Good morning, everyone, and welcome to day one of our conference. My name is Stefan Guillaume. I am pleased to welcome the management team from Genco Shipping, ticker GNK. With me today is John Wobensmith, CEO; Peter Allen, CFO; and Michael Orr, Vice President of Finance. We will have a total of thirty minutes, including Q&A, at the end of the presentation. If you do have a question, please submit your questions at the bottom of your screen. With that, I'll turn it over to you guys.
Great. Thank you very much, and appreciate the introduction, and certainly appreciate the opportunity to be here with you all today. So if we look at Genco Shipping and Trading, we are the largest US-based dry bulk ship owner. We have 41 ships that are on the water today, headquartered in New York City, but we also have commercial offices in Singapore and Copenhagen. We transport both major and minor bulks. Major being iron ore and coal products, as well as the minor bulks, which are grains, corn, soybean, wheat, cement, fertilizers, et cetera, really all around the worldwide shipping lanes on a global basis. We have direct exposure to all the dry bulk trades.
We feel that is very important, so our Capesize vessels, our largest ships, have direct exposure to the iron ore, and coal, and bauxite trades, whereas the midsize ships are directly exposed to all of the minor bulk cargos. We provide a full-service logistics solution to our customers, and what we mean by that is we are booking directly with our customers to move their cargo, and we are responsible to get that cargo on board our ships and move it from point A to point B, and ultimately discharge it in the discharge port. We think we have created the best risk-return profile within the peer group. We have put our value strategy in place, which Peter Allen, our CFO, will go into more detail in a few minutes, but it consists of very low leverage.
We're at a 2% net loan-to-value today, with a very high dividend payout. And again, Peter will go into the specifics on that, but we have found that to be the best way to always play offense in a cyclical industry. US filer, so very high transparency in terms of financial reporting. No related party transactions. Unusual for dry bulk shipping, and that has allowed us to have a number one ESG rating globally out of 64 companies, and that is also very heavily weighted on the governance side, which is a very positive thing again, in the shipping industry. And we are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GNK. So if you look at our Q2 highlights, you'll see we had $23.5 million of net income, $0.54 a share.
Our adjusted EBITDA was almost $40 million, and our fleet-wide TC rate, 19,938. To put that in perspective, our cash flow break-even is somewhere around $9,000-$10,000 a day, so a lot of cash flow generated. As I mentioned before, we are down to 2% on a net loan-to-value basis, and we have been acquiring more modern ships and selling our older vessels. We bought two 2016 Capesize vessels in the Q4 of 2023, and we have divested five of our older, less fuel efficient vessels as well. Little big picture, in terms of commodities that are traded on the dry bulk side. On the far right, you can see the breakdown on a percentage basis for 2023 for Genco.
In the middle part of the slide, you can see that dry bulk makes up 45% of the global seaborne trade, which is obviously quite significant. You can also see the breakdown from an industry standpoint, with iron ore being the largest at 28%, and then into the coal trades, the grain trades, and the minor bulk trades. If we look at our global trade and really key routes, color-coded red for iron ore. One of the most interesting routes is out of Brazil, both on the iron ore and the grain side. That is the longest trade route that exists in dry bulk shipping, so there is a tremendous amount of operating leverage on that trade.
And again, that's one of the reasons why we feel it is very important to be directly exposed to the iron ore trade, as well as the grain trade with our mix of our fleet. You can also see major trades of bauxite, iron ore going out of Australia and into China. And then, of course, you have the Red Sea trades, but we are not performing those trades right now. We are actually going around Africa to avoid the dangerous situation that exists in the Red Sea today, and obviously, that adds ton miles to the story. Looking at our fleet, we have a barbell approach. Again, direct exposure to the iron ore, coal, and bauxite trades with the major bulks, the Capesize vessels.
