Global Ship Lease Inc (GSL) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by and good day, everyone. My name is RJ and I will be a conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Global Ship Lease Q4 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝大家的支持，大家好。我叫 RJ，今天我將擔任會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加全球船舶租賃 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員指令）

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Thomas Lister, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

謝謝。現在我想將電話轉給執行長托馬斯·利斯特。請繼續。

Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Global Ship Lease fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. You can find the slides that accompany today's presentation on our website at www.globalshiplease.com.

謝謝。大家好，歡迎參加全球船舶租賃 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。您可以在我們的網站 www.globalshiplease.com 上找到今天簡報的幻燈片。

As usual, slides 2 and 3 remind you that today's call may include forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and assumptions and are by their nature inherently uncertain and outside of the company's control. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to many factors, including those described in the Safe Harbor section of the slide presentation.

像往常一樣，投影片 2 和 3 提醒您，今天的電話會議可能包含基於當前預期和假設的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述本質上具有不確定性且不受公司控制。由於多種因素，包括幻燈片演示的安全港部分中所述的因素，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性聲明有重大差異。

We would also like to direct your attention to the Risk Factors section of our most recent annual report on our 2023 Form 20-F, which was filed in March of 2024. You can find the form on our website or on the SECs. All of our statements are qualified by these and other disclosures in our reports filed with the SEC.

我們也想請您關注我們最新的 2023 年 20-F 表年度報告中的風險因素部分，該報告於 2024 年 3 月提交。您可以在我們的網站或 SEC 上找到該表格。我們的所有聲明均符合這些內容以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中的其他揭露內容。

We do not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. The reconciliations of the non-GAAp financial measures to which we will refer during this call to the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP usually refer to the earnings release that we issued this morning, which is also available on our website.

我們不承擔更新前瞻性陳述的任何義務。在本次電話會議中，我們將參考非 GAAp 財務指標與按照 GAAP 計算和呈現的最直接可比指標的對賬，這些對賬通常參考我們今天上午發布的收益報告，該報告也可在我們的網站上查閱。

I'm joined as usual today by our Executive Chairman, George Youroukos; and our Chief Financial Officer, Tassos Psaropoulos. George will begin the call with high-level commentary on GSL and our industry, and then Tassos and I will take you through our recent activity, results, and financials and the current market environment. After that, we will be pleased to answer your questions.

今天與往常一樣，我們的執行主席 George Youroukos 也與我們一起出席；以及我們的財務長 Tassos Psaropoulos。喬治將在電話會議開始時對 GSL 和我們的行業發表高層評論，然後塔索斯和我將向您介紹我們最近的活動、結果、財務狀況和當前的市場環境。此後，我們將很樂意解答您的問題。

So turning now to slide 4, I'll pass the call over to George.

現在翻到投影片 4，我會把電話轉給喬治。

Thank you, Tom, and good morning, afternoon or evening to all of you joining us today.

謝謝你，湯姆。今天和我們一起參加活動的各位，大家早安、下午好、晚上好。

2024 has been another strong year during which we have generated $9.74 earnings per share, which rises to just below $10 EPS on a normalized basis. The overreaching trends we saw throughout 2024 continued in the fourth quarter. In particular, geopolitical uncertainty and disruptions around the Red Sea have persisted.

2024 年是另一個強勁的一年，在這一年中，我們每股收益為 9.74 美元，按正常化基礎計算，每股收益略低於 10 美元。我們在 2024 年看到的過度趨勢在第四季得以延續。特別是紅海周邊的地緣政治不確定性和混亂局面持續存在。

Ships have continued to transit around the Cape of Good Hope, increasing TEU miles and absorbing effective ship capacity. At this point, the situation there remains unpredictable, and as such, those liners who have been avoiding the area have continued to do so.

船舶繼續繞行好望角，增加了標準箱英里數並吸收了有效船舶容量。目前，那裡的情況仍然難以預測，因此那些一直避開該地區的客輪仍繼續這樣做。

Recently, ties have once again become a major area of discussion. It is difficult to predict the larger impacts with any conviction. Notably, the tariffs placed on China during the first Trump administration actually led to supply chain diversification throughout Southeast Asia, which in fact added to demand for mid-size and smaller container ships.

近來，領帶問題再次成為人們討論的焦點。無論怎樣，都很難預測更大的影響。值得注意的是，川普第一任政府對中國徵收的關稅實際上導致了整個東南亞的供應鏈多樣化，這實際上增加了對中型和小型貨櫃船的需求。

Now amidst these conditions, we have continued to make progress in key areas, including adding charter coverage at attractive rates. We added $714 million of contracted revenues in 2024, $118 million of which was in the fourth quarter with another $171 million added so far in 2025.

