Navios Maritime Partners LP (NMM) 2010 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Navios Maritime Partners conference call on the third quarter and nine months 2010 financial results. We have with us Ms. Angeliki Frangou, Chairman and CEO; Mr. Efstratios Desypris, Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. George Achniotis, Executive Vice President for Business Development of the Company. (Operator Instructions).

I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. We now past the floor to Mr. Nicolas Bornozis, President of Capital Link, Investor Relations Advisor for Navios Maritime Partners. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you and good morning to all of our participants. This is Nicolas Bornozis of Capital Link, Investor Relations Advisor to Navios Maritime Partners LP.

The Company released financial results for the third quarter and nine-month period ended September 30, 2010. The press release has been distributed publicly and is also available on the Company's website under the Investor Relations section at www.navios-mlp.com.

On the website, in the same section and also under Events, you can access and download the slides used in today's conference call and webcast, and you can also access the webcast itself. You're also welcome to call us at 212-661-7566 or e-mail us at naviospartners@capitallink.com, and we will send you the press release and the slides.

Today, in addition to the conference call, there is also a live audio and slides webcast, which can be accessed, as I mentioned, through the Company's website at www.navios-mlp.com. The webcast will also be available as an archive after the conference call. Please note that the slides are user controlled. So by clicking on the proper button, you can move to the next or to the previous slide on your own.

Before we proceed with the presentation, I have to tell you through the forward-looking statement disclaimer as explained on slide number two of the presentation.

Please note that statements in this presentation and webcast which are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to and the expectations and assumptions being reasonable to the Company at the time this presentation was made. Although the Company believes that the assumptions underlying such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that they will be attained. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or future events unless it is required to do so under the securities laws. The Company makes no prediction or statement about the performance of its common units. A full description of the forward-looking statement disclaimer can be found in the press release and also on slide number two of the presentation, and please be kind enough to take a minute and read through it.

Now I will turn over the floor to Ms. Angeliki Frangou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Navios Maritime Partners. Please go ahead, Angeliki.

Thank you, Nicolas, and good morning to all of you joining us on today's call. I am very pleased with our operating results for the third quarter of 2010. During the quarter we increased our operating [surplus] by almost 81%, EBITDA by about [73%], and net income by about 51%. Our consistent performance has enabled us access to the capital market. Consequently we have enjoyed an ability to grow our fleet and profitability.

As you can see on slide three, a couple of weeks ago Navios Partners raised approximately $150 million through the sale of a [specific] unit. We introduced these funds and cash flow while also increasing our average remaining charter period of 4.3 years and lowering our average fleet age of six years. As an MLP, our focus is growing cash flow by acquiring quality vessels and time chartering these vessels and ensuring these charters.

Our goal is the creation of durable distribution for our investors. We can also do this by entering into charters with appropriate duration, depending upon our assessment of the market type. We are pleased to announce that we have chartered out the Navios Libra for two years at an attractive net daily rate of $18,525 per day. With this charter, we have eliminated fleet rechartering risks and in the second half of 2012.

As you can see on slide four, since Navios Partners IPO in the late 2007, we have increased distribution by more than 20% and are our fleet by over [112%]. We have been able to do this because of our multiple avenues of growth. We think that we can continue to enjoy the benefit of the Navios Group's global deal flow as we seek to grow our Company.

At this point I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Efstratios Desypris, Navios Partners' CFO, who will take you through the results of the quarter.

Thank you, Angeliki, and good morning, all. I will briefly review our unaudited financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2010.

In the third quarter and nine months of 2010, we continued to demonstrate significant increase in our operating metrics, reflecting the growth of our fleet through our accretive vessel drawdowns from Navios Holdings. The financial information was included in the press release and summarized in the slide presentation on the Company's website.

As shown on slide five, time charter revenue of the three months of operations ended September 30, 2010, increased by almost 61% to $38.1 million as compared to $23.7 million over the same period of 2009. That increase in revenue is attributable to the increase in total vessel operating days from 920 days in Q3 of 2009 to 1,270 days for the same period of 2010 due to additional core vessels in our fleet.

EBITDA increased by $12.2 million or 72.6% to $29 million for the third quarter of 2010 as compared to $16.8 million for the same period in 2009. This increase was primarily attributable to the [$14.4] million increase in revenues as discussed above and the $0.7 million decrease in time charter and voyage expenses, mainly as a result of the exercise of the purchase option of Navios subsidiaries. These increases were partially offset by a $2.5 million increase in management fees and the $0.4 million increase in G&A expenses due to an increase in the number of vessels.

