Navigator Holdings Ltd (NVGS) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and afternoon. Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Navigator Holdings conference call for the first-quarter 2024 financial results.

早安，下午好。女士們、先生們，感謝大家的支持，歡迎參加 Navigator Holdings 公佈 2024 年第一季財務業績的電話會議。

On today’s call we have Mads Peter Zacho, Chief Executive Officer; Gary Chapman, Chief Financial Officer; Oeyvind Lindeman, Chief Commercial Officer; and myself, Randy Giveans, Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Business Development in North America.

出席今天的電話會議的是執行長 Mads Peter Zacho；加里·查普曼，財務長；奧伊溫德‧林德曼 (Oeyvind Lindeman)，商務長；我自己是北美投資者關係和業務開發執行副總裁蘭迪·吉文斯 (Randy Giveans)。

I must advise you that this conference call is being recorded today. As we conduct today's presentation, we'll be making various forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, the future expectations, plans, and prospects from both a financial and operational perspective and are based on management assumptions, forecasts, and expectations as of today's date, and are as such subject to material risks and uncertainties.

我必須通知您，今天的電話會議正在錄音。當我們進行今天的演示時，我們將做出各種前瞻性陳述。這些陳述包括但不限於來自財務和營運角度的未來預期、計劃和前景，並且基於截至今天的管理層假設、預測和期望，因此受到重大風險和影響。

Actual results may differ significantly from our forward-looking information and financial forecast. Additional information about these factors and assumptions are included in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

實際結果可能與我們的前瞻性資訊和財務預測有很大差異。有關這些因素和假設的更多資訊包含在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的年度和季度報告中。

With that, I will now pass the floor to Mads Peter Zacho, the company's CEO. Please go ahead, Mads.

現在，我將把發言權交給公司執行長 Mads Peter Zacho。請繼續，麥德斯。

Thank you, and good morning. Thank you all for logging into this Navigator Gas earnings call for Q1 2024. I will as always begin with a quick review of the main data points relating to the first quarter of ‘24. And then I'll talk over the outlook for the year. Gary, Oeyvind, and Randy will follow-up in a couple of minutes with more detail on our business drivers and results.

謝謝你，早安。感謝大家參加 Navigator Gas 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。我將一如既往地先快速回顧 24 年第一季的主要數據點。然後我會談談今年的展望。Gary、Oeyvind 和 Randy 將在幾分鐘內跟進，提供有關我們業務驅動因素和結果的更多詳細資訊。

Also this time, we can present robust revenues for the past quarter with operating revenues almost equal to same period in 2023. The mix is different, though, and that it was driven by higher time charter rates. I'll say a little bit more about that in a minute.

這次，我們也可以展示上一季的強勁收入，營業收入幾乎與 2023 年同期持平。不過，這種組合有所不同，這是由較高的期租費率所推動的。我稍後會對此多說一些。

Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 set a new record at $74 million, well above the EBITDA of $69 million same period last year. Adjusted net income came in at $23 million. Our cash position remained solid even after we repaid on debt facilities on our credit revolver, and we also continued deploying capital into our ethylene terminal expansion.

第一季調整後 EBITDA 創下 7,400 萬美元的新紀錄，遠高於去年同期的 6,900 萬美元。調整後淨利為 2300 萬美元。即使我們償還了信貸循環貸款的債務融資後，我們的現金狀況仍然穩固，而且我們繼續將資金部署到乙烯終端擴建中。

We've returned capital to our shareholders with a $0.05 per share dividend and repurchased own shares similar to previous quarters. You'll see this continue as we also now declare a further 5% per share dividend plus new share buyback. This will, in total, be equivalent to 25% of net income following our first-quarter results.

我們以每股 0.05 美元的股息向股東返還資本，並回購了自己的股票，與前幾季類似。您會看到這種情況繼續下去，因為我們現在也宣布進一步派發 5% 的每股股息以及新股回購。這總共相當於我們第一季業績後淨利的 25%。

We're particularly pleased with the commercial result and that we are able to push up our TCE rates to an average above $28,000, which is 11% higher than same period last year. Last year in Q1, our utilization was unusually high at 96%. In Q1 of this year, we achieved utilization closer to 90%, which is more akin to previous quarters. We're quite pleased to see that we managed to generate TCE rates and EBITDA at a record level in this environment.

我們對商業結果特別滿意，我們能夠將 TCE 費率提高到平均 28,000 美元以上，比去年同期高 11%。去年第一季度，我們的使用率異常高，達到 96%。今年第一季度，我們的利用率接近 90%，與前幾季更加相似。我們很高興看到我們在這種環境下成功實現了創紀錄的 TCE 率和 EBITDA。

Throughput at our JV ethylene export terminal was slightly down at 220,000 tonnes for the quarter, but we expect that during this year, we will reach a total export near the terminal capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum. The expansion of the terminal continues on track for completion in Q4 of 2024, and we have now contributed progress payments of $51 million in total to date.

本季我們合資乙烯出口碼頭的吞吐量略有下降，為 22 萬噸，但我們預計今年的總出口量將達到每年約 100 萬噸。該航站樓的擴建工作預計將於 2024 年第四季完成，迄今為止，我們已累計支付了 5,100 萬美元的進度款。

Navigator's Board approved a new investment in an early-stage clean ammonia export project in the U.S. Gulf Coast area. As we said before, we are optimistic about clean ammonia as an energy carrier and we believe that gas tankers will transport the majority of the clean ammonia volumes.

Navigator 董事會批准了對美國墨西哥灣沿岸地區早期清潔氨出口計畫的一項新投資。正如我們之前所說，我們對清潔氨作為能源載體持樂觀態度，我們相信儲氣罐將運輸大部分清潔氨。

As is the case with Morgan's Point, our key interest lines with the terminal and ship-to-shore logistics. The outlook for our business remains good. We expect utilization to remain near or above 90%, and we continue to renew our expiring time charters at higher rates.

與摩根角的情況一樣，我們的主要興趣在於碼頭和船到岸物流。我們的業務前景仍然良好。我們預計利用率將保持在 90% 附近或以上，並且我們將繼續以更高的費率續約即將到期的期租合約。

With solid demand for transportation on handysize gas carriers, older vessels being sold out of international trade and limited supply from new buildings in our segment, we expect this to continue. We also see a gradual normalization with the Panama Canal, which Oeyvind will explain in more detail shortly.

由於對靈便型天然氣運輸船運輸的強勁需求、國際貿易中舊船的出售以及我們細分市場新建築的供應有限，我們預計這種情況將持續下去。我們也看到巴拿馬運河逐漸正常化，奧伊溫德很快就會對此進行更詳細的解釋。

I'll now hand it over to Gary, and he'll give you a more detailed review of our financial results. Go ahead, Gary.

我現在將其交給加里，他將為您提供有關我們財務業績的更詳細的審查。繼續吧，加里。

Thank you very much, Mads, and very good morning or afternoon to everyone. I'm pleased to report first quarter 2024 results in which we continued our progress and momentum with, again, some very positive outcomes and a new record adjusted EBITDA, giving ourselves a great platform.

非常感謝你，麥茲，祝大家早上或下午好。我很高興地報告 2024 年第一季的業績，我們繼續取得進展和勢頭，再次取得了一些非常積極的成果和新的調整後 EBITDA 記錄，為我們自己提供了一個良好的平台。

On slide 6, our total operating revenue was GBP134.2 million in the first quarter of 2024 with slightly lower but still very healthy utilization of 89.3%, boosted by stronger time charter equivalent rates that were, on average, $28,339 per day in the quarter, being a marked increase compared to $25,620 per day in the first quarter of 2023.