現在，在這些條件下，我們繼續在關鍵領域取得進展，包括以有吸引力的價格增加包機覆蓋範圍。我們在 2024 年增加了 7.14 億美元的合約收入，其中 1.18 億美元是在第四季度增加的，而 2025 年迄今又增加了 1.71 億美元。

We have also remained disciplined and opportunistic financially, lowering our outstanding debt overall, as well as bringing our cost of debt down to 3.85% and pushing average maturity out to the 4.2 years. Our robust corporate credit rating reflects our ongoing efforts to delever the risk and build equity value for shareholders.

我們在財務上也保持了紀律和投機性，整體降低了未償還債務，同時將債務成本降至 3.85%，並將平均期限延長至 4.2 年。我們強勁的企業信用評級反映了我們不斷努力降低風險並為股東創造股權價值。

Now we're pleased to have paid an annualized dividend of $1.80 per share, reflecting the impact of the supplemental dividend that we put in place from the second half of 2024. Looking ahead and beginning with the first quarter of 2025, dividend which is payable in June, we will be doubling our supplemental dividend, bringing our overall dividend to $52.05 per share per quarter, which is $2.10 per share annualized, an increase of 17%. Even more strikingly, this represents a 40% increase in our overall dividend since we introduced our supplemental dividend less than a year ago.

現在，我們很高興能夠支付每股 1.80 美元的年度股息，這反映了我們從 2024 年下半年開始實施的補充股息的影響。展望未來，從 2025 年第一季開始，股息將於 6 月支付，我們將把補充股息增加一倍，使我們的整體股息達到每季每股 52.05 美元，即年化每股 2.10 美元，成長 17%。更引人注目的是，自不到一年前我們推出補充股息以來，我們的整體股息增加了 40%。

As a reminder, this supplemental dividend is additive to our underlying long-term quarterly dividend, reflecting the extent to which our business has continued to outperform our expectations and provided us with additional cash flows that we are pleased to share with our investors.

提醒一下，此次補充股息是我們長期季度股息的補充，反映了我們的業務持續超出預期的程度，並為我們提供了額外的現金流，我們很樂意與投資者分享。

The increase that we're announcing today is prompted not only by charter fixture that we are already public, but also by the good progress that we are making on additional charters as a result of the sustained market appetite for ships like those in the GSL fleet.

我們今天宣布的漲價不僅是因為我們已經公開的租船合同，還因為我們在額外租船方面取得了良好的進展，而市場對 GSL 船隊中的船舶的需求持續旺盛。

Now in order to drive our business forward, refresh our asset base, and support the continued generation of economic value for our shareholders over time, we're focused on renewing our fleet. To this end, we were pleased to have purchased four high-specification, high-earning ECO-9,000 TEU ships, while also rotating out three of our oldest ships for opportunistic sale, all on attractive terms.

現在，為了推動我們的業務發展，更新我們的資產基礎，並支持我們的股東持續創造經濟價值，我們專注於更新我們的機隊。為此，我們很高興購買了四艘高規格、高收益的 ECO-9,000 TEU 船舶，同時也以優惠條件輪換出三艘最老的船舶以供機會性出售。

Overall, we have built the GSL platform to maximize optionality, positioning us well to continue to manage risks and seize opportunities in a complex dynamic world. We think, we allocate capital, and we act on a through the cycle basis. And we firmly believe that the greatest value accrues to those with both balance sheet strength and the patience and discipline to wait for the right time to deploy it.

總體而言，我們建立了 GSL 平台以最大限度地提高可選性，使我們能夠在複雜動態的世界中繼續管理風險並抓住機會。我們思考，我們分配資本，我們根據整個週期採取行動。我們堅信，最大的價值屬於那些擁有強勁資產負債表，並且有耐心和紀律等待合適時機部署資產負債表的人。

With that, I will send the call back to Tom.

說完這些，我就把電話回撥給湯姆。

Thanks, George.

謝謝，喬治。

Please turn to slide 5. Here we show the diversification of our charter portfolio. And as of December 31, 2024, we have close to $1.9 billion in contracted revenues, which amounts to 2.3 years of average remaining contract cover. During 2024 and the first couple of months of 2025, we added 50 charters for approximately $885 million of contracted revenues.

