StealthGas Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Call - Zero-Debt Balance Sheet and Cash Surge Amid Geopolitical Friction

Conference Call Operator: Day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the StealthGas Inc. Q1 2026 results conference call and webcast. All participants are in a listen-only mode throughout the conference with no question and answer session at the end. Please note that today’s conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your first speaker, Michael Jolliffe, Chairman of the Board. Please go ahead.

Michael Jolliffe, Chairman of the Board of Directors, StealthGas Inc.: Thank you, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2026 earnings conference call and webcast. I’m Michael Jolliffe, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and joining me on our call today, as usual, is our CEO, Harry Vafias, and Constantinos Christovaris from Investor Relations. Before we commence our presentation, I would like to remind you that we will be discussing forward-looking statements which reflect current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. If you could all take a moment to read our disclaimer on slide two of this presentation. Risks are further disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Let’s proceed with the presentation. On slide three for a brief overview of another successful quarter.

Revenues were high at $42.8 million in quarter one 2026, 2% higher than the $42 million of quarter one 2025, 9% higher than the previous quarter’s $39.4 million. Adjusted net income for the quarter was $15 million, lower compared to the $16 million achieved last year, higher than the $13.3 million of the previous quarter. In terms of adjusted earnings per share, these were $0.40 for the quarter underlying the fact that the company’s stock is very attractive on price to earnings multiples. Since achieving our strategic goal of de-leveraging the company completely last July and repaying over the previous three years, $350 million in debt, we continued to maintain a very flexible capital structure.

We are one of the very few, if not the only public shipping company that has managed to achieve zero bank debt. We also do have a share repurchase program in place and bought back $21.2 million worth of shares since 2023. As the share price has appreciated, we did not buy back any shares during the first quarter. This company also has a strategic objective of maintaining a visible revenue stream, opting for longer period charters when available. As of June, we have $100 million in contracted revenues with charters up to 2029 and 45% of the fleet calendar days one year forward are secured by period charters. In terms of sale and purchase activity, we continue to look for opportunities to sell some older tonnage and possibly replace them with newer tonnage.

We entered in March into a contract to sell another one of the smaller ships, the Eco Royalty, and expect to deliver her in September. Two more vessels that we have previously agreed to sell, one was delivered in March to her buyers and the other one in May. Finally, let me mention again the Eco Wizard situation following last July’s incident as the vessel remains impaired both in a literal sense and in terms of accounting, as advised previously. The company is in discussions with the insurers of the vessel, and I’m afraid I cannot disclose more at this time. Suffice it to say that discussions are progressing, and we expect within the current month or coming quarter to have resolved the situation, so you should hear something on this fairly soon. Let us move on to slide four for our fleet employment as at the end of May.

Chartering activity was relatively consistent over the past few months. We did conclude five new period charters of three months or longer, same as last quarter, but this time the durations were longer. One charter was for two years, one was for one year, and the remaining three for six months duration. As we enter the summer months and the geopolitical situation remains fluid, the spot exposure for our fleet has actually increased, and we currently have five of our operating vessels in the spot market. Our intention is to reduce the spot exposure. Overall, we continue to maintain high period coverage. As of June, for the remainder of 2026, we have secured 55% of the fleet days on period charters, bringing in about $52 million in revenues for the remainder of the year. 1-year forward coverage is at 45%.

Total revenues secured for all future periods up to 2029 are around $100 million. In terms of dry dockings, five vessels were scheduled during 2026, an average number. Two of these dry dockings were for the first quarter, and we actually performed one more earlier than scheduled. In total, during quarter one 2026, we dry docked three vessels, hence the increased dry dock expenses. Two vessels remain to be dried up during 2026. Looking at the geographical location of our fleet presented in slide five, our company mainly focuses on regional trades and local distribution of gas, while the larger vessels mostly engage in intercontinental voyages, like loading in the U.S. to discharge in Europe. We continue to position the majority of our fleet, two-thirds, west of Suez, and particularly in Europe and the Med, in order to take advantage of the higher rates and more liquid market.

In the Far East, we only have one of our older vessels, and for the time being, do not intend to reallocate more vessels there as the rates continue to be lower in the East. We also have four vessels trading in Africa, and we are building relationships there as we are optimistic that in Africa, demand for LPG will grow faster. There are many LPG storage facilities under construction on the continent that will increase seaborne trading in the future. In so far as the conflict in Iran is concerned, we have not seen any particular change in trading patterns for the smaller vessels. Most affected were the VLGCs that were used for the majority of Persian Gulf exports, and to a lesser extent, MGCs and Handysizes, particularly for Iraqi exports.

As we said last time, we have one MGC vessel inside the Persian Gulf, where it remains until today. The vessel had gone to load LPG in Saudi Arabia just before the conflict began. We are anxiously monitoring the situation but have not attempted to exit as we do not consider the passage to be safe for the time being. The vessel is on time charter, so the freight for the time the vessel has stayed there has been paid. We hope the situation is resolved swiftly. I will now turn the call over to Constantinos Christovaris for our financial performance. Thank you.