在投影片6 上，我們2024 年第一季的總營業收入為1.342 億英鎊，利用率略有下降，但仍非常健康，為89.3%，這得益於本季平均每天28,339 美元的期租等效費率走強，與 2023 年第一季每天 25,620 美元相比顯著增加。

There were further positive effects as a result of having our five Navigator Greater Bay vessels fully operational in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same quarter in 2023. And both total vessel operating expenses and depreciation in the first quarter of 2024 was slightly up on this quarter last year, also mainly due to having those five Navigator Greater Bay vessels in full operation.

與 2023 年同一季度相比，我們的五艘 Navigator Greater Bay 船舶在 2024 年第一季全面投入運營，產生了進一步的積極影響。2024年第一季的船舶總營運費用和折舊均較去年本季略有上升，這也主要是由於這五艘Navigator Greater Bay船舶全面投入營運。

The net effect overall for us was a near 14% increase in operating income, up to $36.3 million compared to $31.9 million in the same quarter last year. Our general and administrative costs were well managed in the quarter coming in slightly lower than the same period in 2023, and our interest expenses were cushioned by interest income earned on our cash balances in the quarter and the non-cash movement in the mark-to-market valuations of our interest rate swaps was a small loss in this first quarter of $0.4 million, reflecting more stable forward interest rates in recent months.

對我們來說，整體淨效應是營業收入成長了近 14%，達到 3,630 萬美元，而去年同期為 3,190 萬美元。本季我們的一般和行政成本管理得很好，略低於 2023 年同期，我們的利息支出透過本季度現金餘額賺取的利息收入和按市值計價的非現金變動得到緩衝。期市場估值在第一季小幅虧損40 萬美元，反映近幾個月遠期利率更加穩定。

Our income tax line reflects current and mainly deferred taxes, primarily derived from our investment and share of profits in our ethylene export terminal at Morgan's Point. The ethylene terminal throughput volumes, as Mads mentioned, in the first quarter of 2024 with 220,000 tonnes lower than the same quarter last year by around 29,000 tonnes. However, we currently expect the terminal to remain near its throughput capacity during 2024 with results accordingly.

我們的所得稅線反映了當期稅和主要遞延稅，主要來自我們在摩根角乙烯出口碼頭的投資和利潤分成。正如Mads所提到的，2024年第一季乙烯終端吞吐量為22萬噸，比去年同期減少約2.9萬噸。然而，我們目前預計碼頭在 2024 年將保持在接近其吞吐能力的水平，並取得相應的結果。

Our new record adjusted EBITDA was $74.1 million. Net income attributable to stockholders of Navigator Holdings was $22.6 million with EPS for the quarter coming in at $0.31. The table bottom right gives some further fleet data points, which I'll leave you to read for yourselves.

我們的調整後 EBITDA 創下新紀錄，達到 7,410 萬美元。歸屬於 Navigator Holdings 股東的淨利潤為 2,260 萬美元，該季度每股收益為 0.31 美元。右下角的表格提供了一些進一步的機隊數據點，我將讓您自己閱讀。

The balance sheet shown on slide seven, remains strong with a cash and cash equivalents balance of over $172 million at March 31 and total liquidity, including our undrawn revolving credit of just over $200 million. This compares to minimum total liquidity covenants on our bank loans and credit agreements of around $50 million.

投影片 7 所示的資產負債表依然強勁，截至 3 月 31 日，現金和現金等價物餘額超過 1.72 億美元，流動性總額（包括略高於 2 億美元的未提取循環信貸）。相較之下，我們的銀行貸款和信貸協議的最低總流動性契約約為 5,000 萬美元。

This cash and liquidity balance is after all of our recent buybacks and dividends after making our schedule due loan repayments after making progress payments for our ethylene terminal expansion project and after repaying an additional $4.7 million on one of our revolving credit facilities. Our net debt to capitalization was just 33% as of March 31, 2024, and net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 2.4 times for the 12 months to March 31, 2024.

這筆現金和流動性餘額是在我們最近進行的所有回購和股息之後，在支付我們的乙烯終端擴建項目的進度付款以及在我們的一項循環信貸額度上額外償還470 萬美元之後，按計劃償還貸款。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們的淨債務與資本總額之比僅為 33%，截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的 12 個月內，淨債務與調整後 EBITDA 比率為 2.4 倍。

With good market rates and robust utilization, our liquidity has continued its upward trend. We expect that some of our cash will be needed for the remainder of our ethylene terminal expansion project until we finance a proportion of our investment later in the year and as well for other projects and investments that we're considering that will enhance shareholder returns.

憑藉良好的市場利率和強勁的利用率，我們的流動性持續呈上升趨勢。我們預計，我們的乙烯終端擴建項目的剩餘部分將需要部分現金，直到我們在今年稍後為部分投資提供資金，以及我們正在考慮提高股東回報的其他項目和投資。

There are, of course, a number of projects that we're actively looking at. But meantime, we'll continue to manage our business carefully, reduce our debt, look to our capital distributions and share buybacks, and be good stewards of the business capital.

當然，我們正在積極研究許多項目。但同時，我們將繼續謹慎管理我們的業務，減少債務，專注於我們的資本分配和股票回購，並做好企業資本的管家。

Looking at our finance situation on slide 8. Although we have no low maturities until 2025, we're now actively looking at those, including the $100 million unsecured bond that matures in September 2025, which is likely to be called the extended sometime from March of 2025.

請參閱投影片 8 中我們的財務狀況。儘管我們在2025 年之前沒有低期限債券，但我們現在正在積極關注這些債券，包括將於2025 年9 月到期的1 億美元無擔保債券，該債券很可能從2025 年3 月起的某個時間稱為延期債券。

And as well, the $190 million of remaining 2025 maturities that are likely to be refinanced with new loans or loans of more than $200 million, resulting in a positive liquidity event for the company. The feedback received to date from new and existing lenders is very positive, and we'll provide a further update as part of our second-quarter results.

此外，2025 年剩餘期限中的 1.9 億美元可能會透過新貸款或超過 2 億美元的貸款進行再融資，為公司帶來積極的流動性事件。迄今為止從新的和現有的貸方收到的反饋非常積極，我們將在第二季度業績中提供進一步的更新。

You'll see on the top left how Navigator has substantially reduced its net debt to EBITDA in the last 12 months and indeed since 2019, now at around 2 times. We're continuing to aggressively reduce our debt with more than $100 million of average annual scheduled debt amortization due to occur during 2024 through 2025, which you can see on the top right.

您將在左上角看到 Navigator 如何在過去 12 個月中以及自 2019 年以來大幅減少其 EBITDA 淨債務，目前約為 2 倍。我們將繼續積極減少債務，預計 2024 年至 2025 年期間平均年度計畫債務攤銷將超過 1 億美元，您可以在右上角看到。

Taken with the refinancing work we are now pursuing, we anticipate that our debt maturity profile will look very different by this time next year with an illustration of that shown in the pro forma graphic on the bottom right.

考慮到我們現在正在進行的再融資工作，我們預計到明年這個時候，我們的債務到期狀況將看起來非常不同，如右下角的預期圖表所示。

Then on slide 9, we outline our estimated cash breakeven for 2024, which remains at $20,705 per day, which figure includes our scheduled debt repayments and as well our heavier dry dock schedule in this coming year compared to 2023. Even considering this with such a breakeven level relative to today's charter rates, recording our average TCE for the first quarter of 2024 was $28,339. It of course enables Navigator to generate a very positive EBITDA, not only now but also throughout the shipping side.