請翻到投影片 5。這裡我們展示了我們的包機組合的多樣化。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，我們的合約收入接近 19 億美元，相當於平均剩餘合約期限 2.3 年。2024 年和 2025 年前幾個月，我們增加了 50 份包機合同，合約收入約為 8.85 億美元。

So as we constantly monitor the market for growth opportunities when the time is right, this charter cover and our balance sheet give us a solid foundation from which to act. This brings us to slide 6 where we recap our dynamic capital allocation policy. We're in a fundamentally cyclical industry and as such, it's critical that we plan accordingly for both the opportunities and the challenges.

因此，當我們不斷監控市場以在適當時機尋找成長機會時，此章程封面和我們的資產負債表為我們採取行動提供了堅實的基礎。這就引出了第 6 張投影片，我們在此回顧我們的動態資本配置政策。我們處於一個基本上具有週期性的行業，因此，針對機會和挑戰制定相應的計劃至關重要。

The best opportunities that can generate exceptionally strong returns for shareholders over time typically arise when the availability of capital is either limited or expensive or both. To capitalize on these opportunities, you need a strong balance sheet providing both the optionality and the ability to move fast.

隨著時間的推移，能夠為股東帶來豐厚回報的最佳機會通常出現在資本有限或昂貴，或兩者兼而有之的情況下。為了利用這些機會，您需要一份強大的資產負債表，提供可選性和快速行動的能力。

While staying primed and ready to pounce on the right deals, and we'll come back to this in the next couple of slides, we continue to return capital to shareholders via our soon-to-be-upsized dividend and also keep opportunistic share buybacks under constant review. And it goes without saying every capital allocation decision is context specific and risk adjusted.

在保持準備並隨時準備進行正確的交易的同時，我們將在接下來的幾張幻燈片中回顧這一點，我們將繼續透過即將增加的股息向股東返還資本，並不斷審查機會性股票回購。毋庸置疑，每項資本配置決策都是根據具體情況並經過風險調整的。

Ultimately, the GSL business model is intended to provide public investors with a stable and liquid platform through which to participate in the cyclical upside and positive volatility of our industry while mitigating exposure to downside risk. And as George has put it in the past, it's easier for investors to buy and sell GSL shares than it is to buy and sell ships.

最終，GSL 商業模式旨在為公共投資者提供一個穩定且流動的平台，透過該平台參與我們行業的周期性上行和積極波動，同時降低下行風險。正如喬治過去所說的那樣，對於投資者來說，買賣 GSL 股票比買賣船舶更容易。

On slide 7, we provide a long-term view of charter rates and asset values. Our mantra, as you can see clearly from our track record on this chart, is to be patient, disciplined, and nimble, pouncing on purchase opportunities only when the risk and return mix is right.

在第 7 張幻燈片中，我們提供了租船費率和資產價值的長期觀點。從這張圖表上的業績記錄中您可以清楚地看到，我們的口號是耐心、自律、靈活，只有當風險和回報組合合適時才抓住購買機會。

In both the pre-pandemic period and then in the recent post-pandemic normalization, you can see that we made selective vessel acquisitions while stepping back when asset values were at super cyclical highs. More recently, you can see that the four vessels we bought at the tail end of 2024 with charters attached, were purchased at a 30% discount to charter-free market value, de-risking the transaction right out of the gate and providing attractive upside potential on the ship's residual value when these charters roll off.

無論是在疫情前時期，還是在最近的疫情後正常化時期，你都可以看到，我們在資產價值處於超週期性高位時，選擇性地收購船舶，同時退後一步。最近，您可以看到，我們在 2024 年底購買的四艘附有租船合約的船舶，是以比無租船市場價值低 30% 的價格購買的，這降低了交易的風險，並且在這些租船合約到期時，船舶的剩餘價值具有頗具吸引力的上行潛力。

This brings us to slide 8 where we provide more details. We announced the purchase of these four ECO-9,000 vessels back in December. They were delivered on, or in fact slightly ahead of schedule. A chartered Hapag-Lloyd are immediately cash generative, are accretive to earnings per share, and are financed on very attractive terms. Also, they're young assets with lots of upside earnings potential and option value going forward.

我們將在第 8 張幻燈片中提供更多詳細資訊。我們早在 12 月就宣布購買這四艘 ECO-9,000 船。這些貨物準時交付，或實際上比計劃提前交付。租用赫伯羅特船舶可以立即產生現金，增加每股收益，並以非常優惠的條件融資。此外，它們是年輕資產，具有巨大的上行獲利潛力和未來選擇權價值。

Illustratively, long-term historic average charter rates for this class of ship are over $50,000 per day, and we have a couple of almost identical ships in our fleet on five-year charters at $65,000 per day. Returns are further enhanced with attractive financing. $178 million of 10-year debt priced at SOFR plus 2.5%, $83 million of which benefits from our 64 basis points SOFR caps.