Net income for the third quarter of 2010 increased by $5.5 million or 50.9% to $16.3 million as compared to $10.8 million for the same period in 2009. The increase in net income is mostly attributable to the increase in vessel operating days and the $0.1 million decrease in direct vessel expenses. This unfavorable variance of $12.3 million was adversely affected by a $6.8 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense.

Please keep in mind that the favorable lease component of our acquired vessel is amortized over the remaining duration of the Charter (inaudible) contract, which is generally significantly less than the remaining useful life of the vessel.

Operating surplus for the quarter ended September 30, 2010, was $23.7 million, which is $10.6 million higher than the corresponding quarter in 2009. Operating surplus is a non-GAAP financial measure used to assist in evaluating (inaudible) ability to make quarterly distributions. Capital replacement reserve for the second quarter of 2010 amounted $3.8 million compared to $2 million over the same quarter of last year. During the third quarter of 2010, Navios Partners operated 14 vessels, an increase of four vessels as compared to the same quarter of last year.

Moving on to the nine months of operations in slide six, time charter and voyage revenues over the nine months of 2010 was $100.7 million as compared to $67 million for the same period of 2009. (inaudible) increase in revenue by more than 50% was mainly due to the increase in total vessel operating days from 2570 days in the first nine months of 2009 to 3498 days in 2010. The increased days resulted from the acquisition of Navios Hyperion, Navios Aurora II, Navios Pollux in 2010, as well as the acquisition of Navios Sagittarius and Navios Apollon in 2009, which were fully operational in 2010.

EBITDA increased by $28.2 million or 60.4% to $74.9 million over the nine months of 2010 as compared to $46.7 million over the same period of 2009. 2009 EBITDA excludes the non-cash compensation expense of $6.1 million incurred in the second quarter. The increase is mainly attributable to the $33.7 million increase in revenues discussed above and a $1.3 million decrease in time charter voyage expenses, mainly as a result of the exercise of the purchase option of Navios Sagittarius. These increases were partially offset by a $6.2 million increase in management fees due to the increase in the number of vessels and a $0.6 million increase in general and administrative expenses.

Net income for the nine months of 2010 was $42.1 million compared to $23.3 million for the same period of 2009. The increase in net income is mostly attributable to the increase in vessel operating days, as well as $6.1 million non-cash compensation expense incurred in the nine months of 2009, a $1.9 million decrease in net investment expense, and a $0.3 million decrease in direct vessel expenses. This unfavorable variance of $36.5 million was adversely affected by a $17.7 million in increase in depreciation and amortization expense. Operating surplus for the nine months of 2010 was $75.9 million, representing a $40.8 million increase compared to 2009.

Our fleet consistently performed well. Vessel usage utilization over the nine months of 2010 was 99.7%.

Turning to slide seven, I will briefly discuss some key balance of data for September 30, 2010, as compared to December 31, 2009. Cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash, amounted to $45.9 million at September 30, 2010, compared to $91.2 million on December 31, 2009. 2009 cash and cash equivalents include $56.8 million net proceeds of the equity offering completed November of 2009. Total losses grew by 53.4% to $670.2 million as of September 30, 2010, primarily due to the acquisition of new vessels. Long-term debt increased to $271.5 million at September 30, 2010, compared to $195 million at December 31, 2009. Navios Partners amended its existing credit facility by adding three new provinces and more than an additional amount of $76.5 million net of [$1.5] million prepaid in December of 2010, to finance the acquisition of vessels. The facility subject to a margin ranging from 1.45% to 1.80%. Net debt to book capitalization on a chartered adjusted basis remained at 35.5% as of September 30, 2010. As of September 30, Navios Partners was in compliance with the financial covenants of its credit facility.

As shown on slide eight, our Board of Directors approved a current distribution of the third quarter of 2010 of $0.42 per common unit. This represents a 20% increase over our minimum quarterly distribution. The record date for the third quarter of 2010's distribution is November 10, and the payment date is November 10, 2010. It must be noted that Navios Partners has consistently paid down out quarterly dividend contributions since its inception in November of 2007. The total distribution amounts to $21 million, of which $17.2 million will be through the common units and $3.8 million through the GP and subordinated units. We are pleased with the distribution covenants. Common unit covenants is 2.56 times, and total unit covenants is 2.10 times. For US tax purpose Navios Partners reports the cumulative analyst distributions to common unit holders of Form 1099.