然後在幻燈片 9 中，我們概述了 2024 年的預期現金收支平衡，仍為每天 20,705 美元，該數字包括我們計劃的債務償還以及與 2023 年相比，我們未來一年的干船塢時間表。即使考慮到相對於當今包機費率的盈虧平衡水平，我們 2024 年第一季的平均 TCE 仍為 28,339 美元。當然，它使 Navigator 能夠產生非常積極的 EBITDA，不僅是現在，而且在整個運輸方面也是如此。

And on the right is our daily OpEx guidance for 2024 across our differing vessel size segments, ranging from smaller vessels to our larger and more complex ethylene vessels. And we are also now providing some guidance for the second quarter of 2024, as well as updates for the full year across vessel OpEx, general and admin, depreciation, and interest expense.

右側是我們不同船舶尺寸細分市場的 2024 年每日營運支出指南，從較小的船舶到較大且更複雜的乙烯船舶。我們現在也提供 2024 年第二季的一些指導，以及全年船舶營運支出、一般和管理、折舊和利息費用的更新。

On slide 10, we outlined our historic quarterly adjusted EBITDA, showing this first quarter's record figure and demonstrating the very positive and consistent results we were able to report across the whole of 2023 continuing into 2024. We also currently expect the second quarter of 2024 to provide a healthy result.

在投影片 10 中，我們概述了歷史性的季度調整後 EBITDA，顯示了第一季創紀錄的數字，並展示了我們能夠在 2023 年全年持續到 2024 年報告的非常積極和一致的結果。我們目前也預計 2024 年第二季將提供良好的業績。

On the right side of slide 10, we show our historic adjusted EBITDA bar for 2023. Our last 12 months adjusted EBITDA and an annualized adjusted EBITDA based on this first quarter. In addition, the EBITDA bars then to the right provide some sensitivity and illustrates an increase in adjusted EBITDA of approximately $18 million for each $1,000 incremental increase in average time charter equivalent rates per day.

在投影片 10 的右側，我們展示了 2023 年歷史性調整後 EBITDA 欄位。我們過去 12 個月調整後的 EBITDA 以及基於本第一季的年化調整後 EBITDA。此外，右側的 EBITDA 條提供了一定的敏感性，並顯示平均期租等效費率每增加 1,000 美元，調整後的 EBITDA 就會增加約 1,800 萬美元。

Then on slide 11, an update on our vessels scheduled dry docks. We have 17 vessels scheduled for drydocking during 2024 with an expected total of 422 off-hire days and total drydocking CapEx anticipated of $24.6 million, all of which is fully costed and included in our cash flow plans.

然後在幻燈片 11 上，介紹了我們船舶預定乾船塢的最新情況。我們有 17 艘船舶計劃在 2024 年進行乾塢，預計停租期總計 422 天，幹塢資本支出總額預計為 2,460 萬美元，所有這些都已完全計算成本並包含在我們的現金流計劃中。

So more detail on the expected timing and cost of these dry docks as shown below, noting that 4 vessels have already successfully completed their docking this year, 1 is actually scheduled to complete the dry dock today and 12 more for later in the year.

有關這些乾船塢的預計時間和成本的更多詳細資訊如下所示，注意到今年已成功完成4 艘船的入塢，其中1 艘實際上計劃於今天完成乾船塢，另外12 艘船將於今年晚些時候完成。

Also, as we have announced before, we are taking these dry dock opportunities to install energy-saving technologies on those vessels at a cost of around $4.8 million, with many of those technologies having a very short payback. Finally, we also provided here some guidance on 2025 and 2026 scheduled drydocks for those that are interested and which guidance remains very similar to previous figures we disclosed.

此外，正如我們先前宣布的，我們正在利用這些乾船塢機會在這些船上安裝節能技術，成本約為 480 萬美元，其中許多技術的投資回收期非常短。最後，我們也為有興趣的人提供了一些有關 2025 年和 2026 年計畫乾船塢的指南，這些指南與我們先前揭露的數據非常相似。

So at the end of another very solid quarter with record adjusted EBITDA, we've been able to continue our good momentum and provide ourselves with a great foundation for further growth and development.

因此，在又一個非常穩健的季度結束時，調整後的 EBITDA 創歷史新高，我們能夠繼續保持良好的勢頭，並為自己的進一步增長和發展奠定良好的基礎。

And with that, I'll now hand it over to Oeyvind, who will provide an update on some of those plans and our commercial position. Oeyvind, please go ahead.

現在，我將把它交給 Oeyvind，他將提供其中一些計劃和我們的商業地位的最新資訊。奧伊溫德，請繼續。

Thank you, Gary, and hello to everybody. Let's move to slide 13. If you look back on what cargoes have driven our business over the last 10 years or so, we see a couple of clear trends. Firstly, LPG used to be a significant driver to our earnings days. However, as you can see on the gray line on the left-hand graph, it has steadily been declining over the last decade or so. Today, it represents only one-third of our earnings days.

謝謝你，加里，並向大家問好。讓我們轉到投影片 13。如果您回顧過去 10 年左右的時間推動我們業務發展的貨物，我們會看到一些明顯的趨勢。首先，液化石油氣曾經是我們獲利日的重要推手。然而，正如您在左圖的灰線上看到的那樣，它在過去十年左右的時間裡一直在穩步下降。如今，這僅占我們獲利日的三分之一。

Secondly, the emergence of ammonia and petrochemical demand is clearly filling the LPG shortfall for Navigator. We are excited about these developments, though, what they contribute to our business today, but also the significant growth projections for each cargo grade going into the future. And this explains why we will be spending some time talking about ethylene and clean ammonia later in the presentation.

其次，氨和石化需求的出現顯然正在填補Navigator的LPG缺口。不過，我們對這些發展感到興奮，它們對我們今天的業務做出了貢獻，並且對未來每個貨運等級的顯著成長預測也感到興奮。這解釋了為什麼我們將在稍後的演示中花一些時間討論乙烯和清潔氨。

Growth of petrochemicals and ammonia is very much linked to North America. North America significance to navigate is growing year by year. And we try to show this on the right-hand graph. We sorted the origination of our earnings days, i.e., where does -- where do our ships load and then linked it to discharge areas for 2023. The results are illustrated in the graph to the right. And as you can see, opening 60% of all our voyages originated in North America, and that's a lot.

石化產品和氨的成長與北美密切相關。北美對於航行的重要性正在逐年增長。我們嘗試在右側圖表上顯示這一點。我們對盈利日的來源進行了排序，即我們的船舶在哪裡裝載，然後將其與 2023 年的卸貨區域聯繫起來。結果如右圖所示。正如您所看到的，我們 60% 的航程都源自北美，這個數字很大。

A few years back, it was below a quarter. It just reaffirms that we are firmly linked to US gas production growth, US midstream investments and US downstream olefin infrastructure. We see positive trends in all these areas, which will invariably benefit us. And the 60% is set to increase further as we develop.

幾年前，這個數字還不到四分之一。它只是重申我們與美國天然氣產量成長、美國中游投資和美國下游烯烴基礎設施緊密相關。我們在所有這些領域都看到了積極的趨勢，這必然使我們受益。隨著我們的發展，這 60% 還將進一步增加。

Turning to US natural gas liquids production on slide 14. The US NGL production dipped during the first month of this year, but trended positive during March. LPG exports, which comes from the NGL barrel were less volatile. As we have mentioned during previous calls, NGL production, as well as LPG exports provides a good indication of the health of the freight markets.