舉例來說，此類船舶的長期歷史平均租船費率為每天 50,000 美元以上，而我們的船隊中還有幾艘幾乎相同的船舶，租船期限為五年，租船費率為每天 65,000 美元。有吸引力的融資將進一步提高回報。 1.78 億美元的 10 年期債務以 SOFR 加 2.5% 的利率定價，其中 8,300 萬美元受益於我們的 64 個基點 SOFR 上限。

So to summarize, executing on fleet renewal, great ships, great upside earnings potential, great financing, and low risk. On the other side of the fleet renewal coin, we're rotating out of three of our oldest ships which we have contracted to sell on attractive terms. The exact gain on sale will depend upon their respective divestment dates, but the aggregate sale price is at roughly $30 million premium to their respective book values at December 31.

總而言之，執行船隊更新，優秀的船舶，巨大的上行獲利潛力，優秀的融資和低風險。在船隊更新的另一方面，我們正在輪換三艘最老的船隻，這些船隻我們已經簽訂了以優惠條件出售的合約。具體的出售收益將取決於各自的撤資日期，但總出售價格比 12 月 31 日各自的帳面價值高出約 3,000 萬美元。

So we're managing our cash generating fleet assets in order to protect, maintain, and continue to generate shareholder value going forward. We're doing this in accordance with our strict investment criteria and dynamic capital allocation policy. And we're able to achieve this because our liquid financial position, strong balance sheet, and access to high-quality deals allowed us to move quickly on a $274 million opportunity.

因此，我們正在管理我們的現金產生船隊資產，以便保護、維護並繼續為股東創造價值。我們是根據嚴格的投資標準和動態資本配置政策來做的。我們之所以能夠實現這一目標，是因為我們流動的財務狀況、強勁的資產負債表以及獲得高品質交易的機會，使我們能夠迅速抓住 2.74 億美元的機會。

With that, I'll pass the call to Tassos to discuss our financials.

說完這些，我將把電話轉給塔索斯，討論我們的財務狀況。

Thank you, Tom. Slide 9 shows our full year 2024 financial highlights. I would like to emphasize a few points.

謝謝你，湯姆。幻燈片 9 展示了我們 2024 年全年財務亮點。我想強調幾點。

Earnings and cash flows have all risen from 2023, which was already a successful year. We have continued to lower our gross debt, which is down more than $130 million from the end of last year. We are utilizing the remaining headroom under a 64 basis points SOFR interest rate cap through 2026 to partially cap the debt related to the recent vessel acquisitions.

從 2023 年開始，收益和現金流量均有所上升，這已經是成功的一年。我們繼續降低總債務，比去年底減少了 1.3 億多美元。我們將利用 2026 年 64 個基點 SOFR 利率上限下的剩餘空間來部分限制與近期船舶收購相關的債務。

Our cash position remains healthy at $274 million. $106 million is restricted, of which $81 million is advanced receipt of charter hire. The remainder ensures that we can fully cover our covenants, work at the capital niche, dividends, while still enabling us to act decisively for the right opportunity.

我們的現金狀況依然健康，達到 2.74 億美元。 1.06 億美元受到限制，其中 8,100 萬美元為租船租金預付。剩餘部分確保我們能夠完全履行我們的契約、在資本領域開展工作、獲得股息，同時仍使我們能夠果斷採取行動抓住正確的機會。

Slide 10 shows our progress on the delivery front. The graph on the left shows our aggressive efforts in reducing our debt. At the year end, our outstanding debt on a pro forma basis, including finance of the three newly acquired vessels was about $825 million, and we are on track to lower it to around $670 million by the end of 2025 and around $500 million by the end of 2026, which is prudent as our fleet is aging.

幻燈片 10 展示了我們在交付方面的進展。左邊的圖表顯示了我們為減少債務所做的積極努力。截至年底，我們的未償還債務（包括三艘新收購船舶的融資）預計約為 8.25 億美元，我們預計在 2025 年底將其降至 6.7 億美元左右，在 2026 年底將其降至 5 億美元左右，鑑於我們的船隊正在老化，這一舉措是審慎之舉。

The graph on the right highlights our financial leverage where the story is the same. We have lowered our adjusted net debt to 1.1 times adjusted EBITDA as of 2024 year end, a far cry from the level we were seeing in the years past.

