Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd (TEN) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Tsakos Energy Navigation conference call on the second quarter 2024 financial results. We have with us Mr. Takis Arapoglou, Chairman of the Board; Mr. Nikolas Tsakos, Founder and CEO; Mr. George Saroglou, President and Chief Operating Officer of the company; Mr. Paul Durham, Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Harrys Kosmatos, Co-Chief Financial Officer of the company. (Operator Instructions) I must advise that this conference is being recorded today.

女士們、先生們，感謝大家的支持，歡迎參加 Tsakos Energy Navigation 關於 2024 年第二季財務業績的電話會議。與我們一起出席的還有董事會主席 Takis Arapoglou 先生； Nikolas Tsakos先生，創辦人兼執行長；公司總裁兼營運長 George Saroglou 先生； Paul Durham 先生，財務長；以及公司聯席財務長 Harrys Kosmatos 先生。（操作員指示）我必須告知今天正在錄製本次會議。

And now I pass the floor to Mr. Nicolas Bornozis, President of Capital Link and Investor Relations Adviser to Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited.

現在我請 Capital Link 總裁兼 Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited 投資人關係顧問 Nicolas Bornozis 先生發言。

Thank you, very much and good day, to all of our participants. I am Nicolas Bornozis, President of Capital Link and Investor Relations Adviser to Tsakos Energy Navigation to TEN Limited. This morning, the company publicly released its financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2024. In case we do not have a copy of today's earnings release, please call us at +1 (212) 661-7566 or email us at ten@capitalink.com, and we will have a copy for you emailed right away.

非常感謝，祝所有參與者美好的一天。我是 Nicolas Bornozis，Capital Link 總裁兼 Tsakos Energy Navigation to TEN Limited 投資者關係顧問。今天上午，該公司公開發布了截至2024年6月30日的第二季和六個月的財務表現。如果我們沒有今天的收益發布副本，請致電 +1 (212) 661-7566 或發送電子郵件至 ten@capitalink.com，我們將立即透過電子郵件為您提供副本。

Please note that parallel to today's conference call, there is also a live audio and slide webcast, which can be accessed on the company's website on the front page at www.tenn.gr. The conference call will follow the presentation slides, so please we urge you to access the presentation slides on the company's website. Please note that the slides of the webcast presentation will be available and archived on the website of the company after the conference call. Also, please note that the slides of the webcast presentation are user controlled, and that means that by clicking on the proper button, you can move to the next or to the previous slide on your own.

請注意，與今天的電話會議同時進行的還有現場音訊和幻燈片網路廣播，您可以在公司網站首頁 www.tenn.gr 上存取該網路廣播。電話會議將在演示幻燈片之後舉行，因此我們強烈建議您訪問公司網站上的簡報幻燈片。請注意，電話會議結束後，網路廣播簡報的幻燈片將在公司網站上提供並存檔。另請注意，網路廣播簡報的幻燈片是用戶控制的，這意味著透過點擊正確的按鈕，您可以自行移至下一張或上一張投影片。

At this time, I would like to read the Safe Harbor Statement. This conference call and slide presentation of the webcast contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor Provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may affect TEN's business prospects and results of operations.

這時，我想讀安全港聲明。本次電話會議和網路廣播的幻燈片簡報包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》安全港條款含義內的某些前瞻性陳述。請投資人注意，此類前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，可能會影響 TEN 的業務前景和營運績效。

And at this moment, I would like to pass the floor to Mr. Takis Arapoglou, the Chairman of Tsakos Energy Navigation. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想請 Tsakos Energy Navigation 董事長 Takis Arapoglou 先生發言。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, Nicolas. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today at our call for our Q2 first half 2024 results. The financial results, activity, and strategic initiatives presented today represent a master class in running a best-in-class shipping company. This contains, among others, continued solid profitability and operational excellence, both systemic and opportunistic fleet renewal with state-of-the-art vessels, timely and bold dry-docking program, a balanced spot stroke time charter strategy allowing TEN to capture the increased demand for longer-term fixings, resulting in continuous increase in the minimum contracted future income. And lastly, the profitable unwinding of leasing contracts and the continued excellent relationships with our banking partners.

