GasLog Shrinks Loss, Remains Optimistic

Owner and operator of LNG carriers GasLog Ltd. managed to cut its net loss amid a seasonal weakening in demand for LNG shipping in the second quarter of 2018.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2018, loss attributable to the owners of GasLog stood at USD 3.6 million, shrinking from a loss of USD 7.5 million seen in the corresponding quarter in 2017.

The company’s revenues for the period reached USD 132.8 million, up from USD 129.9 million reported in the same quarter a year earlier,

“As we anticipated, there was seasonal weakening in demand for LNG and for LNG shipping in the second quarter. LNG shipping spot rates troughed in late April but then more than doubled through June, driven by counter seasonal strength in LNG demand and Asian pricing that provided a clear arbitrage opportunity between the Atlantic and Pacific Basins,” Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer, explained.

“If this recent momentum is maintained through the 2018/19 winter, we expect the future financial performance of our spot vessels to show significant improvement on the second quarter of 2018.”

The company continued to execute its long-term strategy in the period with a contract for a seven-year time charter party with a subsidiary of Centrica. Against this, the company ordered a new 180,000 cbm LNG carrier with LP-2S propulsion from Samsung for delivery in the third quarter of 2020.

“We now have five newbuilds on order for delivery in 2019 and 2020, three of which have committed multi-year charters, while the two uncommitted newbuilds are expected to deliver into an attractive LNG shipping market,” GasLog said.

The longer-term supply and demand fundamentals for LNG remain very positive, with China’s LNG imports, in particular, increasing 50% year-on-year in the first half of 2018. Demand for natural gas and LNG remains robust, underpinned in the second quarter by significant increases in demand from major Asian consumers.