Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Costamare Bulkers Holdings Limited conference call on the 1st quarter 2026 financial results. We will have with us Mr. Gregory Zikos, Chief Executive Officer of the company. At this time participants will be in listen only mode. There will be a presentation then a question-and-answer session. At this time if you would like to ask questions press star then one on your keypad. I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today, Wednesday, May 13th, 2026. We would like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking statements. Please take a moment to read slide number two of the presentation, which contains the forward-looking statement. I will now pass the floor to your speaker today, Mr. Zikos, p lease go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. During the first quarter of the year, Costamare Bulkers generated an adjusted net income of $12.4 million. As of today, we have successfully transferred the majority of the company's legacy trading portfolio pursuant to our deal with Cargill, effectively derisking our balance sheet. We expect that our trading platform will be free of the remaining legacy trades by year-end. As part of our fleet renewal program, we recently concluded the sale of one 2011-built Capesize vessel and the acquisition of one 2018-built Ultramax. At the same time, we accepted delivery of one newbuilding Kamsarmax chartered in for a minimum period of five years. The vessel has been chartered out at a profitable rate for a minimum period of 11 months.
With total cash of about $270 million and debt of $640 million, the company is net cash positive, positioning us favorably to grow countercyclically in a low asset value environment. Regarding the market, during the first four months of the year, the market exhibited elevated volatility relative to historical averages, driven by increased activity and inefficiencies, while geopolitical instability contributed additional uncertainty. Capesize earnings were supported by robust iron ore and bauxite volumes coupled with winter peak growth. Ton mile demand was further reinforced by the expansion of the West Africa, China trade flows across both commodities. Alongside the firm Capesize market and broadly positive dry bulk sentiment, the Panamax Index was further supported by a record soybean harvest in Brazil, as well as the U.S.-China agreement reached at the end of 2025, which drove long-haul soybean shipments during the first quarter.
The Supramax segment recorded a solid start to the year as increased grain and minor bulk flows offset the negative impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure, which reduced Persian Gulf export volumes by approximately 50%. Moving now to the slides presentation. For slide three, you can see our Q1 results. Net income for the period was $9.9 million, or $0.41 per share. adjusted net income was $12.4 million, or $0.51 per share. By the end of Q1, total cash exceeded debt by approximately $127 million. As part of our fleet renewal strategy, we concluded the acquisition of one 2018-built Ultramax vessel and took delivery of a newbuilding Kamsarmax. This newbuilding is chartered in for a minimum five-year period with extension and purchase options and has already been chartered out for one year at profitable levels.
Another newbuilding Kamsarmax is expected to be delivered under a long-term chartering agreement with similar options. We have concluded the sale of one Capesize vessel with capital gains of approximately $7 million. Slide five. The transfer of the credit book to Cargill is substantially complete, with only one vessel remaining to be novated. We have derisked to a large extent our balance sheet and expect that by year-end, we will not have any remaining legacy positions. Our operating platform is currently focused on the Kamsarmax segment and consists of 20 third-party owned dry bulk vessels. Slide six. Regarding the owned vessels, most of the fleet is employed on index-linked time charter agreements with the option to convert to a fixed rate. Moving to slide seven. Charter rates strengthened during Q1 2026 with further upside momentum since April.
The vessel, the new vessel orderbook stands at 13.5%. With that, we conclude our presentation. We can now take questions. Thank you. Operator, we can take questions now.
Thank you. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star then one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star then two. That's star then one to ask a question. There are no questions at this time. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Zikos for any closing remarks.
Thank you for dialing in in today's quarterly results call. We're looking forward to speaking with you again, during the second quarter 2026 results. Thank you. Operator, we can conclude the call.
Thank you. This does conclude our conference today. Thank you for participating, y ou may now disconnect.