StealthGas Inc (GASS) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the StealthGas first quarter 2025 results conference call and webcast. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Michael Jolliffe, Chairman of the Board. Please go ahead.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 StealthGas 2025 年第一季業績電話會議和網路廣播。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。現在，我想將會議交給今天的發言人、董事會主席邁克爾·喬利夫。請繼續。

Thank you very much, Nadia. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2025 earnings conference call and webcast. I'm Michael Jolliffe, for those who don't know me, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Joining me on our call today, as usual, is our CEO, Harry Vafias, to discuss the market and company outlook; and Konstantinos Sistovaris to discuss the financial aspects.

非常感謝，納迪亞。大家早安，歡迎參加我們的 2025 年第一季財報電話會議和網路廣播。對於那些不認識我的人來說，我是麥可‧喬利夫，董事會主席。像往常一樣，我們的執行長 Harry Vafias 今天也參加了我們的電話會議，討論市場和公司前景；和 Konstantinos Sistovaris 討論財務方面的問題。

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. So please take a moment to read our disclaimer on slide 2 of this presentation. Risks are further disclosed in StealthGas filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在我們開始簡報之前，我想提醒您，我們將討論前瞻性陳述，它反映了對未來事件和財務表現的當前看法。因此，請花一點時間閱讀本簡報第 2 張投影片上的免責聲明。StealthGas 在向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進一步揭露了風險。

So let's proceed with the presentation, starting with some highlights on slide 3. Today, we released our results for the first quarter of 2025. It was another successful quarter in what can be described as a tumultuous market. We generated $42 million in revenues during the first quarter compared to $41.6 million last year and $43.5 million in the previous quarter, demonstrating resilience in terms of commercial operations. Adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2025 was $16.1 million similar to the fourth quarter of 2024, albeit somewhat lower than the first quarter of 2024, mostly due to increased expenses as shall be discussed later on.

那麼讓我們繼續演示，從幻燈片 3 上的一些重點開始。今天，我們發布了2025年第一季的業績。在動盪的市場中，這又是一個成功的季度。我們第一季的營收為 4,200 萬美元，而去年同期為 4,160 萬美元，上一季為 4,350 萬美元，這表明商業營運具有韌性。2025 年第一季的調整後淨收入為 1,610 萬美元，與 2024 年第四季相似，但略低於 2024 年第一季度，主要原因是費用增加，稍後將討論。

In terms of earnings per share, on an adjusted basis, these were $0.44 for the quarter. In this volatile environment, our high period coverage allowed us to sustain the high profitability we have been experiencing over the past year for yet another quarter. In terms of our strategic objectives, we are close to completely deleveraging the company. We have reduced debt by $54 million this year, bringing the current debt level close to just $30 million currently while maintaining a free cash balance of more than twice that figure. So the company is now debt free.

就每股收益而言，按調整後計算，本季每股收益為 0.44 美元。在這種動盪的環境中，我們較高的周期覆蓋率使我們能夠將過去一年的高獲利能力再維持一個季度。從我們的策略目標來看，我們已經接近完全去槓桿化公司。今年，我們已減少了 5,400 萬美元的債務，使當前債務水準接近 3,000 萬美元，同時保持了該數字兩倍以上的自由現金餘額。因此該公司現在沒有債務。

All the vessels in our fully owned fleet of 31 ships are debt free, except for just one vessel that currently has a mortgage. Deleveraging also means that going forward, we are accumulating cash much faster. With regards to our share repurchase program, during the last call, we announced that we will be authorizing additional share repurchases. And since then, management has spent approximately $1.8 million in buying back shares in what we consider a sound use of our liquidity, given that the stock continues to trade at a steep discount to net asset value. We are further delivering on our strategic priorities by keeping a visible revenue stream.

我們全資擁有的 31 艘船隊中的所有船隻均無債務，只有一艘船目前有抵押。去槓桿也意味著，未來我們將以更快的速度累積現金。關於我們的股票回購計劃，在上次電話會議中，我們宣布將授權額外的股票回購。自那時起，管理層已花費約 180 萬美元回購股票，考慮到股票交易價格繼續大幅低於淨資產價值，我們認為這是對流動性的合理利用。我們透過保持可見的收入流來進一步實現我們的策略重點。

It was difficult commercially to expand on this strategic objective as the sentiment was not there, but we have managed to maintain period coverage for 2025 of 70% of our fleet days and have now secured over $165 million in future revenues. In terms of our fleet, the strategy, which is to conservatively diversify and renew, we saw some activity lately. During the first quarter, one joint venture vessel was sold as previously discussed. In April, we found a buyer for another one of our vessels, the Gas Cerberus that we expect to deliver in June. Then last week, we came into an agreement with our joint venture partners to acquire their share in two vessels that we jointly own, the Gas Haralambos and the Eco Lucidity.

