Dorian LPG Ltd. on Wednesday reported $172.44 million in net income for the 12 months to March 2023, more than double from a year ago, as higher shipping rates boosted revenue.
The Stamford-based gas carrier posted $76.02 million in net earnings for January-March 2023, also more than double the same period last year, as its revenue from first calendar quarter were an addition of more than 54.05 million dollars to 133.64 million dollars compared to January-March. 2022.
Dorian LPG collected revenue of $389.75 million in its fiscal year ended March, up from $274.22 million a year earlier.
“The increase is mainly due to the increase in average TCE [time charter equivalent] rates and a slight increase in fleet utilization,” he said in a press release. Its TCE fees, or revenue accounting round trip expenses, averaged $50,462 in the 12 months to March, up 45.6 percent from the year-ago period above “due to higher spot rates partially offset by higher bunker prices.”
Dorian LPG’s TCE rates for the first three months of 2023 rose 57.1 percent to $68,135 between January and March 2022.
It said the winter led to a surge in LPG imports to Far Eastern countries, including Japan, between January and March 2023. In China, following the easing of coronavirus restrictions , LPG imports are expected to have topped 2.7 million metric tons in April.
“Two new propane dehydrogenation plants started operating in the first calendar quarter of 2023 with a large amount of new plants. [sic] it is still expected to come online throughout 2023, which means that higher import demand is expected in China,” added Dorian LPG.
“The fourth quarter marked the culmination of the best financial year in the company’s history,” said Chairman, President and CEO John Hadjipateras in the announcement. “Strong hiring results and a strong balance sheet enabled us to return nearly $225 million to our shareholders in fiscal 2023.”
Earning $1.89 per diluted share in the first three months of 2023, Dorian LPG paid $40.4 million in irregular dividends for the quarter, the company said.
Despite the results, Dorian LPG closed lower at $23.32 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday from $23.85 in the previous session, as the outstanding balance of its long-term debt rose to 663.6 million dollars in March from 642 million in September.
It said it has entered into a $260 million debt financing facility to refinance borrowings under the 2015 AR Facility, Concorde Japanese Financing and Corvette Japanese Financing.
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