OREANDA-NEWS. Navig8 Product Tankers Inc. (the "Company") (N-OTC: EIGHT), an international shipping company focused on the transportation of petroleum products, today announced its unaudited financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

Highlights 

  • Reported revenue of $22.9 million and net income of $5.8 million, or $0.15 per share, for the three months ended March 31, 2016.
  • Entered into a $76.9 million sale and leaseback agreement with CMB Financial Leasing Co. Ltd ("CMBFL") for two 74,000 DWT LR1 product tanker newbuildings under construction at SPP Shipbuilding Co., Ltd ("SPP").
  • Increased pre-existing secured commercial loan facility to $128.5 million in January 2016 to provide incremental financing for two additional 74,000 DWT LR1 product tankers under construction at STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. ("STX").
  • Accepted delivery of four 74,000 DWT LR1 newbuildings from STX as well as four 110,000 DWT LR2 newbuildings from Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. ("Sungdong"), increasing delivered newbuilding fleet to 10 vessels as of March 31, 2016.
  • Announced $130.3 million senior secured credit facility to provide post-delivery financing for four 74,000 DWT LR1 product tankers under construction at STX in April 2016.

"We are pleased to report increasing revenues as we accept additional deliveries from our newbuilding program. Greater than a third of our fleet has now been delivered, and we are beginning to generate substantial earnings," said Nicolas Busch, Chief Executive Officer of Navig8 Product Tankers Inc."

"Product tanker rates were volatile during the last three months after easing slightly due to delayed seasonal refinery maintenance. OECD product inventories are exceptionally high, which creates an interesting dynamic. While product tanker demand may be negatively impacted as drawdowns in inventories deter purchases, discharge terminals are capacity constrained, resulting in delays, congestion and a reduced supply of tonnage. Overall, the fundamentals in the LR product tanker market continue to strengthen with the growth in products exported from the Middle East and the U.S. and the resulting increase in long haul trades."

Fleet Update 

The Company entered into contracts to acquire 30 modern, fuel-efficient newbuilding product tankers. During the second quarter of 2015, the Company entered into an agreement with an unrelated third party to sell three LR2 vessels which were under construction at Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co, Ltd, Korea, for total sale proceeds of $178.5 million. One of the three vessels was delivered to the buyer in the second quarter of 2015 and the other two vessels were delivered to the buyer in the third quarter of 2015, realizing a total net gain on sale of $24.1 million.

As of the date of this release 10 of these vessels have been delivered and are in operation. The fleet is expected to be fully delivered by December 2016. Upon their respective deliveries, the Company's vessels will be deployed in the LR8 and Alpha8 commercial pools, both managed by Navig8 Group. The Company's newbuilding fleet comprises:

Seven 110,000 DWT LR2 product tankers (the "Sungdong vessels") built at Sungdong. The Company took delivery of the first of these vessels in November 2015 and four further vessels during the three months ended March 31, 2016. The delivered vessels operate in Navig8 Group's Alpha8 pool. The Company expects the remaining two vessels to be delivered between May and July 2016.

Eight 113,000 DWT LR2 product tankers (the "CSSC vessels") built at CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Limited ("CSSC Offshore"), formerly known as Guangzhou Shipyard International Company. The Company's eight CSSC vessels will operate in Navig8 Group's Alpha8 pool. The Company expects to take delivery of these vessels between May and December 2016.

Eight 74,000 DWT LR1 product tankers (the "STX vessels") built at STX. The Company took delivery of the first of these vessels in November 2015 and four further vessels during the three months ended March 31, 2016. The delivered vessels operate in Navig8 Group's LR8 pool. The Company expects the remaining three vessels to be delivered between April and May 2016.

Four 74,000 DWT LR1 product tankers (the "SPP vessels") built at SPP. The Company's four SPP vessels will operate in Navig8 Group's LR8 pool. The Company expects to take delivery of these vessels between July and December 2016.

Additionally, the Company has three ECO LR2 vessels on time charter operating in Navig8 Group's Alpha8 Pool. These time charters expire between June and October 2016.

Financing Update 

On 12 March 2015, the Company entered into a Pool Management Revenue Share Rights Agreement with Navig8 Asia Pte Ltd. and Navig8 Limited. Pursuant to this agreement, the Company places each of its 27 newbuilding vessels into Navig8 Group's Alpha8 and LR8 Pools upon delivery. The Company also receives a 30% share of the net revenues derived from the commercial management of the two pools. In consideration for the Pool Management Revenue Share Rights Agreement, 336,963 shares of common stock of the Company, amounting to $4.1 million, were issued to Navig8 Ltd. at an issuance price of $12.25 per share.

On 25 June 2015, the Company entered into sale and leaseback agreements with CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping Company Limited ("CSSC") for all of the CSSC vessels. The net proceeds from the transaction (after a 20% sellers' credit) are expected to amount to $304 million. Under the agreements, the CSSC vessels will be purchased by CSSC from the Company upon their deliveries from CSSC Offshore. The Company has entered into 10-year bareboat charters for the vessels, commencing on delivery. The Company has a purchase obligation to re-acquire the vessels at the end of the charter period and purchase options to re-acquire during the charter period, with the first option exercisable on the fourth anniversary of each vessel delivery. Under the sale and leaseback agreements, CSCC is also providing financing for the pre-delivery instalments for the vessels. These sale and leaseback agreements will be treated as financing transactions. As of March 31, 2016, $23.8 million has been drawn down on pre-delivery instalments.