由於缺乏市場情緒，從商業角度來看，擴大這一戰略目標非常困難，但我們已成功維持 2025 年 70% 的機隊使用天數的定期覆蓋率，並且已確保未來收入超過 1.65 億美元。就我們的船隊而言，我們最近看到了一些舉措，即採取保守的多元化和更新策略。第一季度，如前所述，已出售一艘合資船。四月份，我們為另一艘船舶「Gas Cerberus」號找到了買家，預計該船將於六月交付。上週，我們與合資夥伴達成協議，收購他們共同擁有的兩艘船舶「Gas Haralambos」號和「Eco Lucidity」號的股份。

And we also expect this to conclude in June so that our fleet will see a net increase by one vessel to 29. We will continue to look for opportunities to sell some older tonnage and possibly replace with newer tonnage.

我們也預計這項工作將於 6 月完成，屆時我們的船隊將淨增加一艘船，達到 29 艘。我們將繼續尋找機會出售一些舊噸位，並可能用新噸位替換。

Let us move on to slide 4 for some more details on our fully owned fleet employment as it looks today. Just like in our previous call, period interest from charterers was relatively low and mostly focused in Europe. As a result, we only concluded three period charters, two of which were extensions. One was for six months and the other two for one-year duration, all three related to trades in the West. That currently leaves us with five vessels operating in the spot market, two more vessels than in our previous call.

讓我們轉到投影片 4，以了解有關我們目前全資車隊就業情況的更多詳細資訊。就像我們上次電話會議中提到的那樣，租船人的定期興趣相對較低，並且主要集中在歐洲。結果，我們只簽訂了三份定期租船合同，其中兩份是延期租船合約。其中一次為期六個月，另外兩次為期一年，三次都與西方的貿易有關。目前，我們在現貨市場上經營五艘船，比上次多出兩艘。

Two of the vessels in the spot market are the larger handy sizes. The company's chartering strategy is to fix on period charters when possible and profitable, so we are looking to extend the duration of our charters.

現貨市場上的兩艘船都是較大尺寸的靈便型船舶。該公司的租船策略是在可能且有利可圖的情況下確定定期租船，因此我們希望延長租船期限。

Although a couple of ships were redelivered overall, we have managed to maintain the visibility of our earnings to a high 70% of available days for 2025 and have secured about $70 million in revenues for the remainder of this year. One year forward, coverage is at 60%. Total revenues secured for all future periods up to 2027 were reduced at $165 million. During the first quarter, one vessel entered dry dock towards the end of March, and we have scheduled dry dockings for two more vessels for the remainder of the year. It is a fairly light year in terms of dry dockings.

儘管總體而言有幾艘船被重新交付，但我們仍設法將 2025 年的盈利可見性保持在可用天數的 70% 左右，並確保了今年剩餘時間約 7000 萬美元的收入。一年後，覆蓋率將達到 60%。截至 2027 年的所有未來期間的總收入減少了 1.65 億美元。在第一季度，有一艘船在三月底進入乾船塢，我們已計劃在今年剩餘時間內再讓兩艘船進入乾船塢。從乾船塢工程來看，今年是相當輕鬆的一年。

In terms of our fleet geography presented in slide 5, our vessels are mainly engaged in regional trades, short trips that can last just a couple of days from load port to destination delivering gas to customers from major coastal ports down to draft-restricted destinations inside rivers. We continue to focus the majority of our fleet, over 55% west of Suez in Europe, particularly in the Northwest and in the Mediterranean. The remainder of our fleet is evenly scattered around the globe.

就幻燈片 5 中展示的船隊地理位置而言，我們的船舶主要從事區域貿易，從裝貨港到目的地的短途航行僅需幾天，即可將天然氣運送給從主要沿海港口到河流內吃水受限目的地的客戶。我們繼續將大部分船隊集中在蘇伊士運河以西的歐洲，特別是西北部和地中海地區。我們的其餘船隊均勻分佈在全球各地。

Our larger vessels, that is the handysizes and the MTCs to intercontinental voyages and for example, we have a couple of more vessels in the US at this time that are set to load in the US. Gulf and discharge their cargo in Europe. It is telling that in the first quarter of 2025, the US accounted for 63% of imports in Northern Europe, up from 55% in the previous quarter.

我們的大型船舶，即靈便型船舶和用於洲際航行的 MTC 型船舶，例如，我們目前在美國還有幾艘船舶準備在美國裝載。海灣並在歐洲卸貨。值得注意的是，2025年第一季，美國佔北歐進口量的63%，高於上一季的55%。

We believe that in the short term, the market will continue to pay premium rates west of Suez as there continues to be a shortage of suitable well-maintained vessels in Europe.