轉向幻燈片 14 上的美國液化天然氣生產。美國液化天然氣產量今年第一個月有所下降，但三月呈現正成長趨勢。來自液化天然氣桶的液化石油氣出口波動較小。正如我們在先前的電話會議中提到的，液化天然氣產量以及液化石油氣出口很好地表明了貨運市場的健康狀況。

We also need to think about how the Panama Canal situation is impacting the supply side, whether the vessels transit Panama Canal or Cape of Good Hope on their way to Asia has a meaningful impact. How so? Well, US exports during 2023, 55% of all its LPG exports headed to Asia, 71% of its ethane exports headed to Asia and 65% of its ethylene exports headed to Asia, which means that most of US exports are impacted by the Panama Canal one way or another.

我們還需要考慮巴拿馬運河的情況如何影響供應方，船舶在前往亞洲的途中經過巴拿馬運河或好望角是否會產生有意義的影響。為何如此？那麼，2023年美國的出口，其液化石油氣出口的55%流向亞洲，其乙烷出口的71%流向亞洲，其乙烯出口的65%流向亞洲，這意味著美國的大部分出口受到巴拿馬的影響運河以一種方式或另一種方式。

Larger vessels are required to head through the Neo-Panamax locks, the new locks. And according to the Panama Canal authorities, there are no additional transits allowed for these vessel sizes which in practice means longer voyages.

較大的船隻需要通過新巴拿馬型船閘（新船閘）。根據巴拿馬運河當局的說法，這些尺寸的船隻不允許額外過境，這實際上意味著更長的航程。

For the handysize segment, however, we are now increasingly transiting through the original locks as daily transits have increased from 12 to 20 over the last couple of months are against a normal of 26, but a dramatic improvement.

然而，對於靈便型船段，我們現在越來越多地透過原來的船閘進行轉運，過去幾個月每天的轉運次數從12 次增加到20 次，與正常情況下的26 次相比，但已經有了顯著的改善。

For our segment, this is actually a good thing. Handysize attained trade becomes more viable against larger vessels needing to head via South Africa. It is also positive for ethylene earnings. If freight, for example, of $400 a ton from US to Asia. Our day rates will be higher transiting Panama, compared to the longer run. Although the voyages are shorter, I think the benefits are greater to us.

對於我們這個細分市場來說，這其實是件好事。相對於需要經過南非的大型船舶而言，靈便型船舶的貿易變得更加可行。這對乙烯收益也有正面影響。例如，從美國到亞洲的運費為每噸 400 美元。與長期相比，我們在巴拿馬過境的日費率會更高。雖然航程較短，但我認為帶給我們的好處更大。

Staying on ethylene. On page 15 illustrates the importance of US exports. The global seaborne ethylene market for 2020 were 5.3 million metric tons. The traditional ethylene trades have been on smaller ships within Europe or within Asia.

繼續使用乙烯。第 15 頁說明了美國出口的重要性。2020年全球海運乙烯市場規模為530萬噸。傳統的乙烯貿易是在歐洲或亞洲境內的小型船上進行的。

When Morgan's Point ethylene export terminal commenced its operations in 2019, it started to influence the status quo. New tonnes were now available and these tonnes required to be shipped longer requiring larger vessels. This dynamic is obviously quite positive to us. More tonnes coming through the expansion will require longer voyages for all the volumes, which will again increase demand for our ethylene shipping services.

當摩根的 Point 乙烯出口終端於 2019 年開始營運時，它開始影響現狀。現在有新的噸位可供使用，而這些噸位需要運輸更長時間，需要更大的船隻。這種動態顯然對我們來說非常積極。透過擴建增加的噸數將需要更長的航程才能滿足所有數量，這將再次增加對我們的乙烯運輸服務的需求。

To note, US have gone from being an insignificant supply of ethylene to the world reaching 20% of global seaborne supply. And post expansion, including the flex capacity, the US ethylene market share has the potential to reach half of current global supply. And that's quite impressive. And it goes to show the power of cheap US gas and its ability to change traditional trade patterns.

值得注意的是，美國已經從一個微不足道的乙烯供應國發展到佔全球海運供應量的20%。包括靈活產能在內的擴張後，美國乙烯市佔率有可能達到當前全球供應量的一半。這真是令人印象深刻。它展示了美國廉價天然氣的力量及其改變傳統貿易模式的能力。

On page 16, we have laid out the US ethylene arbitrage and value chain. The price points on the left-hand graph is provided by Argus and represent a snapshot what they assess the markets to be at that point in time, which allows us to draw out the various elements in an ethylene to market chain.

在第16頁，我們列出了美國乙烯套利和價值鏈。左側圖表上的價格點由阿格斯提供，代表了他們對當時市場的評估快照，這使我們能夠繪製出乙烯到市場鏈中的各種要素。

On paper, it shows that freight can be $380 a tonne to reach Asia. $380 a tonne on a handysize ship via the Panama Canal yields about $40,000 a day for our ethylene ships, and that is what we're seeing today. In addition to product arbitrage, investment supply has a major influence on freight. And during the first quarter, about 50% of US exports headed to Europe and 50% to Asia.

紙面上顯示，到達亞洲的運費為每噸 380 美元。一艘通過巴拿馬運河的靈便型船舶每噸 380 美元，我們的乙烯船每天的收益約為 40,000 美元，這就是我們今天所看到的。除產品套利外，投資供給對運費影響較大。第一季度，美國約 50% 的出口銷往歐洲，50% 銷往亞洲。

For second quarter, we already see Asia pulling a larger share, which means that the majority of -- this means the majority of longer voyages originating from our terminal.

對於第二季度，我們已經看到亞洲佔據了更大的份額，這意味著大多數——這意味著大多數長途航行都是從我們的碼頭出發的。

The latest 12-month time charter assessment are shown on page 17. The time charter markets continue to be robust. The handysize assessment, though, is based on fairly illiquid market with fewer no time charters being conducted on a weekly basis compared to other ships.

最新的 12 個月定期租船評估請見第 17 頁。期租市場持續強勁。不過，靈便型船舶的評估是基於流動性相當低的市場，與其他船舶相比，每週進行的不定期租船較少。

That said, the green ethylene line is fairly accurate at about $40,000 a day. The darker and lighter blue lines are representing semi-ref and fully rev handysize vessels and is trending lower compared to what we see on our contract renewals. So we are seeing higher rates than what this graph is showing when we talk about time charter renewals and so forth.

也就是說，綠色乙烯線相當準確，約為每天 40,000 美元。較深和較淺的藍色線代表半參考和全轉速靈便型船舶，與我們在合約續約中看到的情況相比，其趨勢較低。因此，當我們談論定期租船續租等問題時，我們看到的費率比該圖顯示的要高。

The updated fleet composition on page 18 shows a relatively high number of vessels to be delivered in the large-sized fully refrigerated segments. It is the complete opposite to what we see in the handysize and small size category, both showing a low percentage of vessels on order.

第 18 頁更新後的船隊組成顯示，在大型全冷藏領域交付的船舶數量相對較多。這與我們在靈便型和小型船舶類別中看到的情況完全相反，兩者都顯示訂單船舶比例較低。

It is also worth noting that 21% of the existing handysize fleet is about 20-years of age with many of these vessels becoming candidates for recycling over the next few years.

另外值得注意的是，現有靈便型船隊中有 21% 的船齡約為 20 年，其中許多船舶將在未來幾年內成為回收的候選人。

So to repeat what Mads and Gary just said, we had a very good start of the year, and we see the positive trend continue into the second quarter with increasing rates on average and increasing utilization. Let me hand it over to Randy for him to give some additional details on recent developments. Randy, over to you.