Constantinos Christovaris, Investor Relations, StealthGas Inc.: Thank you, Michael. Starting with slide six, where we have a snapshot of the income statement for the first quarter against the same period of 2025. While the fleet was almost similar at 28 vessels, counting the vessels that entered and exited, the days the vessels were earning revenue was reduced by 8.5%. This was due to the timing of the dry dockings, when vessels are off hire, and also the inclusion of one still non-operational vessel, the Eco Wizard, until this case is resolved. Despite this reduction, revenues for the first quarters came in strong at $42.8 million, marking a 1.9% increase year-on-year as the vessels continue to operate in a firm market with especially the largest sizes reporting improved results. Voyage expenses were higher by $1 million as they include some additional insurance premiums related to the conflict in the Middle East.

Operating expenses were $13.8 million for the quarter and were contained only slightly higher than last year’s. This quarter, we had a significant increase in dry docking costs, which depend on the timing the vessels are sent to the yard, as three out of the five vessels that were due for dry docking this year were dry docked during the first quarter, compared to only a single vessel last year. Another item that influenced the results this quarter positively was the gain of $2.5 million from the sale of one vessel. The agreement for the sale was done last year, but the delivery took place in March. We also note a reduction in the interest costs by $1.4 million compared to last year as the company no longer pays any interest following the debt extinguishment. Net income for the first quarter was $15.9 million, marking a 12.9% increase.

Earnings per share for the quarter were $0.43. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $15 million and $0.40 per share. Overall, the company maintained high profitability. It has been enjoying lately, and although this was not a record quarter, it classifies among the best five quarters in its history in terms of profits. Looking at the balance sheet in the next slide, as of March 31st, 2026, the most important point to consider is the fast growth in the company’s cash position. That grew 32% from $99 million to $131.2 million in the space of three months through the sale of one vessel and $18 million in operational cash flow. Two vessels were held for sale as of March 31st, one already delivered in May, and one expected to be delivered in September upon the termination of its charter.

With the proceeds of these sales expected to boost the cash position by about $26 million. The book value of the vessels in the fleet was $475 million, reduced by 3.4% as one vessel was moved to held for sale, as well as the regular depreciation. Current assets were $79.7 million, close to the previous quarter, and mostly include the book value and related expenses of the MGC vessel, pending resolution with insurers. On the liability side, we want to show again that debt remains zero and the total liabilities of the company are a mere $26 million, all current. In a very short time, the company has achieved one of the healthiest balance sheets in the shipping space. Shareholders’ equity increased over the three-month period by $17.2 million to $708 million at 2.5% increase.

Moving on to slide eight, what most of you may be familiar, but it’s worth repeating for those listeners who are new. The company in the past always relied on debt to finance its operations and had a sizable amount of debt, over $350 million, but always moderately leveraged. Through asset sales and operational cash flow, it embarked on a strategic goal of eliminating debt, while at the same time maintaining its liquidity. Particularly since the beginning of 2023, in a little over two and a half years, it repaid about $350 million and became, in July 2025, for the first time since its inception 20 years ago, a debt-free company with a fleet of 26 unencumbered vessels. Only the joint venture vessel is currently financed, but it’s not consolidated in the results.

During January and April of this year, also repaid most of its debt with $7 million remaining. With no debt amortizing or interest payments, the cash flow break even for the fleet is significantly reduced, enhancing its competitiveness. The elimination of debt also gives the company much more leverage and agility when the time comes for expansion and puts it in a significantly better negotiating position with its banking partners while achieving significant savings in interest costs in the meantime. I will now hand you back to our CEO, Harry Vafias, for some insights on the market.

Harry Vafias, Chief Executive Officer, StealthGas Inc.: Let’s continue on slide nine, a world view on the LPG market. At the forefront, of course, is the conflict with Iran and the closure of the Straits. One-third of LPG supply came from the Middle East and the majority going through the Straits of Hormuz. At the moment, the straits are closed. We know as we have a vessel there and want to exit but cannot do it. The immediate impact was a drop in the global LPG exports, estimated at 3% for the first quarter. Of course, when we get the second quarter data, we expect to see a much more steeper drop. The effects of vessel repositioning took some time to appear in the LPG market, while tanker rates hit their highs in early March. The LDC rates reached their highs in late May.

For LPG, the alternative sources is U.S., so many vessels previously trading in the Middle East has been repositioned to the U.S. and currently many of those, once loaded, return to the Far East, taking the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope, a 45-day journey adding significant ton-miles to the equation. U.S. LPG companies are ramping up their exports, and we saw a record amount of propane being exported for the last week of May, surpassing 2.6 million barrels, a 22% year-on-year increase. This is a very short timeframe and quarterly increases are lower, but it goes to show that new records are broken and exports are ramping up.