我們認為，短期內，由於歐洲仍缺乏合適的、維護良好的船舶，市場將繼續支付蘇伊士運河以西地區的溢價。

European ports and charters adhere to very strict regulations on vessel conditions and safety records. In addition to recently imposed environmental regulations related mainly to carbon emissions, a situation favoring established owners or owners with good management records. As a result, older vessels that are actually a high percentage of the overall pressurized LPG fleet are not always suitable for European trades and can more and can more easily find employment in the Far East or other places where regulations are not as demanding. In relation to the Red Sea situation, there have been no attacks recently and things are getting back to normal, leading to more vessels crossing the Suez Canal. This could lead to an increase in Middle Eastern exports going to the Mediterranean.

歐洲港口和租船公司對船舶狀況和安全記錄有著非常嚴格的規定。除了最近實施的主要與碳排放有關的環境法規外，這種情況還有利於現有業主或具有良好管理記錄的業主。因此，實際上佔整個加壓液化石油氣船隊很大比例的老舊船隻並不總是適合歐洲貿易，而且它們越來越容易在遠東或其他監管不那麼嚴格的地方找到工作。關於紅海局勢，最近沒有發生襲擊事件，情況正在恢復正常，導致更多船隻穿越蘇伊士運河。這可能導致中東地區對地中海地區的出口增加。

And in fact, we have recently been engaged in such a trade. We should also mention that over the last year, we have been increasingly engaged in ammonia trades that our Handys and MGC vessels can carry. We believe there is great potential in ammonia trading, although for the time being, it's still in relation to fertilizer production and what volumes may be used for fuel production remains to be seen. Finally, I should mention as far as it relates to the US policies, that it has always been our policy to acquire assets that have been built in the most reputable and highest quality yards even if we had to pay more for them. As such, the majority of our vessels are built in Japan and some of the larger ones in Korea.

事實上，我們最近一直在從事這樣的貿易。我們還應該提到，在過去的一年裡，我們越來越多地參與我們的 Handys 和 MGC 船舶可以運載的氨貿易。我們相信氨貿易具有巨大的潛力，儘管目前它仍然與化肥生產有關，用於燃料生產的數量仍有待觀察。最後，就美國政策而言，我應該提一下，我們的政策一直是收購在最有信譽和品質最高的船廠建造的資產，即使我們必須為此支付更多費用。因此，我們的大多數船隻都是在日本建造的，一些較大的船隻是在韓國建造的。

No vessel in our fleet was built in China. On slide 6, I will update you on our joint venture investments. Starting in 2019, we have through two joint ventures, invested in nine vessels, four small gas carriers and five medium gas hires, and through the course of the year with the joint ventures being more opportunistic plays, sold most of these, including one that we took back in our own fully owned fleet last year. During the course of this year, one pressurized vessel was sold in January. The debt on the two remaining pressurized vessels was repaid in March.

我們的船隊中沒有一艘船是在中國建造的。在第 6 張投影片上，我將向您介紹我們的合資投資情況。從 2019 年開始，我們透過兩家合資企業投資了九艘船舶，包括四艘小型天然氣運輸船和五艘中型天然氣租賃船。由於合資企業在這一年中更具機會性，我們出售了其中的大部分船舶，其中包括去年我們收回的一艘我們全資擁有的船隊。今年一月售出了一艘壓力容器。剩餘兩艘壓力容器的債務已於三月償還。

As of March 31, our investment consisted of just three vessels. Two pressurized LPG carriers and one medium gas carrier with the book value of the investment being $27.3 million. Out of the three vessels, two of these are operating in the spot market while the one pressurized vessel is on period charter until December, as announced during the previous call.

截至 3 月 31 日，我們的投資僅有三艘船。兩艘壓力式液化石油氣運輸船和一艘中型氣體運輸船，投資帳面價值為2,730萬美元。在這三艘船中，有兩艘在現貨市場運營，而一艘壓力船的租期至12月，正如上次通話中所宣布的那樣。

There are no forthcoming dry dockings during 2025 for any of these vessels. During last week, we came to a principal agreement with one of our joint venture partners that since their investments after six years has come full circle. To acquire back their half ownership share in the two pressurized vessels, the Gas Haralambos and the Eco Lucidity and we expect a cash flow outflow close to $10 million subject to final valuations. This agreement is subject to being formalized, but all going well, we expect to have it concluded and take delivery of the vessels within the next two weeks and before the end of the current quarter. From our standpoint, we are familiar with these vessels in their good condition, and we are taking them at a favorable price. This will leave a single vessel jointly owned, the medium gas carrier Eco Sorcerer that was built in 2023.