右側的圖表突顯了我們的財務槓桿，其中的情況是相同的。截至 2024 年底，我們已將調整後淨債務降低至調整後 EBITDA 的 1.1 倍，與過去幾年的水準相差甚遠。

These efforts are further shown on slide 11. The graph on the left shows our progress in reducing our cost of debt at a time when market rates, 10-year US Treasury is a zone with a with a gray line, were actually rising. As you can see, by year end 2024, our margins were below 2.5% and our blended cost of debt was 3.85%, which is actually lower than the 10-year treasuries. This has helped bring our breakeven rates down accordingly, and these stood at just over $9,200 per day at year end.

投影片 11 進一步展示了這些努力。左邊的圖表顯示了我們在降低債務成本方面取得的進展，而此時市場利率（10 年期美國公債殖利率處於灰線區域）實際上正在上升。如您所見，到 2024 年底，我們的利潤率低於 2.5%，我們的混合債務成本為 3.85%，實際上低於 10 年期公債。這幫助我們降低了損益平衡率，年底的損益兩平率僅為每天 9,200 美元多一點。

I will turn it back over to Tom to discuss our market focus and ship deployment.

我將把話題轉回給湯姆，討論我們的市場重點和船舶部署。

Thanks, Tassos.

謝謝，塔索斯。

On slide 12, we reemphasize our continued focus on mid-sized and smaller container ships between roughly 2,000 and 10,000 TEU. Consider the backbone of the global fleet vessels in this size range provide unmatched flexibility and global reach, which you can see in the maps on the left.

在第 12 張幻燈片上，我們再次強調我們將繼續關注大約 2,000 至 10,000 TEU 之間的中型和小型貨櫃船。考慮一下全球船隊的主力，這種規模的船隻提供了無與倫比的靈活性和全球影響力，您可以在左側的地圖中看到。

While the larger container ships play a pivotal role in global trade, their access to ports is more limited as they require deep water and specialized port infrastructure. Crucially, for the current moment, the deployment flexibility of our vessel sizes ensures that they can trade widely and are not overly dependent upon any given trade, a great asset as we look at the very real prospect of trade tensions escalating.

雖然大型貨櫃船在全球貿易中發揮關鍵作用，但由於它們需要深水和專業的港口基礎設施，因此它們進入港口的能力受到更多限制。至關重要的是，就目前而言，我們船舶大小的部署靈活性確保它們可以廣泛開展貿易，並且不會過度依賴任何特定的貿易，這在我們面臨貿易緊張局勢升級的現實前景時是一筆巨大的財富。

Slide 13 covers the disruptions in the Red Sea and their impact. Pre-disruption, 20% of global containerized trade volumes, i.e. the boxes themselves, passed through the Red Sea, absorbing roughly a third of global fleet capacity. Now these vessels have instead re-routed around the southern tip of Africa. This has added TEU miles and absorbed ship capacity equivalent to around 10% of global supply.

投影片 13 介紹了紅海的混亂及其影響。疫情爆發前，全球 20% 的貨櫃貿易量（即貨櫃本身）經過紅海運輸，吸收了全球船隊運力的約三分之一。如今，這些船隻改道繞過非洲南端。這增加了標準箱英里數並吸收了相當於全球供應量約 10% 的船舶運力。

This reduced availability of vessels has factored into increased earnings in both freight and charter markets. Hopes for peace in the region, accompanied by expectations that the Red Sea might reopen, have [yielded] back and forth since July of last year.

船舶供應量的減少是貨運和租船市場收益增加的因素。人們對該地區和平的希望以及對紅海可能重新開放的預期，自去年7月以來一直時有起伏。

Our crystal ball is no better than anyone else's, but liner companies have made it clear that they would not wish to go through the considerable cost and disruption of re-jigging their networks until there is more clarity and stability. And nobody wants to put seafarers at risk, so it's a watching brief.

我們的預測並不比別人好，但班輪公司已明確表示，在情況更加明朗和穩定之前，他們不願意承受重新調整網路所帶來的巨大成本和乾擾。沒有人願意讓海員處於危險之中，所以這是一個值得關注的問題。

On slide 14, we take a moment to discuss tariffs. It will come as a surprise to no one on this call, but the topic of tariffs is one that we are closely following. At the moment, the particulars of what comes next, both from the US and in response to it, and then in response to that and so on, remains deeply unpredictable and contingent. That being said, we do believe that an example from 2019 could be instructive in part because it kicked off a trend that has continued.

在第 14 張投影片上，我們花點時間討論關稅。參加這次電話會議的任何人都不會感到驚訝，但關稅問題卻是我們密切關注的問題之一。目前，美國下一步的舉動及其反應等細節仍難以預測，且存在不確定性。話雖如此，我們確實相信 2019 年的一個例子可能具有啟發意義，因為它開啟了一種持續的趨勢。

Namely, as the US and China, both important players in the global movement of containerized freight, became engaged in an escalating trade war, the impacts on container trades were uneven. In particular, flows directly and I emphasize directly from China to the US did indeed reduce, as you might expect. Importantly though, this prompted many export-oriented manufacturers and importers to seek diversification of their manufacturing and supply chains across South and Southeast Asia.

