Greek tanker Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) has made an investment of around $314m in acquiring two VLCCs and two suezmaxes.
Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN), Greek tanker, has made an announcement regarding the purchase of two VLCC for $193.9m and two suezmaxes for $122m, after the release of its half-year results. These vessels are being built at Hyundai Samho and expecting them in the early and latter part of 2016. The huge investment made by the company is the reflection of its first half profits that have gone up due to the strongest tanker market since 2008.
The company had made a record profit of $41.3m in the second quarter, pushing its first-half figure to $78.6m, compared with $0.2m and $14.8m, respectively, in 2014. There is also surge in the revenues by $118.8m for the second quarter making it 61.3% increase over the Q2 2014, buoyed by a 55.7% increase in time charter equivalent (TCE) to $26,721 per day versus $17,163 per day in Q2 2014. EBITDA was $76.4m, compared with $34.1m in Q2 2014.
The main factors from which the company benefitted are:
- A 40% fall in bunker prices and
- Savings arising from the 19% appreciation of the US dollar versus the Euro since Q2 2014
The VLCCs are being funded by $14m in cash, bank debt and shares issued to York Capital Management whereas suezmaxes is routing its funding through cash and bank debt. With the strongest tanker market, the company is hopeful to deliver good results that can move the share prices forward.
Nikolas Tsakos, President and CEO of TEN said, “We are particularly pleased that together with very solid results, the Company is in the fortunate position to report premium charters, accretive acquisitions and profitable sales. With the strongest tanker market since 2008 and with a larger and more advanced fleet compared to then, we expect the company’s financial performance to excel and be reflected on our bottom line and our share price going forward.”