2025 年期間，這些船隻均不會進行乾船塢維修。上週，我們與其中一位合資夥伴達成了一項主要協議，自六年後他們的投資已經圓滿成功。收回他們在兩艘壓力船“Gas Haralambos”號和“Eco Lucidity”號中的一半所有權份額，我們預計現金流出將接近 1000 萬美元，具體取決於最終估值。該協議尚待正式簽署，但如果一切順利，我們預計將在未來兩週內和本季結束前完成協議並接收船舶。從我們的角度來看，我們熟悉這些狀況良好的船隻，並且我們以優惠的價格收購它們。這樣，雙方將只擁有一艘共同擁有的船隻，即 2023 年建造的中型氣體運輸船「Eco Sorcerer」。

I will now turn the call over to Konstantinos Sistovaris for our financial performance. Thank you.

現在我將把電話交給康斯坦丁諾斯‧西斯托瓦里斯 (Konstantinos Sistovaris)，報告我們的財務表現。謝謝。

Thank you, Michael. I will discuss the financial results that were released today. Starting with slide 7, where we have a snapshot of the income statement for the first quarter of 2025 against the same period of 2024. Due to sale and purchase transactions that took place over the period, there was a very small increase in fleet days of 2%. TCE or net revenues, that is the revenues after the voyage expenses came in at $36.9 million for the quarter, a decrease of $1.8 million or 4.6%.

謝謝你，麥可。我將討論今天發布的財務結果。從第 7 張投影片開始，我們有 2025 年第一季與 2024 年同期損益表的快照。由於該期間發生的銷售和購買交易，船隊天數僅增加了 2%。TCE 或淨收入，即扣除航程費用後的收入，本季為 3,690 萬美元，減少 180 萬美元，降幅 4.6%。

This was due to the weakness in the spot market. And while most vessels on period performed well, there were at times between four and five vessels operating in the spot market, generating increased voyage costs due to bunkers but not generating enough revenue to compensate for that. Two of the vessels were handysizes and they had the biggest variances.

這是由於現貨市場疲軟所致。儘管大多數定期船舶表現良好，但有時現貨市場上也會有四到五艘船舶在運營，由於燃油原因導致航行成本增加，但卻沒有產生足夠的收入來彌補這一點。其中兩艘船是靈便型船，其差異最大。

Operating expenses were $13.5 million for the quarter, a 17% increase, mainly due to higher crew costs and maintenance fees. It should, however, be noted that it is actually last year's number that was unusually low due to one-off items, whereas this year's OpEx was more in line with our cost structure and actually slightly lower than in the fourth quarter of 2024. This quarter's results also included some dry docking expenses of $0.4 million, mainly relating to the drydocking of one vessel during the end of March and there was no drydocking during the same period of last year. Similarly, the first quarter of 2025 results were also impacted by an impairment of $0.5 million for the vessel Gas Cerberus bringing down its value to the value that was agreed later in April that it would be sold. The vessel is still in the fleet, and it should be delivered to the buyers in June.

本季營運費用為 1,350 萬美元，成長 17%，主要原因是機組人員成本和維護費用增加。然而，值得注意的是，由於一次性項目，去年的數字實際上異常低，而今年的營運支出更符合我們的成本結構，實際上略低於 2024 年第四季。本季業績還包括一些 40 萬美元的乾船塢費用，主要與 3 月底一艘船的乾船塢有關，而去年同期沒有乾船塢。同樣，2025 年第一季的業績也受到 Gas Cerberus 號船舶 50 萬美元減損的影響，導致其價值降至 4 月下旬商定的出售價格。該船目前仍在船隊中，預計六月交付給買家。

There were no impairments for the first quarter of last year. Interest costs more than halved to $1.4 million during the first quarter of 2025 as a result of the lower debt levels. This number also contains an amortized portions of finance expenses. We expect that interest costs will be further cut in half in the following quarters. Net income for the first quarter was $14.1 million compared to $17.7 million for the same quarter of last year, a 20% decrease.

去年第一季沒有發生減損。由於債務水準降低，2025 年第一季的利息成本減少了一半以上，至 140 萬美元。該數字還包含財務費用的攤銷部分。我們預計接下來幾季的利息成本將進一步減半。第一季淨收入為 1,410 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,770 萬美元，下降了 20%。

On an adjusted basis, net income also marked a 15.7% decrease from $19.1 million to $16.1 million. Overall, $14 million in profits for the quarter is a high number and although reduced compared to last year's record, it is actually on par with the fourth quarter of 2024. In terms of earnings per share, that was $0.38 and on an adjusted basis, $0.44.