On slide nine the favorable quarterly pattern of EBITDA operating surplus and net income are shown over the 11 quarters from Q1 2008 to the Q3 2010. The consecutive higher results primarily reflect the significant profitable growth by the Company from increases in the number of operating vessels for operating (inaudible). This consistent growth is demonstrated in the increased dividend distribution to our unit holders. Navios Partners has increased its dividend distribution in six out of the 11 quarters of its operations. Our current final distribution of $8.68 per common unit provides for a 9% effective yield based on yesterday's closing price. Our distribution has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.6%.

Slide 10 demonstrates our strong relationship with key participants in our industry. We have built a portfolio of quality charter counterparties, which provides us an improvement with an average remaining contract life of 4.3 years with a diversified capital base. One of the attributes we seek in our charter counterparties is strong credit quality. In addition, we have ensured that some of our contracts will (inaudible) life insurance. Our objective is to continue to grow a visible, secure and stable long-term base of revenues and to stabilize the cash flows for our unit holders.

As shown on slide 11, our fleet consists of 14 vessels -- three Capesize, 10 Panamax and one Ultra-Handymax vessel. The fleet provides a carrying capacity of 1.3 million deadweight tons. Navios Partners fleet is young relative to the global dry bulk fleet with an average age of six years as compared to the industry average of approximately 14 years. Navios Partners has currently contracted 100% of its available days on its overall basis for 2010 and 2011 and 94% for 2012. By design the expiration days are targeted, and the total duration extends to the second half of [2011] at the earliest and November [2012] in the latest. It is our objective to continue to grow Navios Partners' fleet on an accretive basis and increase cash available contributions.

I now pass the call to George Achniotis, our Executive Vice President of Business Development, to discuss the industry section. George?

Thank you, Efstratios, and good morning to all. Please turn to slide 12. Where you are read a newspaper, it tends to carry your view of the world's economies. As you can see on the left, while the range of economy's growth parameters are still below their pre- (inaudible) peaks, emerging economies have exceeded those peaks by 10% and are still expanding their exports and imports.

On the right you can see that growth in China and the developing economies considered a higher percentage to total world growth than the (inaudible) economies. The IMF expects that these macro trends will continue for the foreseeable future where the emerging economies will contribute most of the world's growth. Drive-up demand growth is being driven by the need to consume greater amounts of raw materials and other commodities to fuel the rapid growth of these developing economies as they recognize and expand their industrial bases.

Turning now to slide 13, in the 80s the world trade in dry bulk commodities grew by an average of 1.1% per year as measured in the number of tons alone. In the 90s trade growth more than doubled, averaging 2.8% per year. Since China joined the WTO in 2001, trade in dry bulk commodities expanded by 4.7% a year, including strong growth in 2010 estimated by analysts to be 7% to 9%. While the primary engine of that growth continues to be China, India and the other emerging countries add strongly to that growth.

Turning now to slide 14, in 2009 China turned into a net importer of coal. China has determined that its internal metallurgical coal is too expensive to develop and has now decided it by increasing costs and size figures closer to the coast. Analysts forecast very large increases in met coal imports from 34 million tons in 2009 to a range of 50 million to 60 million tons in 2012 with a large portion of this additional demand being met by coal from the [Atlantic], which dramatically increases time miles.

In addition, thermal coal will remain a large import with forecasts of yearly imports ranging from 100 million to 150 million tons per year with only minimal exports of about 50 million tons per year. China is expected to be a significant net importer of thermal and metallurgical coal for years to come. As China exports less coal, other Pacific Rim countries source from further (inaudible) locations, increasing time miles requirements.

Turning to slide 15, crude steel production in China through September was 474 million tons, up 13% year on year. Note that iron ore imports were on par with last year's totals, while domestic iron ore production was up about 26%. This reflected an intent to production of domestic low-quality high cost capacity that had been idle in 2009 while imported iron ore prices were low.

China still imported 461 million tons of iron ore also through September to keep pace with high steel production and demand driven by infrastructure development, housing, cars and durable goods. This amount represents more than the total imported for all of 2008 and includes this year's government slowdowns and rationalization of the steel industry compared with actions in the fall.