On July 10, 2015, the Company entered into sale and leaseback agreements with Ocean Yield ASA ("Ocean Yield") for four Sungdong vessels. The net proceeds from the transaction (after a 5% sellers' credit) are expected to amount to $188.1 million. Under the agreements, the four vessels will be purchased by Ocean Yield from the Company on their respective deliveries from Sungdong. The Company has entered into 13-year bareboat charters for the vessels commencing on delivery, and has purchase options to re-acquire the vessels during the charter period, with the first of such option exercisable on the seventh anniversary of each vessel delivery. Two of these vessels have been delivered to Ocean Yield thus far under the terms of the Sale MOA and then delivered back to the Company under bareboat charter. The remaining two vessels are expected to be delivered by July 2016. Under the sale and leaseback agreements, Ocean Yield is also providing financing for the pre-delivery instalments for the vessels. These sale and leaseback agreements will be treated as financing transactions. As of March 31, 2016, $32.2 million has been drawn down on the pre-delivery financing facility with Ocean Yield.

In November 2015, the Company announced the closing of a $64.3 million secured commercial loan facility with Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank ("CACIB") for the first two of the Company's eight STX vessels. The debt financing covers approximately 65% of the contract price of each of these two vessels, which were delivered in November 2015 and January 2016. In January 2016, the Company announced that it had entered into an amended secured commercial loan facility for $128.5 million with CACIB and BNP Paribas to provide additional financing for the third and fourth newbuilding vessels at STX, which delivered in January and February 2016

On March 17, 2016, the Company entered into sale and leaseback agreements with CMBFL for two SPP vessels with contractual delivery dates in May and June 2016. The net proceeds from the transaction (after a 20% sellers' credit) are expected to amount to $76.9 million. Under the agreements, the two vessels will be delivered to CMBFL on their respective deliveries from SPP. The Company has entered into 7-year bareboat charters for the two vessels, commencing upon their respective deliveries, and has purchase options to re-acquire the vessels during the charter period, with the first such option exercisable on the third anniversary of the delivery date of each vessel. Under the sale and leaseback agreements, CMBFL also finances the pre-delivery instalments for the vessels. These sale and leaseback agreements will be treated as financing transactions. As of March 31, 2016, $21.6 million has been drawn down in respect of pre-delivery instalments.

On April 25, 2016, the Company announced that it had entered into a $130.3 million senior secured credit facility agreement with Citibank N.A., London Branch and Caixabank, S.A. (the "Credit Facility") to provide post-delivery financing for four of the Company's 74,000 DWT LR1 product tankers constructed or under construction at STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, including the Navig8 Experience, which was delivered to the Company in March 2016. The Credit Facility has two separate tranches -- a $26.1 million commercial tranche (the "Commercial Tranche") and a $104.2 tranche insured by Korean Trade Insurance Corporation (the "K-Sure Tranche"). Each drawdown from the Credit Facility shall be comprised of 20% from the Commercial Tranche and 80% from the K-Sure Tranche. The Credit Facility provides financing of approximately 65% of the contract price of these four vessels.

Results for the three months ended March 31, 2016

For the three months ended March 31, 2016, the Company reported net income of $5.8 million, or $0.15 per share, an increase of $3.4 million from the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was $22.9 million, compared to $9.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015. The total number of vessel operating days for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was 885, compared to 364 for the three months ended December 31, 2015 and 210 for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

The average daily time charter equivalent ("TCE")(1) earned by our three 115,000DWT LR2 chartered-in tankers in the three months ended March 31, 2016, was $28,515 per day. The gross average daily TCE for our owned vessels were $22,949 and $29,185 for our 74,000 DWT LR1 and 110,000 DWT LR2 vessels, respectively. These rates were achieved over an aggregate of 612 operating days.

Vessel operating expenses across our owned and chartered in fleet were $9.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, an increase of $3.6 million from the three months ended March 31, 2015 when our fleet was limited to three chartered-in vessels. Average daily operating expenses were approximately $5,800 for our owned vessels.

Depreciation expense for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was $3.2 million, an increase of $3.2 million compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015. This is due to the Company beginning to depreciate vessels in its newbuilding fleet as they are delivered commencing in November 2015.

General and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2016 were $1.8 million, an increase of $0.3 million from the three months ended March 31, 2015. This increase is related to the growing size of the company's operations and hence various management and administrative fees.

Interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was $2.5 million, as compared to no interest expense in the three months ended March 31, 2015, when the Company had not yet taken delivery of any of the vessels in its newbuilding program.

(1) Time charter equivalent, a non-US GAAP measure, is vessel revenues less voyage expenses (including bunkers and port charges but excluding pool commission).

About Navig8 Product Tankers Inc. 

Navig8 Product Tankers was established in 2013 as a joint venture between the Navig8 Group and DVB Bank to capitalize on anticipated strong supply/demand fundamentals and the accelerating growth of long-haul clean and dirty oil product cargo movements, driven by increasing geographic dislocations between producers and consumers.

Navig8 Product Tankers maintains an orderbook of long-range (LR), eco-design product tankers, comprising 15 LR2 and 12 LR1 vessels. The company's fleet is contracted to operate in various product tanker pools managed by the Navig8 Group, the world's largest independent pool and commercial management company.

Navig8 Product Tankers is listed on the Norwegian OTC market under the symbol EIGHT.