GasLog Partners see rise in profit

GasLog Partners, the New York-listed spinoff of LNG shipper GasLog reported a profit of $25.4 million for the third quarter of 2017. 

The figure represents a 27 percent increase over the corresponding quarter last year and a 7 percent increase over the previous quarter.

The increase in profit in the third quarter of 2017 as compared to the same period in 2016 is mainly attributable to an increase in profit from operations of $3.6 million, mainly due to the delivery of the GasLog Geneva on September 30, 2016 and a decrease of $1.6 million in loss on interest rate swaps, the partnership said.

In addition, partnership’s CEO Andrew Orekar, said, “Following the successful acquisition of the GasLog Geneva, GasLog Partners delivered our highest-ever quarterly Partnership Performance Results for Revenues, EBITDA and Distributable cash flow, among other metrics.”

Quarterly revenue was at $73.4 million with EBITDA reaching $53.7 million, the report shows.

Commenting on the LNG market, the partnership said that there has been a momentum in the start-up of new LNG liquefaction capacity with the fourth train at Sabine Pass in the U.S. shipping its first commissioning cargoes in August 2017.

Post quarter end, Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG project in Australias tarted production with the first LNG shipment expected in the coming weeks. Dominion’s Cove Point project in the U.S. and Novatek’s Yamal LNG project in Russia are both expected to start LNG production by the end of 2017 and ramp up exports into 2018.

Looking longer term, final investment decisions for new liquefaction projects continue to be limited in the current environment, although a number of projects are making further progress towards FID in the U.S. and other regions.

A number of offtakers from LNG projects currently under development are yet to secure all of their shipping requirements and we are seeing an increased level of tender activity for both near-term and longer-term shipping requirements.

In the shorter term LNG shipping market, TFDE headline rates have continued to rise as the Northern Hemisphere winter nears, with Clarksons currently quoting headline rates of $51,000, an increase of 70 percent from the 2017 low and approximately 55 percent higher than this time last year.

Whilst the recovery in spot rates to mid-cycle levels is taking longer than anticipated, GasLog Partners said there are significantly more fixtures in 2017 compared to the same period in 2016, greater seasonality and consistently higher rates in 2017 than in 2016.

This improvement in rates, coupled with no new vessel orders in the quarter and only eight in 2017 to date, gives confidence in a continuing market recovery, the partnership said.