Pangaea Logistics Solutions Ltd. Q2 FY2025 Earnings Call

Good morning. My name is Chelsea, and I will be your conference operator today. I would like to welcome everyone to the Pangaea Logistics Solutions Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Teleconference. Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. You can access the recording by dialing 800-938-1601 domestically or 402-220-1546 internationally. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Stefan Neely with Vallum Advisors.

Thank you, operator, and welcome to the Pangaea Logistics Solutions Second Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call. Leading the call with me today is CEO, Mark Filanowski; Chief Financial Officer, Gianni Del Signore; and COO, Mads Petersen. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements about future business and financial expectations. Actual results may differ significantly from those projected in today's forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties, including the risks described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Mark.

Thank you, Stefan, and welcome to those joining us on the call today. Our results this quarter reflect continued disciplined execution of our business strategy. Despite a challenging and uncertain market environment, we delivered TCE rates that were 17% above the broader market, demonstrating the strength of our operating model. Our premium TCE performance during the quarter was primarily the result of our differentiated chartered-in strategy, which enabled us to capitalize on short-term market dynamics through flexible and cost-effective fleet deployment. For the second quarter of 2025, we reported an adjusted net loss of $1.4 million and adjusted EBITDA of $15.3 million. While average market rates declined 25% compared to the second quarter of last year, our ability to generate positive EBITDA underscores the resilience of our flexible cargo-focused approach. Total shipping days rose 51% year-over-year, driven by the addition of the SSI Handymax fleet of 15 ships as well as added days from chartered-in ships that supplement our own fleet providing operating margin arbitrage opportunities. Market conditions during the quarter were mixed. Larger vessel classes like Panamax and Supramax outperformed Handysize, and the larger segments saw improving trends late in the quarter, driven by a strong South American grain harvest which lifted overall dry bulk pricing heading into the third quarter. The industry outlook remains cautious due to geopolitical uncertainty driven by evolving U.S. tariff policies and global trade dynamics. These factors have caused some shippers to delay longer-term trade route decisions. Despite these headwinds, we remain optimistic about the medium and long-term outlook for the dry bulk market, particularly within the dry bulk trades and geographic regions we serve. These markets are supported by sustainable demand and are relatively more insulated from the impact of tariffs, especially our geared segments, which participate in minor bulk commodities. Vessel supply growth may weigh on rates in the short term. However, the continued evolution of global emission standards and a steadily aging global fleet will reduce supply in the longer term, creating a favorable backdrop for supply and demand. For the third quarter of 2025, broader dry bulk market pricing has improved as we enter the seasonal peak in our Arctic trade activity. As of today, we booked 3,671 shipping days for the third quarter, generating a TCE of $14,272 per day. Our vertically integrated service offering, cargo-focused business model, coupled with our niche ice-class capabilities position us well to continue delivering premium TCEs and value-added services that differentiate us from traditional dry bulk carriers. We're nearing completion of the expansion of our port and logistics infrastructure at the Port of Tampa. This project reflects our strategic commitment to grow our integrated logistics platform and build a business that is less sensitive to market rate volatility and more aligned with the long-term customer needs. Additionally, we'll start new terminal operations in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi in the next few months. And we recently completed the purchase of our remaining 49% equity stake in Seamar management, our technical operations platform, enhancing our ability to control our technical operations. Lastly, we've initiated a financing process for two unlevered ships and sold our strategic endeavor. Gianni will provide more detail shortly, but these moves reflect our proactive approach to optimizing our cost of capital, preserving balance sheet strength and allowing us to be more opportunistic in fleet renewal. Our long-term strategy remains focused on disciplined capital allocation, prioritizing fleet optimization, returning capital to shareholders, and maintaining a strong, flexible balance sheet. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Gianni to review our second quarter financial results.