因此，重複 Mads 和 Gary 剛才所說的，我們今年有一個非常好的開局，我們看到積極的趨勢持續到第二季​​度，平均費率不斷上升，利用率不斷提高。讓我將其交給蘭迪，讓他提供有關最近事態發展的更多詳細資訊。蘭迪，交給你了。

Thank you, Oeyvind. So following up on several announcements we made in recent months, we want to provide some additional details on updated developments regarding those announcements.

謝謝你，奧伊文德。因此，根據我們近幾個月發布的幾項公告，我們希望提供有關這些公告的最新進展的一些額外詳細資訊。

So starting on slide 20, we are pleased to announce our return of capital for the first quarter of 2024, in line with our recently announced return of capital policy and the illustrative table below.

因此，從幻燈片 20 開始，我們很高興地宣布 2024 年第一季的資本返還，這與我們最近宣布的資本返還政策和下表一致。

We're returning 25% of net income or $5.7 million to shareholders this quarter. The Board has declared a cash dividend of $0.05 per share payable on June 25, 2024, to all shareholders of record as of June 4, 2024, equating to a quarterly dividend payment of $3.7 million.

本季我們將向股東返還 25% 的淨利潤（即 570 萬美元）。董事會宣佈於 2024 年 6 月 25 日向截至 2024 年 6 月 4 日在冊的所有股東派發每股 0.05 美元的現金股息，相當於季度股息支付 370 萬美元。

Additionally, with Navigator Gas shares trading well below our NAV of at least $25 a share, we'll use the variable portion of the return of capital policy to repurchase shares. As a reminder, during the first quarter, we repurchased 52,630 common shares totaling $800,000 at an average price of $15.20.

此外，由於 Navigator Gas 股票的交易價格遠低於我們每股至少 25 美元的資產淨值，我們將使用資本回報政策的可變部分來回購股票。提醒一下，第一季度，我們以 15.20 美元的平均價格回購了 52,630 股普通股，總價值為 800,000 美元。

Looking ahead, we expect to repurchase at least $2 million of Navigator common shares between now and the end of the quarter, such that the dividend and the share repurchases together equal 25% of net income. Returning capital to shareholders will remain a core focus for us.

展望未來，我們預計從現在到本季末將回購至少 200 萬美元的 Navigator 普通股，這樣股息和股票回購合計相當於淨利潤的 25%。向股東返還資本仍將是我們的核心關注點。

Turning to slide 21 and following up on our previous announcement regarding the expansion of our ethylene export terminal, the project is progressing nicely. Engineering is now complete. Most of the key components have been delivered and construction is now underway with an expected completion date by December.

轉向幻燈片 21，繼我們先前關於擴建乙烯出口碼頭的公告之後，該專案進展順利。工程現已完成。大部分關鍵部件已交付，施工正在進行中，預計將於 12 月完工。

The total capital contribution required from us to the joint venture is expected to be less than $130 million. And to date, we have already made progress payments totaling $51 million, with the remaining CapEx expected from cash on hand until new financing agreements are completed later this year.

我們對合資企業所需的出資總額預計少於1.3億美元。到目前為止，我們已經支付了總計 5,100 萬美元的進度款，剩餘的資本支出預計來自手頭現金，直到今年稍後完成新的融資協議。

Now as you can see on the bottom left chart, despite some softness in December and January due to tight commodity spreads and limited vessel availability, throughput is now back above nameplate capacity with the second quarter off to a strong start.

現在，正如您在左下圖表中看到的那樣，儘管由於大宗商品價差緊張和船舶供應有限，12 月和1 月出現一些疲軟，但隨著第二季度的強勁開局，吞吐量現已回到銘牌容量之上。

We'd also like to inform you that the first new multiyear offtake contract has been signed and another offtake customer has agreed to commercial terms likely to be signed this summer. So we continue to expect the vast majority of the additional capacity will be contracted in the coming months.

我們也想通知您，第一份新的多年承購合約已經簽署，另一位承購客戶已同意可能於今年夏天簽署的商業條款。因此，我們仍然預計絕大多數新增產能將在未來幾個月內簽訂合約。

Now for a new announcement on slide 22. After a deep vetting process and driven by our firm belief in the immense growth potential of clean ammonia, our Board has approved a $2.5 million investment in an early-stage clean ammonia export project here along the US Gulf Coast. We expect to make our first monetary contribution in the coming weeks. And although light on details today, we'll be sure to provide more details as the project develops and capital is deployed.

現在投影片 22 上有新的公告。經過深入的審查過程，並在我們對清潔氨巨大增長潛力的堅定信念的推動下，我們的董事會批准了對美國墨西哥灣沿岸早期清潔氨出口項目的 250 萬美元投資。我們預計將在未來幾週內做出第一筆捐款。儘管今天只透露了一些細節，但隨著專案的發展和資本的部署，我們一定會提供更多細節。

Now this initial investment is development capital for the pre-FEED and FEED studies and subject to future Board approval, we also expect to make larger investments at FID and during the construction phase of the project with our focus being on the terminal and the ship-shore Logistics.

現在，這筆初始投資是預 FEED 和 FEED 研究的開發資本，並有待未來董事會的批准，我們也預計在 FID 和專案建設階段進行更大的投資，重點是碼頭和船舶-岸上物流。

As evidenced by our numerous vessels currently transporting ammonia, our recent investment in the Zain Fuel Solutions for ammonia bunkering, our approval in principle for an ammonia fuel vessel, and our recently performed first ship-to-ship transfer of ammonia. Ammonia already is and will continue to be a key focus for Navigator Gas.

我們目前運輸氨的眾多船隻、我們最近對用於氨加註的 Zain Fuel Solutions 的投資、我們原則上批准氨燃料船以及我們最近進行的首次船對船氨轉運都證明了這一點。氨已經並將繼續成為 Navigator Gas 的重點關注點。

To note, the US Gulf will be a key producing region of clean ammonia, which will then be exported to high-demand areas around the world, such as Asia for co-firing coal power plants, Europe for cracking into hydrogen and then using for power generation, and across the globe as a clean bunkering tool for ships as well as to displace conventionally produced ammonia-based fertilizer.

值得注意的是，美灣將成為清潔氨的主要生產地區，這些氨將被出口到世界各地的高需求地區，例如亞洲用於混燃燃煤電廠，歐洲用於裂解成氫氣，然後用於發電，並在全球範圍內作為船舶的清潔加油工具，並取代傳統生產的氨基肥料。

So we're very excited to take this first step into a project that should be a meaningful contributor to our business, and we look forward to telling you more about it in the near future.

因此，我們非常高興能夠踏出這個專案的第一步，該專案應該對我們的業務做出有意義的貢獻，我們期待在不久的將來向您介紹更多相關資訊。

And finishing on slide 23. To celebrate more than a decade of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Navigator Gas will be ringing the closing bell at the NYSE on Tuesday, June 25. We'll start the day with an investor presentation, followed by the bell ring ceremony and conclude with the celebratory reception on site, everything that afternoon.

投影片 23 結束。為了慶祝在紐約證券交易所上市十多年，Navigator Gas 將於 6 月 25 日星期二在紐約證券交易所敲響收盤鐘。我們將以投資者介紹開始新的一天，然後是敲鐘儀式，最後以現場慶祝招待會結束，一切都在當天下午進行。

We would love to have you there to learn more about these aforementioned exciting developments and to hear you hooting and hollering as we ring the bell. So if you'd like to attend, please let me know, so we can add you to the guest list.

我們希望您能在那裡了解更多有關上述令人興奮的進展的信息，並在我們敲響鈴聲時聽到您的叫喊聲。因此，如果您想參加，請告訴我，以便我們將您添加到賓客名單中。

With that, I'll now turn it back over to Mads for closing remarks.