經調整後，淨收入也從 1,910 萬美元下降 15.7% 至 1,610 萬美元。總體而言，本季 1,400 萬美元的利潤是一個很高的數字，儘管與去年的記錄相比有所減少，但實際上與 2024 年第四季度持平。每股收益為 0.38 美元，調整後為 0.44 美元。

Looking at the balance sheet in the next slide, slide 8. Given the relatively uneventful first quarter of 2025, the balance sheet as of March 31 is fairly similar to that of December 31. Cash, including restricted cash was at the end of the quarter, $77.1 million, a 9% reduction as cash was used for debt repayments, but still very solid for a 28 vessel fleet with a very low debt. There were no vessels held for sale as of March 31 as the Gas Cerberus sale was agreed in April after the close of the quarter. In the liability side, the current portion of debt was $20.7 million and includes the $18.6 million facility that was due to mature in December of this year, but was actually repaid early in April.

請參閱下一張投影片（第 8 張）中的資產負債表。鑑於 2025 年第一季相對平靜，截至 3 月 31 日的資產負債表與 12 月 31 日的資產負債表非常相似。截至本季末，現金（包括受限現金）為 7,710 萬美元，由於現金用於償還債務，減少了 9%，但對於一支擁有 28 艘船且負債很低的船隊來說，這仍然非常穩健。由於 Gas Cerberus 的出售是在本季結束後的 4 月達成的，因此截至 3 月 31 日沒有待售船舶。在負債方面，目前債務部分為 2,070 萬美元，其中包括原定於今年 12 月到期但實際上已於 4 月初償還的 1,860 萬美元貸款。

While the long-term portion of the debt is where the big variance for this quarter was it stood at $61.5 million as of December 31 and was reduced to $30.3 million as of March 31. The other quarterly variance was that the shareholders' equity increased by $14.8 million over this three-month period as a result of improved profitability.

而本季最大的差異在於長期債務部分，截至 12 月 31 日為 6,150 萬美元，截至 3 月 31 日降至 3,030 萬美元。另一個季度差異是，由於獲利能力提高，股東權益在這三個月內增加了 1,480 萬美元。

Moving on to slide 9 to reiterate the debt situation as this is where the strategy has been focused in the past couple of years. So for the past 15 years the company's debt has been oscillating in the range of $300 million to $500 million. Since the beginning of 2023, that interest rates rose significantly and thanks to the improving cash flow generation, the company embarked in a massive debt reduction effort initially aiming to reduce debt, but as things turned out, with the opportunity to eliminate debt altogether. In 2023, $154 million was repaid. In 2024, while the company took $70 million for the two vessels that were acquired, then $108 million was repaid.

轉到投影片 9，重申債務狀況，因為這是過去幾年策略的重點。因此，過去 15 年來，該公司的債務一直在 3 億美元至 5 億美元之間波動。自 2023 年初以來，利率大幅上升，由於現金流產生的改善，該公司開始大規模削減債務，最初的目標是減少債務，但事實證明，有機會完全消除債務。2023年償還了1.54億美元。2024 年，該公司為收購的兩艘船支付了 7,000 萬美元，然後償還了 1.08 億美元。

Then in the first quarter of 2025, another $32 million was repaid and during the current second quarter, another $22 million, bringing the total debt repaid during 2025 to $54 million, with just a single facility remaining, totaling $32 million which matures in 2032 versus a free cash balance of more than double, making the company net debt free. Debt amortization is now reduced to just $2.2 million per annum compared to $28 million per annum just two years ago. That has allowed for significantly faster cash flow accumulation going forward. If we managed to keep operating cash flow at current levels, we are looking at a run rate of close to $100 million per annum in cash flow generation.

然後在 2025 年第一季度，又償還了 3,200 萬美元，在當前第二季度，又償還了 2,200 萬美元，使 2025 年償還的總債務達到 5,400 萬美元，只剩下一筆總額為 3,200 萬美元的貸款，將於 2032 年到期，而自由債務支付了一倍多。債務攤銷目前已減少至每年僅 220 萬美元，而兩年前則為每年 2,800 萬美元。這使得未來現金流累積速度顯著加快。如果我們設法將經營現金流保持在當前水平，我們預計每年的現金流量產生率將接近 1 億美元。

I will now hand you over to our CEO, Harry Vafias, who will discuss the market and the company outlook.

現在我將把您交給我們的執行長 Harry Vafias，他將討論市場和公司前景。

On slide 10, we're discussing the LPG market. As we have previously said, over the last three years, global LPG exports are on a steady upward path and marked an increase in 2024 of 4.4%. It looks like it's on track to register similar growth for the first half of '25. The world's largest exporter the US after having registered an impressive 11% year-on-year growth in exports last year shifted gear lower, but still marked a solid 8% year-on-year growth for Q1.