Based on analyst estimates, it looks as if China's iron ore imports for the year will be about the same as last year's as there will be significant liftings in the next couple of weeks to move iron ore from Australia and Brazil to China (inaudible). Some of these (inaudible) are changing the Indian iron ore shipments as India depletes more of its iron ore for its own production.

Also, note that increased iron ore imports into Japan, South Korea and EU provided the growth in seaborne (inaudible).

Turning now to slide 16, dry bulk vessel demand is not only driven by the quantity of natural resources, but also by the difference that these cargoes are transported. Changing trading patterns affect those sizes of vessels. As an example, Australia and India have been the main suppliers of Chinese iron ore imports through the last few years. Since then, India's steel production increased, and its proportion of ore sent to China declined, forcing China to import iron ore from outside the Pacific Rim.

Indian iron ore exports since September dropped 47% year on year to 3 million tons due to increased Indian steel production in iron ore export [pads] imported by Indian space. This has not only increased seaborne demand, but it also increased the ton miles traveled to transport the ore and is a key driver to Capesize demand.

As an example, the value of Brazil sold a record 140 million tons of ore to China in 2009 compared to 91 million tons in 2008. [Bali] is currently increasing its mining capacity and expects to produce about 300 million tons of iron ore in 2010 and about 450 million tons by 2014. These significant new volumes are adjusting primarily for the various growing markets.

Indian coal imports shown on the right-hand chart have increased dramatically at a 23% compounded annual growth rate since 2006.

According to the Central Electricity Authority of (inaudible) India, this demand will continue to substantially grow as the majority of planned new power generators will be coal-fired. India now imports more coal per year than the UK, France, and Germany combined. Forecasts are for breather than 60% growth in India in thermal coal imports. One analyst projects growth from 46 million tons in 2009 to over 75 million tons in 2012. Indian met coal imports will add to this, reaching 63 million tons in 2012 from 21 million in 2009.

Turning now to slide 17, the collapse in the trade market in the fourth quarter of 2008 resulted in a dramatic drop in scrapping levels last year when a record 10 million deadweight tons was recorded. With the subsequent favorable market conditions, the pace of scrapping has declined this year, reaching 4.2 million tons year-to-date or about 1% of the fleet. This is equivalent to about 5 million tons on an annualized basis. However, a significant percentage of the dry bulk fleet is reaching the end of its economic useful life. 14% of the fleet is older than 25 years of age, and 23% of the fleet is over 20-years-old, providing about 320 million deadweight tons of scrapping potential.

Moving to slide 18, through September 2010, European deliveries were 55.8 million deadweight tons against an expected 93 million deadweight tons, (inaudible) of 40%. At this pace 2010 total deliveries are projected to be about 75 million deadweight tons out of 125 million originally predicted by the order book. We believe that this demonstrates that non-deliveries will continue to be a substantial part of the dry bulk order book going forward. Even though some yards may have increased capacity, especially the Chinese, it should be noted that in 2010 and 2011 expected deliveries reflect orders currently contracted at prices significantly above the current market, making them uneconomical today.

In addition, the deal's traditional bank financing will continue to adversely impact the market, severely curtailing hundreds of private ship owners in favor of publicly quoted shipping companies. Despite cash slippage in 2010, expected deliveries will likely establish a record year for new vehicles.

Please turn to slide 19. During the quarter and currently, dry bulk demand remains strong, resulting in a rising market despite the increase in new vessel deliveries. The amount continues to be robust from China, and overall demand will be increasingly supplemented by the growing demand from India, other emerging markets and in terms of growth in (inaudible) imports.

There are substantial mining and port infrastructure expansion plans being built around the world that will add significant cargo volumes in meeting the world's growing demands. With these demand and supply dynamics, we believe that the BDI will continue to trade at moderate levels of around the 2000 to 4000 range as outlined in this slide. The 2011 represents the average of the BDI commerce inception to today, and the 4011 is the average of the BDI from the time that China joined the WTO until now.

Navios Partners continues to operate its vessels on long-term time charters between short credit worth counterparties, and thus, it does not have current exposure to the spot market trading environment.

This concludes my presentation. I would now like to turn the call back to Angeliki for her final remarks.

Angeliki, would you like to do any closing remarks before we go to questions?

I just want to thank George for the formal presentation, and I would like to open the call to questions.