現在，我將把它轉回給麥茲做總結發言。

Good. Thanks a lot, Randy. You can see here that 2024 has come off to a good start. And as you just heard, we are pretty confident that the year will be one of stronger commercial and financial results.

好的。非常感謝，蘭迪。從這裡您可以看到，2024 年已經有了一個好的開始。正如您剛才所聽到的，我們非常有信心今年將是商業和財務表現更加強勁的一年。

I think we are well positioned for the future with a strong outlook in our existing core markets, and that combined with some really exciting opportunities in new emerging markets such as within the transportation of clean ammonia or CO2.

我認為我們已經為未來做好了充分的準備，現有核心市場前景廣闊，再加上清潔氨或二氧化碳運輸等新興市場中的一些真正令人興奮的機會。

Our balance sheet is in its best shape ever, and it gives us the flexibility to grow our business and return capital to shareholders at the same time. So we are looking into a very exciting 2024 with the best yet to come.

我們的資產負債表處於有史以來最好的狀態，它使我們能夠靈活地發展業務，同時向股東返還資本。因此，我們正在展望一個非常令人興奮的 2024 年，最好的未來即將到來。

So thanks a lot, and back to you, Randy.

非常感謝，然後回到你，蘭迪。

Thank you, Mads. Operator, we'll now open the lines for some Q&A. (Event Instructions)

謝謝你，麥茲。接線員，我們現在將開通一些問答線。（活動須知）

Hi, Randy. Hi, guys. Thank you. This is Omar Nokta calling from Jefferies. Randy, you said at the hooting and hollering, the -- it's been a nice quarter. It's been a nice series of quarters. You've had your best EBITDA ever. And it's noteworthy, I guess, as you mentioned in the release, utilization dipped year over year, and you mentioned softer demand. So clearly, there are strong dynamics at play.

嗨，蘭迪。嗨，大家好。謝謝。我是奧馬爾諾克塔 (Omar Nokta) 從傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 打來的電話。蘭迪，你在歡呼聲中說過——這是一個美好的季度。這是一系列不錯的季度。您已經獲得了有史以來最好的 EBITDA。我想，值得注意的是，正如您在新聞稿中提到的，利用率逐年下降，而且您提到需求疲軟。很明顯，有強大的動力在發揮作用。

I guess from just kind of thinking about it, the seasonality or perhaps kind of think about the utilization dip year over year -- is that a seasonality thing? And was it felt more dramatically than last year? And then how would you say overall activity levels are shaping up as we kind of move past 1Q?

我想，從某種意義上來說，季節性或可能是利用率逐年下降——這是季節性的事情嗎？感覺比去年更強烈嗎？那麼，隨著第一季的過去，您認為整體活動水準會如何變化？

Maybe I can just kick us off and then Oeyvind you can take over and give them more detailed explanation. But I think looking at the first quarter of last year, that was really the odd one out here at 96% utilization, it's very difficult to achieve.

也許我可以把我們踢掉，然後奧伊溫德你可以接手並給他們更詳細的解釋。但我認為，看看去年第一季度，利用率高達 96%，這確實很奇怪，這是很難實現的。

There will almost always be ships that for one reason or another will be idle for short periods of time. And that means that 96% is not what we should be looking for as a typical robust market. Once we are at 90% or just the over that, we are typically able to push up rates and we consider that to be a robust market pretty much as we saw in Q1 this year. But Oeyvind, you can fill in.

幾乎總是有一些船舶因為某種原因會短暫閒置。這意味著 96% 並不是我們應該尋找的典型強勁市場。一旦達到 90% 或超過該水平，我們通常能夠提高利率，我們認為這是一個強勁的市場，就像我們在今年第一季看到的那樣。但是Oeyvind，你可以填寫。

Yeah, Omar. One thing to note is that even though utilization was somewhat lower than 12 months ago, the TCE rates are higher, the average TCE rate. So there's obviously a dynamic is a trade-off between utilization and rate level. And with all the ships trading, it's always a judgment call.

是的，奧馬爾。需要注意的一件事是，儘管利用率略低於 12 個月前，但 TCE 率（平均 TCE 率）較高。因此，利用率和費率水準之間顯然存在一種動態權衡。對於所有的船舶交易來說，這總是需要做出判斷。

Now you mentioned you used the word soft demand. It is -- we haven't seen soft demand because TCE rates are up. We had a ship that for whatever reason, was idle for technical issues, and that is each ship that is out of service as a penalty of 2% on that number. So if that had working, they would be above 90%, that's we've been talking about.

現在您提到您使用了“軟需求”這個詞。我們還沒有看到需求疲軟，因為 TCE 利率上升。我們有一艘船由於某種原因因技術問題而閒置，每一艘停止服務的船都會受到該數量 2% 的罰款。如果這有效的話，他們的成功率將超過 90%，這就是我們一直在談論的。

But I just want to reiterate that 90% is a good market. We're able to push rates. We have shown that during Q1 this year, TCEs are up. The ethylene trade and ethane trade is producing about [40] a day, which is the highest we've ever seen. So things are looking bright on that front. Utilization is just a small factor of it.

但我只是想重申一下，90%是一個很好的市場。我們能夠提高利率。我們已經表明，今年第一季度，傳統文化表現形式有所上升。乙烯貿易和乙烷貿易每天生產約 [40]，這是我們所見過的最高水準。所以這方面的事看起來很光明。利用率只是其中的一個小因素。

Thanks, Oeyvind. That's clear. I appreciate that. And then maybe just kind of shifting gears a bit towards the terminal expansion you signed your first offtake agreement, which is nice to see, and you're expecting more here ahead of completion.

謝謝，奧伊文德。很清楚。我很欣賞這一點。然後，也許只是朝著您簽署的第一份承購協議的航站樓擴建方向稍微轉變一下，這是很高興看到的，並且您在完成之前期待更多。

Just wanted to think about -- in terms of project completion itself, it seems like it's definitely on track for completion at the end of 4Q or during 4Q. What kind of ramp should we expect as we think about starting to generate earnings off of that in ‘25? Is there a buildup? Or is it basically almost turnkey since it's already in a terminal in existence?

只是想想 - 就專案完成本身而言，它似乎肯定會在第四季末或第四季期間完成。當我們考慮在 25 世紀開始從中產生收益時，我們應該期待什麼樣的成長？有堆積嗎？或者它基本上幾乎是交鑰匙的，因為它已經存在於終端中？

Why don't you take this one, Randy?

蘭迪，你為什麼不拿這個？

Sure thing. Yeah, howdy, Omar? Yeah, it's turnkey, right? So there will be maybe a week or two of ramp up operations, but most of that will happen in November, December. So by January 1, 2025, we will be fully operational for the entirety of the new capacity.

當然可以。是啊，你好，奧馬爾？是的，這是交鑰匙的，對吧？因此，可能會有一兩週的加速運營，但大部分將在 11 月、12 月進行。因此，到 2025 年 1 月 1 日，我們的全部新產能將全面投入營運。

Okay. All right. Sounds good. And then a final one for me, just on the ammonia project you highlighted. I know it's still early on and you're putting in the development CapEx. As you kind of think about it and as you move forward, is this something that you expect to do or go alone at Navigator? Or would you look to partner with somebody like an enterprise or somebody similar as you move forward with the potential project?