That is where you have a lot of volatility, high industry beta, but we think that is extremely important to capture upside and important for valuation on the equity side but then we also have the more stable earnings of the minor bulk fleet, the Ultramaxes and the Supramaxes, more diverse trade routes, a little more linked to global GDP, and it allows us to create arbitrage opportunities within our trading desk as we move cargos around the world, and then this is one of my favorite slides. This just shows the real optionality that the company has created by having a very good risk-return model and low leverage. Certainly, with the operating leverage of the fleet, it enhances our position to pay dividends when markets are rising and up in a situation where we are today.
But it also allows us to take advantage of countercyclical opportunities and buy vessels when the market drops. I like to say that this structure always allows the company to play offense, no matter what type of market that we are in. Peter Allen will go again through the dividend structure and our philosophy on that in a few minutes. Just summing up quickly here, very low financial leverage. Again, that risk-return model, our goal is net debt zero. We are basically knocking on that door today. Quarterly dividends, we have returned 34% of our current share price right now in dividends over 20 consecutive quarters, and that is really important. Genco is the only company in the peer group that has this consecutive track record of paying dividends every quarter.
We have been growing the asset base. We have a fleet renewal program in place, where we're selling our older vessels and bringing on more fuel-efficient vessels that are newer. And of course, fuel being our largest expense, more fuel efficiency, that just drops right down to the bottom line as we save on fuel costs. Barbell approach, we like to have direct exposure to all the commodities, which is why we're in the Capesize sector, as well as the minor bulk sector with Ultramaxes and Supras. And then the volatility and the cyclicality of dry bulk shipping is well known. We think we have created the best risk-reward model to navigate that, always playing offense. In up markets, we certainly will distribute higher cash flows, operating cash flows to shareholders.
As the market declines, at some point, we will use that opportunity to grow the fleet, but always keeping that quarterly dividend in place based on operating cash flow. With that, I will turn it over to Peter Allen.
Great. Thanks, John. So I'll touch on the balance sheet and our capital allocation overview here. So what we've done since 2021, we've really focused on dividends, deleveraging, and growth. From a dividend perspective, we've paid out $206 million, while we've also delevered the balance sheet, repaying $344 million of debt over that period of time. We've also grown the asset base, investing $236 million in high-specification modern assets. So we've really had a three-pronged approach to capital allocation. And looking at where we are today, from a cash perspective, we have $42 million on the balance sheet as of June 30, $105 million of debt outstanding, but significant optionality and flexibility within our capital structure, having $328 million of undrawn revolver availability.
This page highlights just our debt repayments over the last number of years. We've really been on a downward sloping trajectory. What this has done, paying back nearly 80% of our debt, has reduced our cash flow breakeven significantly. We have no mandatory debt amortization. We have tailored our debt structure in line with our value strategy, which is to voluntarily pay down debt. So we have a revolver in place where we can pay down debt, save interest expense, but not lose the borrowing capacity, and we can redraw to purchase ships, much like we did in Q4 of 2023. From a dividend perspective, as John mentioned, we've paid 20 consecutive quarters of dividends. That's the longest stretch in the peer group. This amounts to nearly $6 per share over that period of time, which is about 34% of our current share price.
The value strategy, which is our current dividend policy, has been in place since Q4 of 2021, and we've paid over that period of time about $5 per share. Going to our dividend policy, we recently announced an enhancement to the dividend policy. The dividend policy is targeting 100% of operating cash flow, less a voluntary reserve. We have taken out the dry docking CapEx line item from this dividend policy, which has in turn increased the amount of available cash distributable to shareholders. So when we look ahead to 2025, for example, that will increase or result in about $0.95 per share available to distribute in terms of the dividend policy. So it is a good alteration.
It's positive, and you know, we think that it'll be shareholder-friendly in terms of that overall approach. We do like the dividend approach. That has been something that the company and the board has been very focused on over the last number of years. So this is essentially the new policy, operating cash flow less a voluntary reserve. And overall, when you put it together with Genco, we're in a really good position from a balance sheet and capital allocation perspective. Our net loan-to-value is 2%, which is an industry low. Our cash flow breakeven rate in the Q2 was about $10,000 per vessel per day, and we also have a significant amount of undrawn revolver availability.