(Operator Instructions). John Chappell, JPMorgan.

There has not been a lot of sale and purchase activity in the dry bulk market over the last couple of months. I think there is a lot of uncertainty as to where the market is headed. I'm just wondering about the timing of your potential use of proceeds and the money you just raised in October. Are you kind of in a wait and see mode to see what 2011 may bring, or do you think there may be sooner implementation of those funds?

I think we are very consistent. We usually the money at work very quickly, so I think we will have the possibility to do that. Let's not forget that Navios Partners has a strong sponsor into Navios Holdings, and the model of Navios Partners request that we have a very credible and durable distribution. So with the increased amount that we raised in this offering, we are looking on a larger transaction, most probably with two drivers, extending the duration of the charter duration of our contract and reducing the age profile. That will give us the opportunity to reward shareholders and Navios Partners with a creative and also to have a very credible distribution and increased distribution. I do not believe that we will have a problem achieving these two targets.

And, as you look across the spectrum of potential acquisitions opportunities, especially as you mentioned this may be a larger transaction, do you think you may make an entrance into the third-party market, or are drop-downs from Navios Holdings still the primary use right now?

We are totally open to both, and we are open to any third-party transactions. The things that we need to be always careful on that is to find transactions that are also provided as the counterparty security that we can get. Because the difference on Navios Partners is a vessel that is charter free is almost useless because you cannot really create it in the creative dealings with the distributions we have on Navios Partners.

So we are very open. I think there will be opportunities at a later stage, and we are very open to every side of the equation. The thing is that you have to fund cash flows associated with that from credible counterparties that are AA+ insured. This is the two things we have to look.

And from your conversation with banks, is 60% financing still possible for acquisitions?

Yes. I mean Navios Group can access that easily.

And then finally, you had the Pollux in the fleet for the full quarter for the first time and the third quarter. I'm just curious about the decision to not bump the distribution even by $0.005 given the recent track record. Once you had a shift for the full quarter, you would bump the distribution.

I want to be a very (inaudible). We increased the distributions when we did the acquisition, if you remember previously. And we did just on the recent rating that we did, all our investors had participated in that, and we thank them for that, will be getting their distribution, even though that money has not been put to work.

We are very consistent on the distribution. We always the moment we do an acquisition we raise, and depending on the size of the distribution, on the size of the acquisition, we are not shy to reward the investors. So if we do a larger transaction, we are, of course, going to reward the shareholders. The issue is that you did not have -- the money was not put to work, even though those investors that participated will also be rewarded on this quarter.

Very helpful. Thanks.

Natasha Boyden, Cantor Fitzgerald.

I just want to talk in terms of charters, particularly in terms of Panamax. What kind of charters are you seeing right now? Are they charters looking for terms greater than a year, or is it mostly for shorter time periods?

To be honest, it is not so much previous time charters, to be frank, and maybe that is a combination of two parties. Maybe owners don't like to have longer time charters at a lower age or -- but generally the period market is not as strong as other times.

And then in Navios Partners, we did two transactions with very good counterparties. The Allegra we have reported and Navios Libra we did 18,500 for two years with the [retail] group, which now has all our vessels -- (technical difficulty) 2012, and we have increased our average duration to almost four and a half years.

Okay. Great. And maybe just follow on from John's question back to the acquisitions. You said that you would be willing to look at both third-party as well as drop-down from NM. I guess my question is, how many more vessels in NM would you be willing to drop down to NMM? Do you have a set number, or is it on an as is basis whatever makes sense at the time?

I think this is a decision for the board. I mean you can all see we are very balanced on the vessels that Navios Holdings has and the duration of the charter. This is mostly a decision of the independent board members on the two companies, and this is something that it will only be a matter of being agreed on both boards. I don't think anyone -- everyone has a fiduciary obligation to their on board, and we will find a deal that makes more sense.

And I just have one more general question. We have seen a resurgence actually in new build orders over the last six months, and I'm wondering in your opinion, is this just shipyards looking to replace lost lots, or do you think this represents an actual increase in the order book?

You know, we just came back -- I just came back with a team from the Far East. I was last week there. I can say that the orders that you saw was a lot worse during the second quarter. There was a lot of enthusiasm, and sometimes it may be a combination of things. A lot of the vessels are not new vessels. It is really orders that existed in the books, and they have changed. What happens is that you show vessels changing from dry when the dry dock to wet because the wet was still good. And then we have seen resale (inaudible) orders to drive.