即，隨著美國和中國作為全球貨櫃貨運的重要參與者陷入不斷升級的貿易戰，對貨櫃貿易的影響是不均衡的。特別是，直接資金流入（我強調是從中國直接流入美國的資金）確實減少了，正如你所預料的那樣。但重要的是，這促使許多出口導向製造商和進口商尋求在南亞和東南亞實現製造和供應鏈多元化。

So what were the net impacts? Well, at the margins, the reduction in China-US direct mainland flows negatively impacted demand for the very large container ships that were effectively restricted to those very largest trades. In aggregate, however, demand for shipping capacity actually increased, with much of the displaced China-US volumes transitioning into more complex and diffuse regional supply chains that sometimes involved multiple seaborne voyages.

那麼淨影響是什麼？從邊際上看，中美大陸直接貿易流的減少對大型貨櫃船的需求產生了負面影響，而這些船隻實際上僅限於最大的貿易。但總體而言，對航運運力的需求實際上有所增加，大部分中美之間的運輸量轉移到了更複雜、更分散的區域供應鏈，有時甚至涉及多次海上航行。

By necessity, these volumes were carried on mid-sized and smaller ships which saw increased demand from each of: one, an overall increase in interregional box volumes and moves; two, some cannibalization of volumes previously flowing directly on the very big ships; and three, increased inefficiency of the dispersed supply chains, which meant that given an item semi-manufactured or manufactured in Asia for ultimate use in the US spent more time at sea than was the case previously.

出於需要，這些貨物都由中型和小型船舶運輸，而這些船舶的需求隨著以下兩個因素而增加：第一，跨區域集裝箱數量和運輸量總體增加；二是蠶食了之前直接由大型船舶運輸的運量；第三，分散供應鏈效率低下，這意味著，在亞洲半製造或製造並最終在美國使用的物品在海上運輸的時間比以前更長。

Supply chain and efficiency may not sound like a positive development, but inefficiency of any sort sucks up shipping capacity. And if you're a provider of that capacity as we are, then inefficiency is supportive of earnings.

供應鏈和效率聽起來可能不是一個積極的發展，但任何形式的低效率都會消耗運輸能力。如果您像我們一樣是這種產能的供應商，那麼低效率就會有利於獲利。

Will this exact scenario recur with the exact same repercussions for us? It's impossible for us to make that kind of prediction with any conviction. What we can say, however, with high conviction is that it is simply not the case that a tariff or even an all-out trade war is necessarily a negative development for GSL or for the mid-sized and smaller fleet, as is quite clear, I hope, in this example.

這一幕是否會再次發生並給我們帶來同樣的影響？我們不可能確信地做出這樣的預測。然而，我們可以非常肯定地說，關稅甚至全面的貿易戰並不一定會對 GSL 或中型和小型船隊產生負面影響，我希望從這個例子中可以清楚地看出這一點。

Moving on, slide 15 recaps the trends we're seeing on the supply side. Idle capacity is still virtually nonexistent, and scrapping activity has been very limited as owners can put older vessels to work in a supply constrained market such as this one. That being said, the backlog of scrapping candidates has grown dramatically in recent years and now represents a very material portion of the global fleet that would be expected to exit the market if demand would cool off.

接下來，第 15 張投影片回顧了我們在供應方面看到的趨勢。閒置產能仍然幾乎不存在，拆船活動也非常有限，因為船東可以在此類供應受限的市場中將老舊船舶投入使用。話雖如此，近年來，退役船舶積壓數量急劇增加，目前已佔到全球船舶總數的很大一部分，如果需求下降，這些船舶將退出市場。

Slide 16 shows the order book. While the order book has grown in recent years, it has largely grown in the big ship segment above 10,000 TEU, which is a segment in which GSL does not participate. The order book to fleet ratio in the segments we do focus on is much more modest at 11.3%. And given the age profile of ships in this segment, if we were to assume that all vessels over 25 years were scrapped out, then net fleet growth in the global sub 10,000 TEU fleet segment through 2028 would actually be negative with a reduction of up to 6.5%.

