Earnings Call Excerpt
Eagle Bulk Shipping, Inc. (EGLE)
Q4 2008 Earnings Call
March 3, 2009 8:30 am ET
Executives
Sophocles Zoullas – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Alan Ginsberg – Chief Financial Officer
Analysts
Doug Mavrinac – Jefferies & Company
Natasha Boyden – Cantor Fitzgerald
Charles Rupinski – Maxim Group
John Chappell – JP Morgan
Scott Burk – Oppenheimer & Co.
Justin Yagerman – Wachovia
Chris Wetherbee – Merrill Lynch
Presentation
Operator
Welcome to the fourth quarter 2008 Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. earnings conference call. (Operator instructions) I would now like to turn the call over to your host for today’s call, Mr. Sophocles Zoullas, Chairman and CEO. Please proceed, Sir.
Sophocles Zoullas
Thank you and good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to Eagle Bulk Shipping's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2008 earnings call. To supplement our remarks today, I encourage participants to access our slide presentation that is available on our website at www.eagleships.com.
Please note that part of our discussion today will include forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We refer all of you to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may have a direct bearing on our operating results, our performance and our financial condition.
Please note on slide two the agenda for the call will follow our usual format. After my opening remarks I will discuss our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2008 highlights and provide an update of our fleet and our view of Eagle Bulk’s contracts which provide significant revenue visibility. I will also discuss recent events in the dry bulk market both with regard to demand and supply before turning over the call to Alan Ginsberg who will review the company’s financial performance. I will then end the management discussion with some concluding remarks before taking questions.
Please turn to slide four for a review of our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2008. I am very pleased to report continued profitability during one of the dry bulk industry’s most challenging quarters in history which confirms the success of Eagle Bulk’s strategy. During the quarter our net income was $15.1 million or $0.32 per share, adjusted for non-recurring charges.
Our gross time charter revenues were $62.4 million, up 64% quarter-on-quarter. EBITDA was $33.5 million also representing a quarter-on-quarter increase of 20%. Full year results were equally impressive. 2008 net income was $67.6 million or $1.44 per share adjusted for non-recurring charges. Gross time charter revenues were $194.3 million representing a 43% year-on-year increase. EBITDA increased 28% during the period to $127.7 million. Superior fleet utilization continues as we maintained a 99.5% rating for the period.
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