That does not mean -- I'm not frustrated that it is all fresh orders. There are some fresh orders that were well demanded, but the majority is really recircling these same order book in different ways and forms. I'm still very -- I'm questioning the number of vessels that they would actually realize. Because you still see that there in struggling in the markets and especially in the new building area where you can find very few banks doing pre-delivery finance. I think almost a very small -- I think almost one, maybe a couple of banks will do pre-delivery finance, and post-delivery is still limited.

So this is your limitation right now. So for new vessels, you are going to be looking on a companies that have very strong balance sheets to come in. Because most probably they will have to finance it themselves, the pre-delivery period. Except this was an order from previously and is just recircling the same thing.

So I still believe that the situation on new building is very uncertain on the numbers.

Michael Webber, Wells Fargo.

When I think about your firepower here after the equity raise and I think about your fleet, you certainly have enough room to go out and make more than one acquisition, and you guys have recently done something in the Ultra-Handymax space. Do you think that is an area where you would like to grow over the next couple of years and increase your long-term exposure, or do you think you're going to be more heavily weighted towards the Panamax and the Capes?

We don't really look at it as -- the way we look at it is not as purely size, but mostly as cash flows. What we like to do is extend the duration of the contract. I mean we have two major targets -- reduce the age profile of our fleet, which is a great competitive advantage, and secondly, to prolong the durations of charters. And taking these two targets, I mean we will be focusing on assets that look on these profiles. And, of course, it will be an accretive deal.

Right. I guess what I'm getting at is, do you think past the initial charter and these things all have useful lives of 25 years, is there an asset class that you would like to focus your long-term exposure towards, or is it more just across the dry bulk spectrum as a whole?

Across the board.

Okay. Fair enough. My next question is more general, and John touched on this briefly with the distribution staying relatively flat. You guys have been pretty aggressive in growing your fleet, and there has certainly been some distribution upside. But that growth rate has really kind of trailed the fleet growth. How do you think about growing that distribution going forward? Certainly you guys are being conservative, and that plays out in your coverage ratio. Are you waiting for something? Is there something that would get you guys I guess more apt to go out and make a larger distribution increase, or is it just basically a conservative nature?

We have articulated and we will make it far more clear in the subsequent times, whenever we will have acquisitions, we will always increase. We did not do it in -- we missed, I think, one raising. We can do three or four raisings during a year. We are not shy to do that. And whenever we will do it, we will increase the distribution. If we do larger acquisitions, we will reward our investors accordingly.

Right. I guess what I'm getting at is that distribution coverage ratio keeps inching up, which is great from a security standpoint, but it certainly looks like there is a lot of distribution upside. Is there a certain point at which you think you could increase the distributions at the get the higher run-rate instead of $0.005 to maybe moving to $0.01 or to $0.02? Or is that something you are going to hold firm on, that inching up strategy?

It depends on the assets we have.

Urs Dur, Lazard Capital.

Everything has been asked for me. Can you just tell us what your cash balance is today post the issuance? I mean we can guess it, but can you tell us what it is?

You know that the equity raising was in the region of $110 million approximately. So (multiple speakers) that one current cash balance of $45 million you guessed (technical difficulty)-- of what we have now.

All right. That is all I've got. That is all I have.

Seth Glickenhaus, Glickenhaus & Co.

I want to congratulate your team on a very good result and the continuation of your policies. The only question I have is, did NM holders buy any of the new issue that the partners put out, or do they allow their position -- their holdings to diminish in percentage?

On the last issuance -- first of all, good morning -- and I want to say on the last issuance this was for other investors. But, of course, one of the issues you will be very aware in the past is that Navios Holdings likes its investment in Navios Partners, and we are very keen on our ownership there. We believe we have very good investment.

On the current raising, it was -- we had great success with Navios Partners with a lot of institutional following, and you saw that from the success of rebalancing our sales price so quickly. And Navios Holdings would not participate; otherwise, we will have to do a larger one. But Navios Holdings is always a supporter of Navios Partners, and we see in the percent of these a strategic importance as an investment.

Thank you. That gives me the answer. Good luck to you all.

I now pass the floor back to Ms. Frangou for any closing comments.

And with that, we conclude our third-quarter presentation for Navios Partners. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude our conference call today. Thank you all for participating, and you may now disconnect.