投影片 16 顯示了訂單簿。雖然近年來訂單量有所增長，但增長主要集中在 10,000 TEU 以上的大型船舶領域，而 GSL 並未參與這一領域。在我們關注的細分市場中，訂單與船隊比率要溫和得多，僅為 11.3%。考慮到這一領域船舶的年齡分佈，如果我們假設所有超過 25 年的船舶都被報廢，那麼到 2028 年，全球 10,000 TEU 以下船隊的淨船隊增長率實際上將為負，降幅高達 6.5%。

Slide 17 is a more detailed look at the charter market. Again, the uplift in earnings resulting from Red Sea disruptions over recent quarters is clear. With the indicative market rates on the right side of the slide, I'd like to reiterate that our breakeven rates at the end of 2024 were just above $9,200 per vessel per day. Given the difference between charter market rates and our breakeven level, we have been more than happy to lock in charter cover in order to keep churning out free cash flow in the future.

投影片 17 更詳細地介紹了包機市場。再次，最近幾季紅海幹擾事件導致的獲利成長顯而易見。幻燈片右側顯示的是指示性市場價格，我想重申一下，到 2024 年底，我們的損益平衡價格略高於每艘船每天 9,200 美元。考慮到租船市場價格和我們的盈虧平衡水平之間的差異，我們非常樂意鎖定租船合同，以便在未來繼續產生自由現金流。

With that, I'll turn the call back to George to conclude our prepared remarks on slide 18.

說完這些，我將把電話轉回給喬治，讓他結束第 18 頁幻燈片上的準備好的發言。

Thank you, Tom.

謝謝你，湯姆。

To summarize, our cash flows are strong and growing, and our forward contract cover is now at $1.9 billion over 2.3 years. We are pleased that our progress in securing additional forward fixtures at good rates has positioned us to return more capital to our shareholders.

總而言之，我們的現金流強勁且不斷成長，我們的遠期合約保障額目前為 2.3 年期 19 億美元。我們很高興看到，我們在以優惠利率獲得額外遠期合約方面取得的進展，使我們能夠向股東返還更多資本。

We're doing this by way of supplemental dividends which increased our overall dividend from $1.5 to $1.8 per share annualized in the second half of '24 and we'll increase it further to $2.10 per share starting in 2025. So that's an increase of 40% of our overall dividend in less than 12 months.

我們透過補充股息的方式實現這一目標，將我們的整體股息從 2024 年下半年的每股 1.5 美元增加到 1.8 美元，並從 2025 年開始進一步增加到每股 2.10 美元。這意味著在不到 12 個月的時間內，我們的整體股息增加了 40%。

The macro and geopolitical environment is highly uncertain, and we do not claim to have a crystal ball to know what will happen next. Instead, we have done a great deal of work to maximize our optionality, to manage both challenges and opportunities.

宏觀和地緣政治環境具有強烈的不確定性，我們也無法宣稱自己擁有預知未來會發生什麼事的水晶球。相反，我們做了大量工作來最大限度地發揮我們的可選性，以應對挑戰和機會。

Our balance sheet is in excellent shape with a healthy cash position, long dated debt maturities, and among the highest credit ratings in the industry. We continue to reduce our cost of debt now at 3.85%, lower financial leverage, and optimize our debt structure resulting in breakeven rates just above $9,200 per day, which further supports our optionality.

我們的資產負債表狀況良好，現金狀況良好，債務期限較長，並且擁有業內最高的信用評級。我們持續降低債務成本（目前為 3.85%），降低財務槓桿，並優化債務結構，使損益兩平利率略高於每天 9,200 美元，這進一步支持了我們的選擇性。

We expect the years ahead to provide attractive opportunities to invest in the business and renew our fleet. Our cash cows begin to age out. These acquisitions will ensure our ability to maintain our long-term earnings power. Countercyclical investments are of course always interesting to us, but as we have demonstrated, interesting opportunities can arise at any time in the cycle where flexibility and the ability to act quickly can produce a unique value proposition.

我們預計未來幾年將提供有吸引力的機會來投資業務和更新我們的船隊。我們的搖錢樹開始老化。這些收購將確保我們能夠維持長期獲利能力。當然，逆週期投資始終是我們感興趣的，但正如我們已經證明的那樣，在周期的任何時候都可能出現有趣的機會，靈活性和快速行動的能力可以產生獨特的價值主張。

In short, GSL is well positioned to continue creating lasting value for our shareholders with both long-term contracted cash flows and the ability to seize opportunities throughout the cycle.

簡而言之，GSL 擁有長期合約現金流和在整個週期中抓住機會的能力，能夠繼續為我們的股東創造持久價值。

Now, we're ready to take your questions.

現在，我們準備好回答你們的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Liam Burke, B. Riley.

（操作員指令） Liam Burke、B. Riley。

Hi, George, Tom, Tassos. How are you doing?