So you have the low financial leverage, the low cash flow breakeven, but also a significant amount of optionality to go out and do an accretive acquisition if the opportunity presents itself. So overall, company is in a solid financial position from both the capital allocation and balance sheet perspective. So with that, I'll turn it over to Mike to talk about the industry.
Thanks, Pete. The Capesize index is now approximately $25,000 per day, and we are currently tracking to have our... the strongest Q3 since 2021, thanks to longer ton miles and muted net fleet growth. The Baltic Supramax Index is currently approximately $14,000 per day.
... Turning to slide 20, despite negative headlines regarding the Chinese steel industry, steel production is down only 2% on a year-over-year basis, and China's demand for major bulk commodities, such as iron ore and coal, remain firm. Iron ore imports are up over 5% year to date, with coal imports up over 12% year to date. Turning to slide 21, in the coming years, we expect significant iron ore supply to come into the market, particularly from the Atlantic Basin, both from Brazil as well as West Africa. And what's important is that the long-haul ton miles. The iron ore coming from Brazil and West Africa has about three times the ton mile impact as Australia to China cargos.
And with longer haul ton miles, you really stretch out the fleet and artificially restrict the supply of Capes in the region, which is a boost to Capesize demand, or Capesize freight rates in those regions. And similarly, on slide 22, we highlight the growing global bauxite trade, which has turned into quite a meaningful trade, particularly for the Capes, with volumes at approximately 150 million tons per year. Over the last decade, the global bauxite trade has averaged about 8% annual growth. Much of this is coming from West Africa and the country of Guinea. And what's important is that now with Capes ballasting to the Atlantic, they have a second option. Historically, they really only could go to Brazil to load iron ore.
Now they can also go to West Africa to load bauxite, and in the coming years, higher volumes of iron ore as well. On slide 23, we highlight the grain trade. We are somewhat in between North and South American grain season. South American grain season is more towards the early half of the year, with North American grain season in Q4 into Q1. What's encouraging is that we're seeing significant volumes of grains coming out of the Black Sea at their highest level since before the Ukrainian invasion. This is wheat coming from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and these are all positive factors for minor bulk rates. On slide 24, we take a look at the supply side picture.
The order book has crept up to about 10% of the global fleet, but we do want to highlight that about 9% of the fleet is 20 years or older. And as a result, we believe a lot of this ordering is replacement tonnage and not speculative ordering that we had seen 10 to 15 years prior. A lot of this is replacing the rapidly aging fleet that came on the water during 2008 to 2012 time. Finally, on slide 25, global port congestion is back below pre-COVID levels. We don't believe the port congestion can really fall any further. As a result, we believe there's significant upside risk when it comes to port congestion. Any...
When you're in such a tight supply and demand market, any uptick in fleet inefficiency, such as port congestion, can actually have meaningful impact on freight rates, in particular the Capesize segment.
Great! So just finishing up. Again, I can't stress it enough, best risk/reward model in the within the industry, within the peer group, with that very low leverage but high dividend payout and allowing for growth in particular going forward. Cash over breakeven rate is very low because of the lack of having to repay debt and amortization. Very strong balance sheet. Obviously, a lot of cash and liquidity in the form of the revolver that Peter spoke about earlier. We are continuing fleet renewal, and again, that's very beneficial to us in terms of lowering our fuel expense going forward as we sell our older, less fuel efficient vessels and redeploy the capital in newer, more modern ships. Very strong corporate governance.
I'll leave you with that, number one ranked on an ESG basis, and that's three years in a row that we've been ranked number one. So again, best risk/reward strategy. Really appreciate the time, and happy to listen to any questions.
Okay, so first question we have here is: How long do you think the disruption in the Red Sea will continue? How has this affected business for Genco?
So first of all, let's take the tangible. How has it affected business for Genco? So we are not transiting down through the Red Sea. We made that decision in December of last year because of the hostilities that were going on there against the shipping lanes and against global ships. So what we have been doing is going around Africa, and that, you know, has added days and ton miles in general for dry bulk shipping. So it has made it a less efficient industry, and what that typically does is help drive freight rates up. I would not say it is a game changer, but it certainly has been helpful in pushing rates up.