在第 10 張幻燈片上，我們正​​在討論液化石油氣市場。正如我們之前所說，過去三年來，全球液化石油氣出口呈現穩定上升趨勢，到2024年將成長4.4%。看起來它有望在 25 年上半年實現類似的成長。全球最大出口國美國在去年出口年增 11% 之後，雖然增速有所放緩，但第一季出口仍較去年同期成長 8%。

It was actually in the current month of May that Propane Exports from the US for the first time, broke a new record surpassing 2 million barrels per day US and NGL exports are facing capacity constraints, but we are already approaching the first planned capacity additions, starting with Energy Transfer's Nederland Texas terminal that will export 250,000 additional barrels per day in the second half of '25. And thereafter, once several more expansion projects are completed by '28, in the US. Gulf, the Eastern Seaboard as well as in Western Canada, volume should increase by over 25%.

實際上，今年 5 月份，美國丙烷出口量首次突破 200 萬桶/日的新紀錄。美國和 NGL 出口面臨產能限制，但我們已經接近計劃中的首批產能增加，首先是 Energy Transfer 位於德克薩斯州尼德蘭的終端，該終端將在 2025 年下半年每天額外出口 25 萬桶。此後，到 28 年，美國還將完成幾個擴建工程。墨西哥灣、東海岸以及加拿大西部的產量將增加 25% 以上。

Now these increased volumes are about to compete with Middle Eastern exports, and we have not discussed recently -- we have not discussed recently Middle Eastern exports as the region has been losing market share being supplanted by a dominant US However, traditional LPG exporters, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE are also looking to strengthen their exports lately, in particular, Qatar and UAE have projects underway, mostly related to LNG, like the North Field expansion by Qatar Energy that are also going to increase the LPG production significantly before the end of the decade.

現在，這些增加的產量即將與中東的出口形成競爭，我們最近沒有討論過——我們最近沒有討論過中東的出口，因為該地區的市場份額正在被占主導地位的美國所取代，然而，沙特阿拉伯、卡塔爾和阿聯酋等傳統液化石油氣出口國最近也在尋求加強出口，特別是卡塔爾和阿聯酋正在進行的項目，大多與卡塔爾在液化能源之前提高液化能源公司。

In the short term, we should expect increased LPG volumes, LPG being a byproduct of both crude oil and LNG production coming as a result of the decision by OPEC to gradually lift oil production cuts starting in April. In fact, the latest OPEC decisions in May show that they intend to triple the original production increases and potentially bring back to the market the 2.2 million barrels per day voluntarily oil production cuts before the end of this year instead of late '26 as was originally envisioned.

短期內，我們預計液化石油氣產量將會增加，液化石油氣是原油和液化天然氣生產的副產品，這是由於石油輸出國組織 (OPEC) 決定從 4 月開始逐步取消石油減產。事實上，OPEC 5月份做出的最新決定表明，他們打算將原定的產量增幅提高兩倍，並可能在今年年底之前（而不是最初設想的26年底）向市場重新實施220萬桶/日的自願減產。

Looking at the other side of the equation, and the two largest importers in Asia, China and India, preliminary figures for first quarter show that both increased their LPG imports, china with a more subdued 8% year-on-year and India at a stronger 10% year-on-year. Imports in China were particularly volatile but declined compared to the previous quarter. This was the result of geopolitical tensions. In our last call, we had said that during the first phase of counter tariffs, LPG was spared since China depends for over 50% of its imports on the US However, the decisive month proved to be April and the escalation of the trade war led to China retaliating by imposing tariffs of 125% on US.

另一方面，亞洲最大的兩個進口國中國和印度，第一季的初步數據顯示，兩國的液化石油氣進口量均增加，其中中國年增 8%，而印度年增 10%。中國的進口尤其不穩定，但與上一季相比有所下降。這是地緣政治緊張局勢的結果。在我們上次通話中，我們曾表示，在反關稅的第一階段，液化石油氣（LPG）沒有受到製裁，因為中國超過 50% 的進口依賴美國。然而，決定性的月份是 4 月，貿易戰的升級導致中國採取報復措施，對美國徵收 125% 的關稅。

LPG and ethane. This led initially to a collapse in the charter market and an abrupt pause in trade. Fairly quickly, volumes were rerouted with China looking to the Middle East to get its supplies. However, the capacity is not there yet.

液化石油氣和乙烷。這首先導致租船市場崩潰和貿易突然暫停。很快，貨物運輸路線改變，中國開始轉向中東取得物資。然而，目前產能尚未達到。

In a swift turn of events, there was a de-escalation in May and the two countries entered a 90-day truce, whereby tariffs on US LPG imports were reduced to only 10%. Since then, we have seen flows normalizing. There's not much point in speculating what will happen next. What we could infer is that this climate in the medium term may lead LPG importing nations diversifying their sources creating new trade routes in the process that could be positive for ton-mile demand.

