash break-even.
The balance sheet, most interesting to note is that the cash and the cash equivalent decreased this quarter. We ended at $74.3 million, compared to $131 million. The main reason, of course, is that we paid a bond in September of $113 million without doing any new issue or tap issue on the existing bond, and we also did a dividend payment of $49 million. If you include undrawn loan facilities, we have a cash, a cash available around $99 million end of third quarter. Also, looking at other current assets at $198.7 million, that has been decreased somewhat due to the sale of Bow Pioneer, which was included in at the end of second quarter.
On the other hand, we have seen an increase in working capital. Also, in line with that, the figure is not that reduced compared to the preceding quarter. Included in other current assets is also our shares in BW Epic Kosan, which we have now accepted a public offer to sell our shares. We have around 7 million shares, and we have accepted to sell them for NOK 39.24 per share, compared to NOK 21 per share, which is the booked value of the shares at end of the third quarter. Our equity continues to increase. We have now IFRS 16 adjusted equity ratio of around 44%, up from 42% end of first half.
As you can see on the debt side, we have reduced and continued to reduce our interest-bearing debt, both the non-current interest-bearing debt and also the current portion of interest-bearing debt, primarily driven by the repayment of the $130 million bond in September. Looking at the cash flow, we saw that the operating cash flow decreased this quarter, and that is 76.6 compared to 99.5. The decrease is primarily driven by increasing working capital with around $19 million. On the investment side, we of course are positively impacted by the sale of Bow Pioneer with $31 million... $33 million, and net of that, 16.6 in positive contribution for investment activities this quarter.
On the debt side, we have been quite active. We have repaid the bond, as I mentioned. We also did refinancing of four vessels this quarter. So in total, we actually took up new debt of $166 million, and we repaid existing debt of $250 million. Also this quarter, we then paid dividend of $49 million, leading to net cash flow from financing activities at negative $150 million for this quarter. That means that our cash decreased with $56.9 million, and based on opening cash of $131 million, we are then left with a closing cash, a cash equivalent of $74.3 million end of the third quarter.
If you look at the cash flow on a kind of quarterly basis, the last three years, you see that we continue to deliver strong free cash flow, driven by, of course, the earnings, but also this quarter, helped by the sale of the Bow Pioneer. So we ended at $93 million in free cash flow. If you look at the rolling 12 months, we are at around $80 million, continuing to increase. And also, if you adjust for debt repayments related to right of use of assets, we are around $63 million in quarterly 12 months rolling free cash flow for the company.
As I mentioned, also included there is that the fact that we had the negative, the increase in the working capital of $19 million, which we should expect should reverse in the coming quarter. Going forward, we should expect, based on limited CapEx, and also based on the guiding on the results, we should expect to see a continued strong free cash flow going forward. On the debt side, we have, as you can see here, very few upcoming maturities, not actually before we are coming into the third quarter of 2024. But we will continue looking to maybe to refinance some facilities early to lower our cost of capital and also lower the cash break-even further. As I mentioned, we were quite active on the refinancing side this quarter.
We refinanced two lease vessels in the bank market, actually lowering the cash break-even for these vessels with around $3,000 per day per vessel. And we achieved what I would call is historically low margins and also profiles that match the economic lifetime of the vessels that were refinanced. We also included the Bow Capricorn in the new facility, which was delivered to the company in October this year. Going forward, we expect to see a total loan balance end of this year at $875, which is within our kind of targeted equity-debt range of $750 million-$900 million.
And our prognosis of forecast going forward, based on existing loan agreements, based on installments profile, is to be around 774 end of 2024, if we are able to repay and debt service this debt based on the existing loan agreements. So then we are quite close to being below actually our target, as I said, between $750 million and $900 million. But of course, that will also help our cash break-even going forward, then we continue to reduce the debt. Then I will leave the word to you again, Harald.
Thank you. I will continue with an operational review. The spot market in the third quarter continued to soften, but Odfjell nevertheless maintained solid earnings at the back of increased contract coverage. During the quarter, we saw the ODFIX drop by 1.7%, and this compares to a drop of 7.9% in the Clarksons Chemical Tanker Spot Index. Turning to the categories of chemicals, we saw specialties at healthy contract rates and resilient volumes during the quarter. We saw easy chemicals maintain their historical share. We saw a slight decrease when it comes to exports of vegetable oils, and we saw a slight increase in our share of the CPP market.
In sum, you can summarize the volumes that they are more or less in line with our historical averages. We saw increased contract volumes, and we also had contract rate renewals up 18% during the quarter. Our contract coverage climbed further in the third quarter, reaching 54%, measured against our total volumes. Measured against the volumes carried on Odfjell vessels and excluding the external relets, then the contract coverage was 63%. During the quarter, a selection of existing contracts were renewed at an average rate increase of 18%, and this covered approximately 7% of our total annual estimated contract volumes.