This is an ongoing theme, as exports from the U.S. have been rising consistently for many years and the expansion of terminals in the U.S., with the most recent additions by Enterprise of the Houston Ship Channel and Neches River expansions proved extremely well-timed. Even if the pace of export increases eventually moderates, the underlying investment thesis for the planned capacity additions is proving to be sound. We expect LPG exports to continue growing and more plans for new additions. It’s important that supply chains are operating in time of strains. In that respect, Europe proved to be less impacted as it was well supplied at the start of the conflict. LPG prices did increase, impacting demand, but also naphtha prices rose even more.

During May, the propane naphtha differential reached a yearly high of over $250, opening up a short window for increasing use of propane in the petrochemical sector. Generally, high temperatures in Europe are expected to wane the demand. It was a different story in the East. China rushed to secure supplies. It has just recently decreased its imports from the U.S. to 30% due to trade tensions, and now unable to get Middle East supplies, the share of U.S. imports have jumped back to over 60%. India, the second-largest importer, was the most impacted nation. India depends on imports for 60% of its LPG consumption, mostly residential, of which 90% came from the Middle East. It has just this last November made a historic agreement with the U.S. to start importing U.S. LPG, but this diversification was not fast enough nor big enough.

The immediate effect from the crunch was a drop in demand, while the government put curbs on industrial consumption and renewed subsidies on residential consumption. At the same time, local production in March increased by 30%. As more cargoes from the U.S. find their way in India, the situation should normalize. The conflict in Iran has shown how important it is to have a resilient supply chains and the need for strategic reserves. We also need to keep in mind that a prolonged conflict could also eventually lead to demand destruction and longer-term investments could be abandoned, be it production facilities in the Middle East, like the Qatari projects or PDH plants in China. Even when this is done, it will take some time for the situation to normalize.

Ships will need time to reroute, and installations that have been hit, particularly in Saudi Arabia, will need to be repaired to be back to full operation. Countries will need to reconsider their supply agreements and their strategic reserves they hold and will need to replenish. All this is clouded in uncertainty, and we’re not in the business of making predictions. Let’s move to how actually our shipping market has performed over this period. Slide 10. The market in Q1 was building on the strengthening seen in Q4, and we saw reasonable tight tonnage availability in Europe through the quarter, resulting in rates remaining at firm levels. The size of the European pressurized market has grown in recent years with more volumes and more vessels, and there is in general decent liquidity in the market compared to Southeast Asia, where we see significantly less liquidity.

The three and a half cubic meter ships and the larger pressure ships have corrected a bit downwards from the peak as a few more vessels have positioned into this region. We expect the TC market to take somewhat of a breather over the summer as port vessel availability increases. Ordering continue at a very slow pace, a handful of vessels, mostly for 2028 and 2029 deliveries, some for the larger sizes of 11,000 cubic meters. We continue to believe that the order book remains very healthy while the existing fleet has a large number of older ships that will eventually need to be scrapped. Roughly a third of the fleet, over 20 years of age, but with a fair market, we continue to see only a few vessels being scrapped. For the Handys sizes, the events and inefficiencies seen in Q1 resulted in a firm freight environment overall.

Rates were on a slightly firming trend Q1, and the same trend was continued into Q2. Most of the TC concluded are for LPG. Very few of the petchem players are willing to commit on TC as a trading environment on the petchem fluctuates significantly both on price and cargo availability. There were no new orders for this size of vessels and the current order book, sitting close to 10% over the next few years, remains very healthy. Similarly to Handys, the MGC market was also influenced by the commencement of the war in the Middle East. Until the war started, we were seeing a normal seasonal pattern with a firm market, but nothing extraordinary. After the war started, the market had become extremely tight and the rates for spot voyages have firmed a lot.

At the time, the MGC spot market is around all-time high, very strong, supported by a VLGC spot market, which is also at all-time high. The firming market helped absorb the incoming new buildings as we are now in a period where the vessels already ordered are starting to enter the fleet. On the plus side, unlike what continues to happen with the VLGCs, the ordering for MGCs seems to have abated. Only two vessels were ordered. Still, the remaining order book remains substantial at close to 40%. Much will depend on demand growth in the long term to keep pace with the fleet expansion. To conclude today’s presentation, we announced today another highly profitable quarter with $16 million in net income. By zeroing the debt, we are now improving the cash flow considerably and continue to sell some of the older, smaller vessels in our fleet.

That means that we have grown our cash from $99 million to $131 million at the end of the quarter and to $155 million today. Our intention is to invest in renewing the fleet once the situation with the Eco Wizard is resolved. We can neither predict nor much less influence what happens in the market, but we have steered this company in a very fortunate position with a fully flexible balance sheet with zero debt and a growing cash pile to either weather any storm that may come or take advantage of new opportunities or simply enjoy the fruits of a very fair market. StealthGas is a solid company in a niche market with a bright outlook. We have now reached the end of our presentation.

We would like to thank you for joining us at our conference call and look forward to having you with us again at our next call for our Q2 results. Thank you very much.

Michael Jolliffe, Chairman of the Board of Directors, StealthGas Inc.: Well done.

Conference Call Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.