情勢迅速轉變，5月兩國關係緩和，達成90天的休戰協議，美國液化石油氣進口關稅降至僅10%。自那時起，我們看到流量正在恢復正常。猜測接下來會發生什麼事沒有多大意義。我們可以推斷，從中期來看，這種情況可能導致液化石油氣進口國實現來源多元化，從而開闢新的貿易路線，這可能對噸英里需求產生正面影響。

In the longer term, we continue to see Chinese demand being driven by the PDH plants that need LPG for propylene production. And while in the short term, more than 25% of the capacity remains off-line, plants continue being built that should underpin long-term demand, three more we expect this year, bringing total capacity to 27 million tons.

從長期來看，我們將繼續看到中國的需求受到需要 LPG 來生產丙烯的 PDH 工廠的推動。儘管短期內仍有超過 25% 的產能處於停產狀態，但工廠仍在繼續建設，這應該能支撐長期需求，我們預計今年還將有三家工廠投入運營，總產能將達到 2700 萬噸。

On slide 11, we're updating you on the shipping market. In general, the situation was similar to the previous quarter with the exception of the larger ships that are more affected by a worsening sentiment due to trade tensions. Looking at the small pressurized ships the majority of our fleet, we saw a firm spot market in Northwest Europe during Q1, where the majority of the fleet is located. In addition to the seasonality factors, the cargo volume was good and particularly the seaborne LPG imports into Poland were strong following the EU ban on Russian LPG. This resulted in quite a tight tonnage situation and firm spot rates for the owners.

在第 11 張投影片上，我們將向您介紹航運市場的最新情況。總體而言，情況與上一季類似，但大型船舶受到貿易緊張局勢惡化的影響更大。從我們船隊中大部分為小型壓力船的情況來看，我們發現第一季西北歐的現貨市場表現強勁，而我們的大部分船隊都位於該地區。除季節性因素外，貨運量良好，特別是在歐盟禁止俄羅斯液化石油氣後，波蘭的海運液化石油氣進口量強勁。這導致噸位情況相當緊張，而船東的現貨價格則保持堅挺。

The TC market continued along with historically high levels through Q1, and there's still interest from charters to lock in tonnage forward, which shows continued optimism for the future. We see a major difference between the spot markets, East and West of Suez with the Western markets, yielding superior returns to the owners, ADI has been doing for some time.

整個第一季度，TC 市場繼續保持歷史高位，租船方仍然有興趣鎖定未來的噸位，這表明市場對未來仍持樂觀態度。我們發現蘇伊士運河東部和西部的現貨市場與西方市場有很大差異，為業主帶來了豐厚的回報，ADI 公司已經這樣做了一段時間。

The spot market east of Suez remains quite soft and illiquid and owners prefer to lock in TCs where they can and period rates remain more or less flat. For the handysize vessels, the market continued in Q1, a similar manner as '24 ended with a weak trading environment for LPG and with petchems pulling the majority weight. The time charter market was relatively quiet through Q1, some TC extensions were hurt by limited new inquiries came out. We have seen more TC action during the first half of Q2 where several deals have been done, rates remain relatively stable. The order book for handysizes remains slim with no delivery scheduled for this year, and this should logically support the period market.

蘇伊士運河以東的現貨市場依然疲軟且流動性不足，船東傾向於盡可能地鎖定合約期限，且定期費率基本上保持平穩。對於靈便型船舶而言，第一季市場延續了 2024 年末的類似走勢，液化石油氣 (LPG) 的交易環境疲軟，而石化產品佔據主導地位。第一季定期租船市場相對平靜，由於新諮詢數量有限，一些定期租船合約的延期受到了影響。我們在第二季上半段看到了更多的 TC 行動，其中已經完成了幾筆交易，利率保持相對穩定。靈便型散裝貨船訂單仍然很少，今年沒有安排交付，這在邏輯上應該會支撐定期航運市場。

For the MGCs, the MGC spot market continued to soften through Q1 as more vessels were delivered from TCs and charters found themselves with ample tonnage to choose from. We have since the end of Q1 seen a very volatile VLGC market with a massive crush in April and then a significantly firming market where VLGC rates at the time of writing are at a one-year high. This could pave the way for a better MGC market in the second half of this year. The order book provides for a more limited number of deliveries for this year, but we need to see a change in the market sentiment for TC rates to improve.