你好，喬治、湯姆、塔索斯。你好嗎？

Doing well, Liam. Thanks very much. Hope for you, too.

做得很好，利亞姆。非常感謝。也為你抱持希望。

Thank you. I am. You have obviously every year vessels coming open for charter. Short-term rates are coming down, understanding that you've got a fair amount of installation with your current charter coverage, but could you give us a sense of the appetite of what the liner companies have for your vessels that are opening up for recharter?

謝謝。我是。顯然，每年都有船隻可供租賃。短期費率正在下降，據我們了解，您目前的租船合同中已經簽訂了相當數量的租船合同，您能否告訴我們班輪公司對您開放再租的船舶有何需求？

Sure, Liam, first of all, actually, I would say that we're not seeing rates coming down in the charter market at the moment. So although obviously sentiment is very uncertain, we're still seeing appetite for mid-sized and smaller container ships in the charter market, which is assisted by the fact that because there's very limited availability of ships coming open in the market and limited liquidity.

當然，利亞姆，首先，實際上，我想說的是，我們目前並沒有看到租船市場的費率下降。因此，儘管情緒顯然非常不確定，但我們仍然看到租船市場對中型和小型貨櫃船的需求，這得益於市場上可用船舶數量非常有限且流動性有限。

If a line needs a ship for their network, then they're going to have to pay up for it. So we're still seeing pretty strong charter rates. We're still seeing an appetite from the lines to fix for decent periods, two to three years depending upon the size of the vessel, and it's really that sort of positive momentum that we're still seeing despite the uncertainty in the macro environment. That has prompted us to sort of share the upside, the unexpected upside really in earnings by way of this upsized dividend.

如果某條航線需要為其網路添加一艘船，那麼他們就必須為此付費。因此我們仍然看到相當強勁的租船費率。我們仍然看到航運公司願意簽訂為期相當長一段時間的租約，租期為兩到三年，具體時間取決於船舶的大小，儘管宏觀環境存在不確定性，但我們仍然看到這種積極的勢頭。這促使我們透過增加股利來分享收益的上行、意外上行。

Great, thanks, Tom. Also on the fleet management, you sold three older vessels. Understanding your acquisitions are longer in duration and aren't as easy to predict, are you looking at any more assets to divest or do you still want to balance the sale and the purchase to keep the fleet, maintain the age, but also maintain the cash flows as well?

太好了，謝謝，湯姆。此外，在船隊管理方面，你們賣了三艘舊船。您了解到，您的收購持續時間較長且不易預測，您是否考慮剝離更多資產，還是仍想平衡銷售和購買以保留船隊、維持船齡，同時也維持現金流？

Sure. Well, I would say fundamentally, the way to make money in container ship owning and leasing is by holding onto your assets and continuing to charter them, to lock in the cash flows. So. We sold these three ships opportunistically.

當然。嗯，我想說，從根本上來說，擁有和租賃貨櫃船賺錢的方法是持有資產並繼續租賃它們，以鎖定現金流。所以。我們趁機賣掉了這三艘船。

We always run the numbers on a sort of hold or diverse basis, and although the decision was marginal, we decided that on this occasion it would make sense to sell these three older ships, particularly in the context of buying the four much newer, much younger vessels as part of the sort of two sides of the same coin of fleet renewal.

我們總是在保持或多樣化的基礎上進行計算，儘管這個決定是微不足道的，但我們決定，這次出售這三艘老船是合理的，特別是在購買四艘更新、更年輕的船隻的背景下，這是船隊更新的同一枚硬幣的兩個方面。

So it was opportunistic, but we still remain convinced that the real money to be made through the cycle in container ship owning is by continuing to hold on to the assets and sweating those assets.

因此，這是機會主義的，但我們仍然堅信，在貨櫃船所有權週期中真正能賺錢的是繼續持有資產並努力經營這些資產。

Great, thank you, Tom.

太好了，謝謝你，湯姆。

Our pleasure, thanks.

我們很高興，謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) That ends our Q&A session, and we appreciate your participation. I would now turn the call back over to Thomas Lister, Chief Executive Officer, for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

（操作員指示）我們的問答環節到此結束，感謝您的參與。現在我將電話轉回給執行長托馬斯‧利斯特 (Thomas Lister)，請他作最後發言。請繼續。

Thank you very much and thank you to everyone for joining today's call. We look forward to having the opportunity to talk to you again on our Q1 earnings call in due course. Thanks again, bye bye.

非常感謝，也感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們期待有機會在適當的時候在第一季財報電話會議上再次與您交談。再次感謝，再見。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。