GasLog Ltd. Reports Financial Results for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2014
GasLog Ltd. and its subsidiaries, an international owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) carriers, today reported its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.
Highlights
• Successfully completed first dropdown transaction of two vessels to GasLog Partners LP (“GasLog Partners” or the “Partnership” or the “MLP”) for a total of $328.0 million upon completion of the Partnership’s follow-on public offering.
• GasLog Chelsea charter extended by PNG LNG at the rate currently in effect for an additional 75 days.
• Quarterly dividend of $0.14 per common share payable on December 5, 2014.
• Earnings per share (“EPS”) of $0.32 (Q3 2013: $0.15), EBITDA(1) of $68.7 million (Q3 2013: $30.7 million) and Profit of $31.0 million (Q3 2013: $9.2 million) for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.
• Adjusted EPS(1) of $0.26 (Q3 2013: $0.18), Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $68.7 million (Q3 2013: $30.2 million) and Adjusted Profit(1) of $26.7 million (Q3 2013: $11.4 million) for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.
CEO Statement
Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer, stated “GasLog has made good progress this quarter as we continue to execute on our business plan resulting in a $0.02 increase per common share in our quarterly dividend. The dropdown of two ships into GasLog Partners creates value for our shareholders as we recycle capital through the MLP to grow our business. This initial transaction could increase the distribution received by GasLog from the MLP by approximately 15\%, subject to MLP Board approval. It would also mean the payments to GasLog move into the first tier of incentive distribution rights (“IDRs”). This ensures that GasLog will obtain a greater share of future incremental cash distributions.
During the third quarter and in recent weeks, we have been encouraged by the increase in rates and the number of fixtures concluded in the short term market. During this period, PNG LNG informed us that they would extend the GasLog Chelsea charter for an additional 75 days at the same rate. We are delighted to continue to build our relationship with this charterer.
Whilst there has recently been significant volatility in global stock markets and commodity prices, GasLog has continued to perform strongly both from an operational and financial standpoint, with 14 of our 15 on-the-water vessels on long-term contracts. We remain well placed to grow the business further, through both newbuilding options and on-the-water acquisitions.”
Dividend Declaration
On November 19, 2014, the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.14 per common share payable on December 5, 2014 to shareholders of record as of December 1, 2014.
Investor Day 2014
The management of GasLog and GasLog Partners will be holding an Investor Day at the Pierre Hotel in New York on December 2, 2014, commencing at 14:00. For further details or to register for the event, please contact GasLog’s Investor Relations atIR@gaslogltd.com.
Completion of GasLog Partners Dropdown Transaction
On August 14, 2014, GasLog announced that it had entered into an agreement with GasLog Partners to sell two vessels to the MLP for a total consideration of $328.0 million. The transaction was the first “dropdown” of vessels from GasLog to the MLP since its initial public offering and is in line with GasLog’s strategy to use the MLP as a vehicle to fund the future growth of the Company.
On September 29, 2014, GasLog Partners completed a follow-on public offering of 4,500,000 common units at a public offering price of $31.00 per unit. The net proceeds from this offering after deducting underwriting discounts and other offering expenses were approximately $133.1 million. These proceeds were used to partially finance and complete the acquisition from GasLog of 100\% of the ownership interest in GAS-sixteen Ltd. and GAS-seventeen Ltd., the entities that own and charter 145,000 cbm LNG carriers, the Methane Rita Andrea and Methane Jane Elizabeth, respectively, and to prepay $25.0 million of debt secured by those vessels in October 2014.
Following the completion of the follow-on public offering and the acquisition, the Partnership’s management intends to recommend to its Board of Directors an increase in the quarterly distribution of between $0.05625 and $0.06250, an increase of approximately 15\% above the existing minimum quarterly distribution. This annualized increase of between $0.225 and $0.250 per unit will become effective for the Partnership’s cash distribution with respect to the quarter ending December 31, 2014. Any such increase will be conditional upon, amongst other things, the approval of such increase by the Partnership’s Board of Directors and the absence of any material adverse developments or potentially attractive opportunities that would make such an increase inadvisable. This recommended increase in distribution will, if approved by the Board of Directors of the Partnership, meet or exceed the first IDR threshold, resulting in higher incremental distributions for GasLog.
Full Report
Source: GasLog Ltd.