對於中型散裝貨船 (MGC) 而言，由於更多船舶從運輸公司 (TC) 交付，且租船公司發現自己有充足的噸位可供選擇，MGC 現貨市場在第一季度持續走軟。自第一季末以來，VLGC 市場一直非常動盪，4 月出現大規模崩潰，隨後市場明顯走強，在撰寫本文時，VLGC 運費已達到一年來的最高水平。這可能為今年下半年 MGC 市場更好的發展鋪路。今年的訂單交付數量較為有限，但我們需要看到市場情緒的變化才能提高 TC 費率。

Beginning '26, we're going to gradually see more vessels joining the fleet. We have touched on this before and how the large order book in this segment of over 50% of existing capacity should be worrisome until or unless the ammonia market expectations kick off. On the plus side, since our last call, the pace of ordering has slowed down significantly. Looking at the order book on the handysize fleet, we continue to see a very limited interest for owners for new vessels. In fact, there were no new orders since our last call and no vessels delivering this year.

從26年開始，我們將逐漸看到更多船隻加入船隊。我們之前曾談到這個問題，除非氨市場預期開始啟動，否則該領域超過 50% 現有產能的大量訂單應該令人擔憂。積極的一面是，自從我們上次通話以來，訂購的速度已經明顯放慢了。從靈便型船隊的訂單來看，我們仍然發現船東對新船的興趣非常有限。事實上，自上次我們下單以來沒有接到任何新訂單，今年也沒有船隻交付。

The order book remains healthy for this type. As far as our core fleet of pressurized ships, we saw very few more vessels being ordered since our last call, around 10. Some of these are going to be unreported since their delivery. But overall, the order book ratio continues to be normal at around 7% of them for the next three years.

此類型的訂單仍然健康。就我們的核心加壓船隊而言，自上次訂購以來，我們發現新增的船舶數量很少，大約有 10 艘。其中一些自交付以來就沒有被報道過。但整體來看，未來三年訂單比例仍將維持在7%左右的正常水準。

We continue to stress that the pressurized fleet is quite old with over 30% of the existing vessels are over 20 years of age, and the fleet will need to be replenished. Owners are keeping older vessels trading sometimes even up to 30 years old and still refrain from scrapping. But even without scrapping, it's increasingly getting difficult for older ships to trade in international markets, especially in Europe, given the safety and environmental regulations.

我們繼續強調，壓力船隊相當老舊，現有船隻中有 30% 以上的船齡超過 20 年，船隊需要補充。船東有時會讓老舊船隻繼續航行長達 30 年，但仍不願將其拆解。但即使不報廢，由於安全和環境法規的限制，老舊船舶在國際市場上，尤其是在歐洲，進行貿易也變得越來越困難。

On slide 12, we are outlining some key variables that may affect our performance in the quarters ahead. Summing up, the results that we announced today point to a strong start to a year and underpin our confidence in sustaining the momentum we have built over the last years throughout '25. There's no doubt a period of uncertainty that demands cautiousness. That being said, despite all the upheaval witnessed so far, the data from Q1 has shown that almost every major importer of LPG with the exception of Japan, has actually increased its LPG imports, while the major exporters in the US and the Middle East have significantly increased exports.

在第 12 張投影片上，我們概述了一些可能影響我們未來幾季業績的關鍵變數。總而言之，我們今天宣布的結果表明新的一年開局強勁，並增強了我們在 2025 年保持過去幾年所建立的勢頭的信心。毫無疑問，這是一個需要謹慎的不確定時期。話雖如此，儘管迄今為止經歷了種種動盪，但第一季的數據顯示，除日本外，幾乎所有主要的液化石油氣進口國實際上都增加了液化石油氣進口量，而美國和中東的主要出口國則大幅增加了出口量。

And while we have no data for the second quarter, the bellwether of VLGC market is currently at yearly highs. In this volatile environment, StealthGas remains steadfast in its strategy and has all but eliminated its financial risk being net debt free after having made over $50 million in debt repayment during this year and having 27 out of 20 vessels -- 28 vessels unencumbered. At the same time, in order to return value to our shareholders, we have begun buying back shares, spending $1.8 million in share repurchases since March and over $21.2 million in share repurchases since June '23.

雖然我們還沒有第二季的數據，但超大型氣體運輸船 (VLGC) 市場的風向標目前正處於年度高點。在這種動盪的環境中，StealthGas 仍然堅定不移地堅持其策略，並在今年償還了超過 5000 萬美元的債務，並且 20 艘船中的 27 艘（28 艘船）沒有抵押，幾乎消除了其淨債務的財務風險。同時，為了回報股東，我們已開始回購股票，自 3 月以來已花費 180 萬美元回購股票，自 2023 年 6 月以來已花費超過 2,120 萬美元回購股票。

We have now reached the end of our presentation. I'd like to thank you for joining us at our conference call today and for your interest in our company. We look forward to having you again with us at our next call for our second quarter results in August. Thank you.

我們的演講現已結束。感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議並對我們公司的關注。我們期待在八月的下一次第二季業績會議上再次見到您。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Have a nice day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。祝你今天過得愉快。