Thank you, Mark, and welcome to those joining us on the call today. Our second quarter financial results were highlighted by sustained TCE premiums relative to the prevailing market as we capitalize on short-term market dynamics by utilizing our chartered-in strategy. Second quarter TCE rates were $12,108 per day, a premium of approximately 17% over the average published market rates for Panamax, Supramax, and Handysize vessels in the period, which was driven by our chartered-in strategy and the efficiencies created by our expanded fleet. Our adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $15.3 million, a decrease of approximately $600,000 relative to the prior year period. Our adjusted EBITDA margin decreased from 12.1% last year to 9.8% in the second quarter of 2025 as a result of lower market rates. Our total charter hire expenses decreased by 4% compared to the second quarter of 2024, primarily due to a 31% decrease in prevailing market rates, partly offset by a 35% increase in chartered-in days. Our charter-in cost on a per day basis was $11,813 in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of approximately 29% year-over-year. Through today, we've booked approximately 1,443 days at $12,653 per day for the third quarter of 2025. Vessel operating expenses increased by approximately 59% year-over-year, primarily due to the acquisition of the SSI fleet, which increased total owned days by 66%. On a per day basis, vessel operating expenses, net of technical management fees decreased from an average of $6,246 per day to $5,876 per day in the second quarter of '25. Total general and administrative expenses increased by 43% from $5 million to approximately $7 million. The increase was primarily due to the consolidation of our technical management operations, which resulted in $1.8 million in expenses being recognized in G&A, which were previously recognized in vessel operating expenses as technical management fees. In total, our reported GAAP net loss for the first quarter was $2.7 million or a loss of $0.04 per diluted share. When excluding the impact of the unrealized losses from derivative instruments as well as other non-GAAP adjustments, our reported adjusted net loss attributable to Pangaea during the quarter was $1.4 million or a loss of $0.02 per diluted share. Moving on to cash flows. Total cash from operations increased by approximately $5 million year-over-year to $14.4 million, primarily due to an increase in cash provided by net working capital. At quarter end, we had approximately $59 million in cash in total debt, including finance lease obligations of approximately $376 million. During the quarter, our overall interest expense was $5.7 million, an increase of approximately $2.6 million due to new debt facilities entered into during the second half of last year and from the assumed debt and finance leases associated with the SSI acquisition. As Mark mentioned, subsequent to the end of the quarter, we have begun the process of financing the strategic spirit for $9 million payable over 7 years to $1 million and an interest rate of SOFR plus 1.95% and the strategic vision for $9 million payable over 5 years to $3.6 million and an interest rate of SOFR plus 1.95%. The financings are expected to close in August 2025 and September 2025, respectively, giving us additional cash of $18 million on our balance sheet. In addition, we executed on our share repurchase program announced in May, repurchasing approximately 203,000 shares during the second quarter at an average price of $4.96 per share. Since quarter end, we bought back an additional 135,000 shares, bringing our total to approximately 338,000 shares. Our share repurchase program complements our dividend policy and underscores our commitment to returning capital to shareholders in a disciplined and balanced manner. Looking ahead, our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged. We are committed to maintaining financial flexibility while pursuing a balanced return of capital to shareholders. In addition, we continue to invest selectively in high-return opportunities across our logistics and stevedoring operations and remain focused on the ongoing renewal and modernization of our fleet, prioritizing capital-light initiatives that support long-term competitiveness and compliance. With that, we will now open the line for questions.

We have a question from Poe Fratt with AGP.

Good morning, Mark. Can I ask you about the asset sales? It seems there is an asset held for sale on your balance sheet. Can you explain what that is, please?

That's our former strategic endeavor.

Endeavor, I'm sorry, strategic endeavor. We took that ship in with the 15 Handyships. It was the oldest ship we acquired and the smallest ship. So we thought that it was a good time to move it out of the fleet and begin to look for a replacement when we think it's time to buy.

And from that comment, Mark, it sounds like it's not time to buy right now. Can you just talk about the S&P market?

Mads is a little closer to the S&P market than I am. So I'm going to give him much chance to talk to you about that, Poe.

Thank you, Mark. Hello, Poe. Our approach to the strategic decision is that we typically evaluate the situation when a ship is due for a special survey. At that point, we assess whether it makes more sense to invest in the special survey or to sell the ship, take the cash, and be prepared to reinvest when the time is right. Given the current macro uncertainty, we don't anticipate making immediate moves. However, we are always looking at potential ships and are selective about which ones we would consider acquiring. We won't rush into any decisions, as we don't see a strong reason to do so based on current asset values and market conditions.

Okay. And then in your prepared remarks, you talked about decisions on certain routes getting deferred. Can you just give us a little more color on which specific markets or which routes you're seeing some decisions pending because of the macro uncertainty?

We experienced some shifts from the Far East to the U.S. earlier this year on which we had some contracts in place. However, shippers took a moment to pause and evaluate the situation. Over time, issues were resolved, and as the potential tariff rate decreased, the movement became profitable again. Consequently, we resumed those shipping activities. Changes like these will undoubtedly affect supply lines, although the extent of those changes remains uncertain. Shipping, particularly dry bulk shipping, benefits from uncertainties and inefficiencies, leading to new opportunities for us. We are actively seeking out these opportunities globally and expanding our fleet, deploying more ships in the Pacific to take advantage of these prospects.

Great. And then on the Port Logistics, it seems like you're doing more organic incremental investments in that business. Can you just talk about whether there are any potential acquisition opportunities that are on the horizon?

We have always focused on areas where we can be more involved than just moving cargo onto or off a ship. Our goal is to participate in ocean transportation as well. We concentrate on specific routes, customers, and commodities that align with our ships. At this time, acquiring a large terminal does not align with our objectives. We have built our business organically, primarily through leases and port licenses, avoiding the expensive option of real estate purchases. There are larger companies with bigger footprints than ours, but getting involved with them could limit our direct connection to ocean transportation and distract us from our core focus. Perhaps in the future, once we have developed our business, we might consider establishing a separate division. However, for now, we prefer to keep our operations interrelated, as we believe that is the best approach for us.

And at this time, there are no further questions in the queue. So I'd like to turn the call back over to Mark for any additional or closing remarks.

Once again, thank you for joining our call. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at investors.pangaeals.com, and a member of our team will follow up with you. This concludes our call today. You may now disconnect.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's presentation, and we appreciate your participation. You may disconnect at any time.