This revenue rise came about, despite decreased voyage days of 159 days and weaker than anticipated spot rates, due to the rise in rates of the majority of the period charters.
The company recorded an impairment loss of $3.2 mill for 4Q18 for four of its vessels, which were classified as held for sale.
As a result of the above, for 4Q18, Stealthgas reported a net loss of $5.3 mill, compared to a net income of $0.7 mill for 3Q17.
Adjusted net loss was $1.8 mill, compared to adjusted net income of $0.8 mill in the same period of last year.
EBITDA for the last quarter of 2018 amounted to $10.6 mill.
An average of 48.1 vessels were owned by the company during the period, compared to 50.9 vessels for the same period of 2017.
Revenues for the full year were $164.3 mill, an increase of $10 mill, or 6.5%, compared to the previous year’s revenues of $154.3 mill, primarily due to improved market conditions.
Stealthgas recorded an impairment loss of $11.4 mill for 2018 for 11 of its vessels, six of which were classified as held for sale as of 31st December, 2018. With regards to the remaining five vessels, one was delivered to her new owners in 2Q18, three were delivered in 3Q18 while the remaining one was delivered to its new owners in 4Q18.
As a result, the company reported a net loss for the year of $12.3 mill, compared to a net loss of $1.2 mill for 2017. Adjusted net income was $0.1 mill, compared to adjusted net income of $5.4 mill for 2017.
EBITDA for the 12 month period amounted to $51.7 mill.
As an opportunity to further expand the fleet while at the same time sharing all related financial and operational risks, StealthGas has entered into a joint venture agreement with a third party investor that has long standing experience in shipping investments.
The first step involved the investor acquiring a 49.9% interest in two vessel owning companies and therefore gaining co-ownership and joint control of the ‘Gas Defiance’ and ‘Gas Shuriken’.
These agreements will be accounted for in the StealthGas financial statements as an equity investment, as the company and the third party investor will have joint control over these entities, with only the related profit share reflected.
This agreement provided access to liquidity and additional capital for growth at a time when capital markets funding is not an attractive alternative, especially when the shares trade at a significant discount to NAV, the company explained.
Board Chairman, Michael Jolliffe, commented; “Our performance in the fourth quarter of 2018 did not reflect the strength typically associated with the fourth quarter of the year, which usually benefits from the seasonal factor of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
“This year, unfortunately, although the European market was strong, the Asian market followed the opposite course with low rates and subdued timecharter activity. These elements impacted our revenues and prevented us from enjoying a profitable quarter.
“We anticipate, however, that the market sentiment in Asia will gradually turn favourably and our company is well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity. Demand for LPG is strong, the orderbook is very low and timecharter rates for those contracts being fixed have remained at high levels notwithstanding the Asian market slow down. This leads us to conclude that the solid market fundamentals will eventually lead to a market correction.
“As for our strategy and plans for this year, we recently completed the seven vessel sales we had announced in 2018, thus considerably strengthening our liquidity and lowering our fleet’s average age. In addition, our recently agreed small scale joint venture with a third party investor not only enhances our liquidity further but most importantly provides an opportunity for further Company growth at a time when our segment’s basic fundamentals look promising,” he concluded.