Seaspan Boasts Stellar Operating Earnings

Hong Kong-based Seaspan Corporation posted a record USD 687 million operating earnings for the full year of 2019, which included USD 227 million of income related to the modification of time charters. 

For the fourth quarter of 2019, the company recorded operating earnings of USD 116.5 million, down from USD 134.3 million reported in the same quarter in 2018.

Revenue decreased by 2.3% to USD 288 million and increased by 3.2% to USD 1.131 billion for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2018.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2019, the decrease in revenue was primarily ascribed to the changes in the daily charter hire rates of seven time charters.

“Over the course of the last two years, we have made significant improvements across our capital structure adding USD 500 million of equity, restructuring nearly $2 billion of secured debt into an innovative portfolio financing program, and increasing our balance sheet flexibility by adding a total of USD 450 million of liquid revolving credit capacity – with the long-term goal of achieving an investment grade credit rating,” Ryan Courson, Chief Financial Officer, said.

“While focusing on strengthening our credit profile, we have also invested USD 2.2 billion of capital into high-quality shipping assets, which has materially improved our long-term cash flow profile. We will continue to invest capital to create long-term value through the Atlas platform which we expect to be finalized by March, and we are very excited about the opportunities in front of Seaspan and APR.” 

To remind, back in November Seaspan announced the proposed acquisition of APR Energy Limited (APR), a specialist in fast-track, mobile power solutions, in an all-stock transaction
valued at USD 750 million, including the assumption of debt, for an expected equity value at closing of approximately USD 425 million using shares of Atlas Corp.

In the same month, Seaspan announced a holding company reorganization to form Atlas Corp., a new global asset management platform. The proposed reorganization is planned to be carried out through the merger of Seaspan and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary, with Seaspan continuing as the surviving corporation and a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp.

Seaspan’s fleet consists of 119 containerships, including one vessel Seaspan has agreed to purchase, which has not yet been delivered, representing total capacity of more than 975,000 TEU.

As of December 31, 2019, Seaspan had total liquidity of USD 470 million, consisting of USD 195 million of cash and cash equivalents and USD 275 million of undrawn commitments under the
Program. The company’s unencumbered asset pool included 32 vessels.