We are now entering the peak season for contract renewals, and as we are now 1.5 years into a very strong market, we will see more renewals of contracts that have already been reset to current market levels. We maintained our carbon intensity within our targets. With an AER of 7.2 in the third quarter, Odfjell maintained a carbon intensity more than 50% below IMO's 2008 baseline. Due to weather-related seasonal variances, our AER was slightly higher than the 7.0 reported in the previous quarter. We are committed to retain our market leadership within energy efficiency. We have several ongoing novel technology initiatives, and these will deliver further efficiency gains without mandating extensive dry docking or substantial CapEx.
The first of these projects, air lubrication, has already been successfully installed on board our vessel, Bow Summer, and we have also commenced the testing of this system. Turning to the EU ETS, Odfjell is well prepared, prepared for the inclusion of shipping in the EU ETS, and we will pass through this cost to our charterers. Since 2 008, we have measured our emissions on a detailed level, and since early 2022, we have routinely distributed this data onto our charters. And also the EU ETS in our topic in every customer meeting and in every contract negotiation. I would also like to add that pass-through of ETS cost will encourage charters to prioritize emission efficient alternatives.
These emissions are allocated based on the Sea Cargo Charter principles, and also ETS cost will only incur in the sea legs that goes to, from, or within Europe. The total cost of Odfjell's EU ETS allowances in 2024 is estimated to approximately $7 million. Transporting with Odfjell will minimize ETS costs because we have the most energy-efficient chemical tanker fleet in the market. Turning to the tank terminals performance, the third quarter, EBITDA was $9.4 million, and this is in line with the previous quarter. Our terminals in Antwerp, Houston, and Charleston continued to operate at high or full capacity during the quarter. The Ulsan Terminal experienced a quarter-on-quarter decline, and this was due to recent completion of several ten-year tank inspections.
The average commercial occupancy rate for the portfolio therefore ended at 95.1%, and this compares to 97.6% in the previous quarter. Market development, the third quarter saw reduced throughput, and we also saw leading chemical producer reporting a somewhat lower activity. We saw maintained good imports of chemicals to Europe, and that resulted in continued strong demand for the services that our Antwerp terminal are delivering. On the outlook side, we expect the reduced occupancy rate to recover in the fourth quarter, and this is due to the tanks in Ulsan being back in operation again. And we also expect the present activity level to continue throughout the fourth quarter. And then to a short market update.
We saw spot markets softening in the third quarter, but they were bouncing back during the second half of the third quarter. West of Suez, we saw most trade lanes bottoming out in July, and they have been slowly rebounding since then. The transatlantic west trade lane saw steady rate development. East of Suez, we saw that spot rates were negatively affected during the quarter, mainly due to reduced exports of vegetable oils and lube oils. Through the quarter, spot rates for Middle East export remained relatively flat, while exports from the Far East saw a strengthening trend. Overall, the volumes are stable, and the share of swing tonnage lifting chemicals remain at low levels.
We now anticipate that approximately 4% of the swing tonnage is active in chemicals, and that is a historically low figure. The order book is also at historical low levels, particularly for vessels in our core segment of larger stainless steel vessels. There are a couple of orders in the mediums segment. There are very few orders in the large segment, and there are zero orders within Super Segregators. In total, the order book stands at approximately 4.1% of the current core chemical tanker fleet. The average age is 13 years, and 16% of the fleet is now 20 years or older. Current market conditions are expected to continue, despite the uncertain times that we experience right now.
Interest rates are at or close to the top or in most countries, and there are signs that this situation will continue for a longer time than first expected. We've also seen that the geopolitical tension has increased further, particularly in the European region. The Chinese economy remains sluggish, but there are some first signs of improvement in that region. And on the production side, we see that the European production remains at a low level. Turning to demand and supply, we expect the production to be stable in the fourth quarter, and we also expect the production of ton-mile to continue in the present pattern.
On the supply side, we do not see any signs of a growth in the chemical tanker fleet. We expect the swing tonnage to remain in CPP in the coming quarter. We also continue to see that the older tonnage is being sold out of our markets, and we do not see any signs that the fleet is increasing speed. To summarize this presentation, third quarter was another strong quarter for Odfjell. This was supported by increased volumes and more revenue days. In Odfjell Tankers, we saw volatile spot rates, and we also saw sum of revenue days which in sum delivered a quarterly result in line with the second quarter. For the Odfjell Terminals, we saw stable performance.
We had some tanks down for maintenance during the quarter, and we also saw a slight reduction in the activity levels at our terminals. Going forward, we noticed that the volumes within our core markets have shown strong resilience through 2023. We expect swing tonnage to remain in CPP. We expect the present tight supply side to continue with very limited new orders, and therefore, we anticipate that the current market will continue. The fourth quarter is a seasonally strong quarter, and we expect activity levels and freight rates to remain at the present levels. In Odfjell, we will have more vessels than usual planned for dry docking during the quarter, and therefore, we will have slightly fewer commercial days compared to the second quarter.
In sum, we therefore expect our earnings to remain stable in the fourth quarter of 2023. This concludes the presentation of our quarterly results, and we will now turn to questions from the audience.
Yes, good day, everyone. Just before we start with the, there's a couple of questions that have come in. I would just like to remind everybody's watching that you can post your questions using the functionality below our webcast on our homepage. There is a field for the Q&A where you can type your questions. Not too many questions that have come in so far, but we have a couple, and I think the first one here is for you, Harald, and it's a question on our contracts, and I'm just reading here. It's: "How should we think about COA rate renewals in Q4 and Q1? How much of estimated contract volumes expected to be renewed, and could these potentially be done at lower rates?