好的。好的。聽起來不錯。然後是我的最後一個，就是你強調的氨項目。我知道現在還處於早期階段，您正在投入開發資本支出。當你思考這個問題並繼續前進時，這是你期望在 Navigator 做的事情還是獨自去做的事情？或者，當您推進潛在專案時，您會尋求與企業或類似的人合作嗎？

I think inevitably, we would be partnering up in projects like these ones. Typically, the marine infrastructure would be linked up to production facility or storage facility of some sort. And here, we would rely on good on land partners for that.

我認為我們不可避免地會在此類專案中進行合作。通常，海洋基礎設施將與某種生產設施或儲存設施連接起來。在這裡，我們將依靠良好的土地合作夥伴來實現這一目標。

So I think you should expect that we would be doing joint ventures as we have very successfully done with enterprise. It doesn't have to be enterprise. We love working with them. We'd love to do much more with them, but there can also be situations like this one where we will do it with other partners.

所以我認為你應該預料到我們會建立合資企業，就像我們與企業的合作非常成功一樣。它不一定是企業。我們喜歡與他們合作。我們很樂意與他們一起做更多的事情，但也可能會出現像這樣的情況，我們會與其他合作夥伴一起做這件事。

And just to give some scale to that, for the initial enterprise terminal is around $300 million CapEx in total. The new expansion is another $260 million. Ammonia projects, we're talking billions of dollars. So certainly, with partners, not going ahead of ourselves.

為了擴大規模，初始企業終端的資本支出總額約為 3 億美元。新的擴建工程又耗資 2.6 億美元。氨項目，我們談論的是數十億美元。因此，當然，與合作夥伴一起，不要超越自己。

Okay, appreciate that. Thanks Randy. Thanks, Mads. Thanks, Oeyvind, and thanks, Gary. I’ll turn it over.

好的，謝謝。謝謝蘭迪。謝謝，麥茲。謝謝，奧伊文德，謝謝，加里。我會把它翻過來。

Thank you, Omar. Next question, your line should be open.

謝謝你，奧馬爾。下一個問題，你的線路應該是開放的。

Yeah, great. This is Frank Galanti come from Stifel. And I appreciate that color, Randy, on the sort of investment size on the ammonia project. But can you sort of -- and I know it's early stage, but what sort of capacity are you guys looking at for that project? Should it go forward? And what sort of -- would the rough capital needs be from Navigator?

是的，太棒了。我是來自 Stifel 的 Frank Galanti。蘭迪，我很欣賞氨計畫的投資規模。但你能不能──我知道現在還處於早期階段，但是你們正在為這個計畫尋找什麼樣的能力？應該繼續前進嗎？Navigator 需要什麼樣的資金？

Yeah. Again, hard to be to give any details at this point, right? The initial investment is for the pre-FEED and FEED studies to answer those questions, in terms of the capacity. Is it 1 million tonnes, 2 million tonnes, 4 million tonnes, 6 million tonnes? So there's a pretty wide range there.

是的。再說一次，現在很難提供任何細節，對吧？初始投資用於預 FEED 和 FEED 研究，以回答這些容量的問題。是100萬噸、200萬噸、400萬噸、600萬噸嗎？所以那裡的範圍相當廣泛。

And as a result, there's a fairly wide range of what our investment could be. It will be a meaningful -- it could be a meaningful number. I don't think it starts with the B in terms of billions, but certainly much, much larger than this initial $2.5 million investment. Again, sorry, I can't give you too much clarity and color here, but certainly more details to come.

因此，我們的投資範圍相當廣泛。這將是一個有意義的數字——它可能是一個有意義的數字。我不認為它是從 B 開始的，但肯定比最初的 250 萬美元投資要大得多。再次抱歉，我不能在這裡為您提供太多的清晰度和顏色，但肯定會提供更多細節。

Sure. No, that's pretty helpful though. And then sort of for my second question I wanted to ask about sort of leverage. Obviously, it's coming down and it still should come down given sort of growing cash flows and only distributing 25% of net income. At what point do you anticipate sort of re-examining that return policy? Like is there a leverage number you want to get to? Or how do you generally think about that?

當然。不，但這很有幫助。然後，對於我的第二個問題，我想問某種槓桿作用。顯然，它正在下降，而且考慮到現金流的成長以及只分配淨收入的 25%，它仍然應該下降。您預計在什麼時候重新檢討退貨政策？就像您想要達到的槓桿數字嗎？或者你一般如何看待這個問題？

I can just kick us off here, and then Gary, you can supplement me. I think we're in a quite comfortable place right now with the current gearing ratios, and they are probably lower now than I would think would be the steady state for a company like ours. I think it's perfectly appropriate for a company of our structure, where we have reasonably stable income from terminal, from our TC and so on, to have a fair amount of financial gearing.

我可以把我們從這裡開始，然後加里，你可以補充我。我認為，就目前的負債比率而言，我們現在處於一個相當舒適的位置，而且現在的負債比率可能低於我認為像我們這樣的公司的穩定狀態。我認為對於我們這種結構的公司來說，擁有相當數量的財務槓桿是完全合適的，因為我們從終端、TC 等那裡獲得了相當穩定的收入。

So you could say that we have capacity to do more. And this is a reflection of us also looking at growth projects. We have committed to growing Navigator over time. And we haven't deployed a huge amount of money in the past quarters on growing our business.

所以你可以說我們有能力做得更多。這反映出我們也在關注成長項目。我們致力於不斷發展 Navigator。在過去的幾個季度中，我們沒有投入大量資金來發展我們的業務。

So we are evaluating a couple. We are keenly aware that we are competing against investing in our own stock. So it needs to be good projects with good return profile. So I think we have good capacity for that. And I think we have an interesting portfolio of opportunities at the same time. Gary?

所以我們正在評估幾個。我們敏銳地意識到，我們正在與投資自己的股票競爭。因此，它必須是具有良好回報的好項目。所以我認為我們有足夠的能力做到這一點。我認為我們同時擁有一系列有趣的機會。加里？

Yeah. I would fully agree with all that you said, Mads. We don't have a target. I think we try to be careful with our balance sheet and make sure that we choose the right projects and the right uses of those funds. And sometimes that takes a little bit of time to evaluate them for the right projects to come along.

是的。我完全同意你所說的一切，麥德斯。我們沒有目標。我認為我們會盡力謹慎對待我們的資產負債表，並確保我們選擇正確的項目並正確使用這些資金。有時需要一點時間來評估它們以找到合適的項目。

Meantime, we've got the return of capital policy, and that gets looked at each quarter by the Board. And I think, hopefully, we'll see over this coming couple of quarters that we'll be able to give some news to the market about new projects. That's always our aim.

同時，我們有資本回報政策，董事會每季都會對此進行審查。我認為，希望在接下來的幾個季度中，我們能夠向市場提供一些有關新項目的消息。這始終是我們的目標。

Great. Really appreciate the color. Thanks very much.

偉大的。真的很欣賞這個顏色。非常感謝。

Thank you, Frank. Next caller, your line should be open.

謝謝你，弗蘭克。下一個呼叫者，您的線路應該處於空閒狀態。

Good morning afternoon. This is Climent Molins from Value Investor's Edge. Thank you for taking my questions.

早安下午好。我是 Value Investor's Edge 的克萊門特·莫林斯 (Climent Molins)。感謝您回答我的問題。

Hey, Climent.

嘿，克萊門特。

I wanted to start by asking about the offtake agreement you recently added. I'm guessing you cannot provide direct commentary, but could you provide some discussion on how the economics of new offtake agreements compared to the ones you have on existing capacity?

我想先詢問一下您最近新增的承購協議。我猜您無法提供直接評論，但您能否就新承購協議與現有產能協議的經濟性進行一些討論？

Go ahead, Randy.