In terms of when it ends, I think it's very difficult to tell. My personal view is that it's not ending any time soon. Even if there are ceasefires, I think things have changed in that area, and not for the better. Unfortunately, I think a lot of this is going to be with us for quite some time.
Okay, next question would be: Can you talk about your current contract structure and contract tenure across the fleet?
... So I guess that's just time charter, is that?
Yeah, you wanna take that, Pete?
Yeah, sure. So, you know, a lot of the time, so most of the time we're trading spot, particularly with our minor bulk ships. As John mentioned, there's a trading platform built around that. So there's a value add in terms of the overall platform there. On the Capesize side, we have one one-year time charter at $35,000 a day. We also have four other index-related time charters that are around the one-year timeframe as well. So that's kind of our overall structure on the Capesize. We take more of a portfolio approach, spot trading Australia and Brazil to China, as well as index, as well as longer-term time charters.
When the market does sort of pick up, the one-year time charter, even the two-year time charters come more into play, based on just overall market fundamentals, liquidity, et cetera. So, it's certainly an opportunistic approach on the overall contract structure of our fleet.
Yeah, we tend to run the Capesize fleet more as a portfolio approach. So we certainly trade spot, and most all the ships are, with the exception of the time charter that Peter just spoke about, are trading spot. But we have a mix. So we'll do direct business with the iron ore majors, but then we'll also put a few ships on index, which are linked to the Baltic Capesize Index, and that bit gets repriced every single day. And we always have the option within that contract to fix, if we feel that's the right thing to do.
But we, again, when the market does move up, we will take off, you know, we will take monies off the table, and we'll lock in, such as the transaction that we did, that was probably six months ago now at $35,000 a day.
Great. So, next question would be, how does Genco differentiate themselves in the overall dry bulk space?
Look, I think the biggest, again, is how we've structured the balance sheet, how we've structured the dividend payout, and the value strategy as a whole, which we believe, again, is the best risk return model that exists in the peer group. And then clearly, the other real differentiating factor is our corporate governance and our ESG ranking being number one for the last three years. And we are, at this point, really the only US-based dry bulk shipping company. Again, very transparent because we're a US filer. Most of the companies in shipping are foreign filers, so you just don't get the same level of transparency that you get with Genco.
Okay. Next one would be just how you think about M&A and growth of the fleet.
I think it is with where vessel values have gone to the positive right now. I think it's very difficult to just simply lever up and buy in this market. However, again, we will continue the fleet renewal process and sell the older ships and redeploy into newer, more fuel-efficient vessels. We are always on the out, you know, on the lookout for, you know, share for share deals done at net asset value, so that there's no dilution to existing shareholders. But those types of transactions, they're larger, they tend to take a lot more time and, you know, more difficult to do, obviously.
I do have a question. If, with steel prices appearing relatively soft globally, like, I wanted to ask if this is affecting the dry bulk market, like, in a noticeable way?
Peter, Mike, do you want to take that? Yeah, thanks for the question. So in terms of overall steel prices, you know, I guess there's a few different ways to look at it. So, you know, China's obviously the largest steel producer in the world. It produces about half the world's steel. So the pricing that they get is very important for their overall margins in that steel complex. So the price of iron ore has also come down. So the steel margins that China is able to earn are very important on their go-forward steel production. So that's kind of one way to look at it.
Also, from a shipyard perspective, you know, steel is their biggest input, so shipyards are actually able to capture quite a bit of a bigger margin with lower steel prices and firm fleet values. But overall, in the overall steel complex, we've seen China's steel production reduce about 2% year over year, as Mike mentioned. We've seen steel exports increase around the world, ex-China, which really implies strong demand ex-China. So while the China property market, there's a lot of headlines that everybody sees, you know, Bloomberg, et cetera, about the Chinese property sector, ex-China, there does seem to be firm steel demand, and that's actually a positive for our business. So that's one thing that maybe is not getting picked up as much.