Well, that is an interesting question, and I'll be careful not to speculate in upcoming renewals. But I think it's fair to say that our contract portfolio can be split in two. There are a significant number of contracts that have already been reset to the current market levels, and I think those contracts will see a contract renewal in line with the present market situation.
And then we have some contracts that are coming out of the option periods, and of course, they will have to be reset to the current market levels. So we will have some contracts with slightly more moderate increases, and then we will have a certain portion of contracts where the customers will have to accept that their contracts are being reset to the current level.
Exactly. Thank you. The next question, I think, is also for you, Harald, and it goes on our fleet renewal, and it's basically just: "Can you give some comments regarding potential fleet renewal?
That is also calling for speculations. But, but, then you have to look at our fleet renewal in a 10-year perspective. And then and we've done major changes to our fleet since, let's say, 2016, 2017. So we are in this market with a young and extremely competitive fleet, so there are no immediate needs for Odfjell to renew our fleet. Having said that, it's also a fact that particularly our Kværner class is getting older. And at some point, we will, of course, go into the market and redo that, renew that segment. Whether that will happen next year or the year after, that is way too early to say.
Okay. And, the next question is also related to our vessels at least, and it's: "Any risk of delays to the scheduled dry dockings?
The answer to that is no. We have a very dedicated dry docking team, and we have better processes for organizing and carrying out dry docks than we've ever had before in Odfjell. So, I would say that probability is low.
Okay. And then there is a couple of questions that are related to the market and market outlook. I think the first question is more specifically on how the fourth quarter has fared so far. And there's a couple here on the more sort of next year compared to this year, how do we see it developing?
Well, I think we all know that there are uncertain times right now, and there are uncertain times ahead. So trying to predict the demand side is, I would say, challenging. And we also see that in the local markets, that rates are going up and down. There are surplus of vessels in one market, and then that surplus is moving to a different market. So on the spot side, I would say that I should be careful to give too much guidance on the demand side. On the supply side, all the figures are already on the table.
We know what the supply side is, and we know what the supply side will be next year, and also the year after. And I would say that the supply side right now is extremely favorable for the operators. So to summarize that, I would say stable demand side and favorable supply side.
Excellent. The questions keep coming in here, so I think we'll, we'll go back to the, the COA topic, for the next question.
Good
And, the question is: "In contrast to your peers, you have steadily increased your COA ratio over the last few quarters. Can you provide any color on why?
I think one of those who have followed Odfjell over a certain period of time have seen that most of the pure tonnage has exited the Odfjell, particularly during 2022. The exit of those 20+ vessels, of course, that left contract volumes on the table. And those volumes were transferred to the Odfjell-controlled or owned vessels. So I think part of the explanation is the reduction of our operated fleet. More volumes are going on to the Odfjell vessels. And part of the explanation is simply that we have seen interesting contracts in the market, and we have used the opportunity to take those contracts.
Yeah. Thank you. Next question is for you, Terje, and it's regarding our leverage, and the question is: "Your leverage is now on target. Can we expect higher dividends going forward?
That's a good question. We, we have, kind of delivered according to, to our promise to deliver 50% of the net results as dividend in the, in the last few, kind of quarters. And of course, going forward to, to have decreased leverage will help and kind of give us the possibility to deliver more dividend. But we still continue to chase our target to get, a reduction in the cash break-even, to get that down to a sustainable level, around $20,000 per day. So I don't think we will revisit that, policy before we actually see that cash break-even is coming closer to our target.
Okay. I think the next question is also for you, Terje, and, and the question is, "Any news regarding potential consolidation of A and B shares?
That is something that we are getting questioned about, from time to time. And the standard answer is that is up to our owners and the general assembly to decide.
But we are not going off pursuing that possibility at the current time.
Yeah. Okay, thank you. Yeah, and then there's another question on the COAs again. I guess that's t he favorite topic today, for sure. I think you've already touched upon it, but the question is: for the upcoming renewals in Q4 and Q1, is it possible to give a rough split between COAs coming off optional periods and those that already have been set to the current market during the last 18 months?
Well, I'll be careful to put a figure on that question. But I guess we are talking approximately two-thirds of our total contract portfolio has been through a resetting of the freight rates. And then in the region, one-third is still in an option period and will be renewed during the next six months, I would say.
Yeah. Thank you. And then, I think it's the final question, and, this goes—well, it could go to both of you, but I'll ask you first, Harald. It's: given the strong earnings, do you see any opportunities to increase exposure on the terminal segment as it is also part of the corporate strategy?
Well, we have communicated and signaled an intention to increase our exposure towards terminals. And if the right opportunity should arise, then that is something that we will seriously consider.
Yeah. Okay, thank you. I think that was all the questions that we got in today. So with that, I'll give the word to you again, Harald.
Okay. This concludes the Odfjell presentation of our third quarter results. I thank all of you for listening, and look forward to presenting our fourth quarter results in early February. So thanks to all of you.