“Challenging” Market Pushes Eagle Bulk into Loss

US-based ship owner and operator Eagle Bulk Shipping ended the second quarter of 2019 in loss.

The company reported a net loss of USD 6 million for the period against a net income of USD 3.5 million seen in the same quarter in 2018.

Revenues during the three months reached USD 69.4 million, representing a decrease of USD 5.5 million or 7% compared to the same period in 2018, while time charter equivalent (TCE) revenue for the quarter equated to USD 38.9 million, marking a drop of 18% year-on-year.

The company achieved a TCE of USD 9,731 for the quarter, a decrease of 15% year-on-year.

Looking ahead into the third quarter of 2019, the company has attained a TCE of USD 10,285 with 57% of the available days fixed for the period thus far.

“Our results for the second quarter are reflective of the challenging freight environment in the first half of the year. Despite the headwinds, we continued to deliver strong TCE outperformance (relative to the the adjusted benchmark Baltic Supramax Index) of nearly USD 2,000 in the second quarter, marking our tenth consecutive quarter of outperformance,” Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk’s CEO, said.

Following end of quarter, the company issued 5-year senior unsecured convertible bonds totaling USD 114.1 million in gross proceeds, including the greenshoe of USD 14.1 million.

Additionally, the company entered into two deals to acquire a total of six high-specification SDARI-64 Ultramax vessels.

“Our recently announced bond issuance and pending acquisition of six modern Ultramax vessels, four of which will be delivered to us with scrubbers, is an important step for Eagle, as we continue to renew and grow our fleet with larger, more efficient vessels. Coupled with our existing scrubber initiative, we believe these acquisitions increase our leverage to the opportunities IMO 2020 will present,” Vogel added.