來吧，蘭迪。

Yeah. We can, but we probably won't at this time because we're still in commercial discussions with various additional offtakers. It is for multiyears. It is at a very good return similar to what we've been earning on the current contracts.

是的。我們可以，但目前我們可能不會，因為我們仍在與各種其他承購商進行商業討論。這是多年的。這是一個非常好的回報，與我們目前合約的收入相似。

So we'll give more clarity and details in the coming months, again, after additional contracts are signed and we'll give it as an aggregate. We don't want to just call out the details on one contract. We certainly will once we have that portfolio built out.

因此，在簽署額外合約後，我們將在未來幾個月內再次提供更多的清晰度和細節，並將其作為一個總體提供。我們不想只列出一份合約的細節。一旦我們建立了該投資組合，我們當然會這樣做。

Makes sense. Thanks for the color. You also mentioned you expect to secure new financing on the terminal later this year. Could you provide some insight on the amount of liquidity you expect to free up?

有道理。謝謝你的顏色。您還提到，預計今年稍後該航站樓將獲得新的融資。您能否提供一些關於您期望釋放的流動性數量的見解？

Yeah. I'll let Gary start but it's a big range. But Gary, provide some color.

是的。我會讓加里開始，但範圍很大。但是加里，請提供一些顏色。

Yeah Climent. That is a slightly tricky question. I think we are looking at a number of different sources of funds for this just like the company did for the original terminal investment, which was a combination of bond and bank finance way back a few years ago now. So I think we haven't yet made any or drawn any conclusions. I think at this stage, because we're in a comfortable position, we're not rushing that.

是的，克萊門特。這是一個有點棘手的問題。我認為我們正在為此尋找多種不同的資金來源，就像該公司為最初的終端投資所做的那樣，這是幾年前債券和銀行融資的結合。所以我認為我們還沒有做出任何結論。我認為在現階段，因為我們處於一個舒適的位置，所以我們不會著急。

Our cash position itself allows us to invest from our own equity resources first and foremost. So I think we've got a little bit of time to judge what's the best and also to tie that in with other potential opportunities and projects that may come our way as well. So at this stage, a tricky question to answer. And as Randy said at the beginning, it's quite a wide range.

我們的現金狀況本身使我們能夠首先利用自己的股權資源進行投資。因此，我認為我們有一點時間來判斷什麼是最好的，並將其與我們可能遇到的其他潛在機會和項目聯繫起來。所以在這個階段，有一個棘手的問題需要回答。正如蘭迪一開始所說，範圍相當廣泛。

Yes. By year-end, we'll have fully repaid the existing facility on the terminal. So we'll have an asset worth hundreds of millions of dollars that is certainly underlevered to give you some scale.

是的。到年底，我們將全額償還航站樓的現有設施。因此，我們將擁有價值數億美元的資產，而該資產的槓桿率肯定不足以為您提供一定的規模。

That’s very helpful. And final question from me. You're currently distributing 25% of net income via repurchases and dividends. Is there any appetite for incremental share repurchases on top of the 25% given the prevailing discount to NAV?

這非常有幫助。最後一個問題是我提出來的。您目前透過回購和股息分配 25% 的淨收入。考慮到目前相對資產淨值的折扣，除了 25% 之外，是否還有興趣進行增量股票回購？

I guess I can just kick us off here. I mean, share buybacks is a very efficient tool for returning capital to shareholders, and Navigator is in a position where it's generating good cash flow.

我想我可以把我們從這裡踢出去了。我的意思是，股票回購是向股東返還資本的非常有效的工具，而 Navigator 能夠產生良好的現金流。

Our balance sheet is strong. So it's a very valid question you're asking here. Last year, we bought back $50 million worth of shares plus some after each quarter. And we think that worked well for Navigator and for Navigator shareholders. And we do have authorization to do more with the -- yes, about $20 million extra authorization that we have. So it is clearly something we're looking at.

我們的資產負債表強勁。所以你在這裡問的是一個非常有效的問題。去年，我們回購了價值 5,000 萬美元的股票，並在每季後回購了一些股票。我們認為這對 Navigator 和 Navigator 股東來說效果很好。我們確實有權利用我們擁有的大約 2000 萬美元的額外授權來做更多事情。所以這顯然是我們正在關注的事情。

We also have a stated goal of taking part in consolidating our segment here. and we are expanding the terminal as we just discussed. And that will require more ethylene vessels to service the new terminal expansion here.

我們還有一個既定目標，就是參與鞏固我們的細分市場。正如我們剛才討論的那樣，我們正在擴建航站樓。這將需要更多的乙烯船來為這裡的新碼頭擴建提供服務。

So for us, I mean, it's really for us to plan out what we are looking to deploy in terms of capital of CapEx and schedule it well. So it is a great tool for us, and we just need to get the timing right.

因此，對我們來說，我的意思是，我們確實需要根據資本支出資本來規劃我們希望部署的內容並妥善安排。所以它對我們來說是一個很好的工具，我們只需要把握好時機。

Makes sense. That’s all from me. Thank you for taking my questions and congratulations for the quarter.

有道理。這就是我的全部。感謝您回答我的問題並對本季表示祝賀。

Don't see any other hands. So we have one question coming in on the chat air. Broker assessments for spot rates have shown a strong start to 2024. But with the recent dip lately as shown on slide 17, how have rates been for you or recent pictures? And do you think the second quarter average TCE will exceed the first quarter. Oeyvind?

看不到其他人的手。我們在聊天節目中有一個問題。經紀商對即期利率的評估顯示 2024 年開局強勁。但隨著最近的下降（如幻燈片 17 所示），您或最近的照片的費率如何？您認為第二季平均 TCE 會超過第一季嗎？奧伊溫德？

We don't normally give guidance for earnings for the next quarter. But what we can say is, and we mentioned in the prepared remarks that the ethylene ones is fairly accurate there, about $40,000 a day, and that's the green line on that page that the question was referring to.

我們通常不會給出下一季的獲利指引。但我們可以說的是，我們在準備好的評論中提到，那裡的乙烯相當準確，大約每天 40,000 美元，這就是問題所指的該頁面上的綠線。

On the semi-refrigerated and fully refrigerated handysize assessment has dipped. But also, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks that what we see in our ships and the contracting and renewal of those, those are higher than what you see on that graph.

半冷藏和全冷藏靈便型的評估有所下降。而且，正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，我們在我們的船舶中看到的以及這些船舶的承包和更新，這些都高於您在該圖表上看到的。

And I think the reason why the graph is inaccurate in the sense is that the market is illiquid. It's only 127 ships on the water. And all of those 12-month time charges are not fixed every week. So it's a little bit imbalance there. But what I can say is that we are seeing more positive numbers than what that graph is showing. I hope that answers the question.

我認為該圖表從某種意義上不準確的原因是市場缺乏流動性。水面上只有127艘船。所有這些 12 個月的時間費用並不是每週固定的。所以那裡有點不平衡。但我可以說的是，我們看到的正數比圖表顯示的還要多。我希望這能回答這個問題。

It sounds good. All right. I think that is the conclusion of our Q&A. So thank you again for joining us on today's call. We'll certainly be around in the coming days and weeks, if you have any follow-ups. And we hope to see many of you on Tuesday, June 25, at the New York Stock Exchange. Have a wonderful day.

聽起來不錯。好的。我想這就是我們問答的結論。再次感謝您參加今天的電話會議。如果您有任何後續行動，我們肯定會在未來幾天或幾週內出現。我們希望 6 月 25 日星期二在紐約證券交易所見到你們中的許多人。祝你有美好的一天。