India's steel production is up 7% year over year. So there is that demand, ex-China, which is important as well.
Thank you. I do have another question, if you guys don't mind. The midsize segments have performed, like, I guess, kind of well. What do you think is, like, fueling that performance in the midsize segment?
Keep in mind, there's a very high correlation across all the sizes within dry bulk shipping, so the Capesize vessels all the way down to even the smaller Handysize vessels. Capes are performing well. You know, they're at $25,000 a day on the spot market, which again, is a pretty firm rate... The Supramax index is at around a little more than $13,000 a day. But obviously smaller ships than the Capes, so they of course have a little lower rate. But the reality is global GDP still seems to be clipping along at a good rate. Commodities are being moved.
We are coming into peak US grain season, you know, within really starting towards the end of this month, going into the Q4, so things should pick up even more. There's a lot of cement that is being brought into the US, but a lot of minor bulks that are moving still around the world. Again, that sector tends to be a little more stable and more closely linked with global GDP versus the Capes that are transporting a lot of iron ore from Brazil and Australia into China.
Thank you. My next question is, what is your outlook on growth? If you had to pick like one segment to focus on for expansion, which one would it be?
I think, again, we like the barbell approach we have with our fleet, so in terms of expansion and even fleet renewal for that matter, you're still gonna see us focus on the Capesize sector and the Ultramax sector, and again, we feel it is very important to be well-rounded and have direct exposure to all of the commodities within dry bulk shipping. The Capes, having that direct exposure to the iron ore trade, the coal trade, and the bauxite trade, whereas the minor bulks, again, a whole host of commodities around the world, and having that fleet mix, you know, we feel is important from a trading standpoint and equity valuation standpoint, and simply also being in the market day-to-day and having the real-time intelligence as to which way the market is moving.
Speaking of ship renewals, with second-hand ship values leveling off recently, where do you see them heading in the future?
They seem to be a little sticky right now, which is good. You know, they were really running up over the last few months, and it was getting a little frothy, so to speak, in terms of, you know, last done was higher than, you know, than the previous. And so I think what's happened right now is things have stabilized. So values have held, they're firm, but they don't seem to be moving around all that much. And by the way, there is still a lot of liquidity in the sale and purchase market. So, you know, transactions are being done almost daily on the sale and purchase market.
So there's a pretty good barometer in terms of understanding where values are, which, as I said, continue to be firm.
All right. Speaking of the spot market, with the current economic uncertainty, what are you seeing exactly? I know you say you're seeing a lot of liquidity. Like, do you wanna maybe expand further on that?
Look, I mean, again, just going back to what Mike was talking about on the supply side, it's one of the biggest. I think it's the most interesting thing with dry bulk shipping. Although only having 10% of the fleet on order, and yet 9% of the fleet is 20 years or older. So as Mike said, it's more of a replacement thing. And what that is doing is, particularly for newer vessels, but also the older vessels are holding firm as well, it has pushed values up. There is a scarcity of vessels to buy because of that very low order book that exists today. So I don't see that changing. I mean, certainly there will be volatility, but we're talking probably about plus or minus 10%.
Nothing, you know, nothing crazy.
Okay, and I know we're running out of time, but I do have one last question. I think you said you're currently operating about, like, 41 vessels. Like, are you planning to add more, or is that-
Yeah, we're. I would say we're, so we've sold a little bit more than what we had in the first part of the year. So we're actively looking to replace with newer second-hand vessels right now, in both sectors, the Cape and the Ultramax.
Do you have any closing remarks? That's all the questions I have. Do you have any closing remarks before we wrap it up?
No. Again, thank you very much for having us. We think this is really worthwhile and, you know, we're based in New York City, so if anyone is in the city and would like to stop by the office, we welcome that from an investor standpoint. But we're also obviously on email and phone as well to answer any questions. And again, thanks for having us.
We're glad to have you. Thank you for joining us, and thank you our audience for your questions. Take care now.
Thank you. Have a good day.
You too.