謝謝你，尼古拉斯。大家早安，感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議，了解 2024 年第二季上半年的業績。今天介紹的財務表現、活動和策略舉措代表了經營一流航運公司的大師級課程。除此之外，這包括持續穩定的盈利能力和卓越的運營能力、利用最先進的船舶進行系統性和機會主義的船隊更新、及時和大膽的干塢計劃、平衡的現貨行程定期租船策略，使TEN 能夠捕捉到增加的收益。最後，租賃合約的有利可圖的解除以及與我們的銀行合作夥伴持續良好的關係。

All of the above allow TEN to continue servicing the needs of its blue-chip clients in the best possible way while maintaining a healthy cash position to fund accretive future growth. Equally, it allows TEN to be able to continue with its uninterrupted dividend payments since inception, increasing its dividend payment this year by 50% compared to 2023. So, on behalf of the Board of Directors of TEN, congratulations once again to Nikolas Tsakos and his team, and we all look forward to their continued success in what looks to be a continued solid tankers market. Thank you.

所有上述因素使 TEN 能夠繼續以最佳方式滿足藍籌客戶的需求，同時保持健康的現金狀況，為未來的成長提供資金。同樣，它也讓TEN能夠繼續自成立以來不間斷的股息支付，今年的股息支付比2023年增加了50%。因此，我代表 TEN 董事會，再次祝賀 Nikolas Tsakos 和他的團隊，我們都期待他們在看似持續穩定的油輪市場中繼續取得成功。謝謝。

Thank you, Chairman. And first of all, from all of us here in Athens, Greece, our thoughts and heartfelt wishes to all our American friends on this solemn anniversary today of 9/11. With this, thank you for your kind words, Chairman. It has been another very dynamic and fruitful year for TEN in the industry. We are taking as much advantage of the positive circumstances to continue growing our fleet, to modernize our fleet.

謝謝主席。首先，在今天 9/11 的莊嚴週年紀念日之際，我們希臘雅典的所有人向所有美國朋友致以我們的思念和衷心祝愿。在此，感謝主席的美言。對 TEN 來說，今年又是業界充滿活力與成果豐碩的一年。我們正在充分利用有利的環境來繼續發展我們的機隊，實現我們機隊的現代化。

It has been a very large operational infrastructure in order to take delivery of our dual fuel vessels. We have the largest concentration of dual fuel vessels in our peer group. And right now, all of them are in the water operating as they should, reducing emissions and aiming for our 2030 emission significant reduction goals. For those of you that are old enough to remember, TEN started back in 1993 after the OPA 90 with an aim to have a dual -- double fleet way before the regulation deadline, and this was something that was achieved back then with a gigantic newbuilding program that has right now exceeded 100 ships over the last 30 years and an investment in excess of USD8 billion.

為了接收我們的雙燃料船，它是一個非常龐大的營運基礎設施。在同行中，我們擁有最集中的雙燃料船舶。目前，所有這些都在水中以其應有的方式運行，減少排放，並瞄準我們的 2030 年大幅減排目標。對於那些年紀足夠大的人來說，TEN 早在 1993 年 OPA 90 之後就開始了，目標是在規定期限之前擁有雙船隊，而這是當時通過一艘巨大的新造船實現的目標該計劃在過去30 年中已超過100 艘船，投資超過80 億美元。

Every vessel being a much more environmentally friendly and innovative product from the last vessel. And we have been able to do this and make profits at the time, keep a significant cash and also reward our shareholders with an uninterrupted dividend. We are proud today to be able to announce a 50% increase on an already significant dividend. And I think this will be one of the highest yields in common dividend, and I hope the market will appreciate this.

每艘船都是比上一艘船更環保和創新的產品。我們已經能夠做到這一點，並在當時獲利，保留大量現金，並以不間斷的股息獎勵我們的股東。今天，我們很自豪能夠宣佈在本已相當可觀的股息基礎上再增加 50%。我認為這將是普通股股息中收益率最高的之一，我希望市場會欣賞這一點。

As the Chairman said, the fundamental -- the reason we're doing this is, first of all, because we have a cushion of at least USD2 billion of contracted business at a minimum. As you know, our company does most of its business on a profit-sharing arrangement with the major oil companies. And this is the minimum we expect from them. It could be another third on top of that in case we have profit sharing, which we expect to have profit sharing going forward in the days to come as we are.

正如主席所說，我們這樣做的根本原因是，首先，我們有至少 20 億美元的合約業務作為緩衝。如您所知，我們公司的大部分業務都是透過與主要石油公司的利潤分享安排來進行的。這是我們對他們的最低期望。如果我們有利潤分享的話，可能還會再增加三分之一，我們預期在未來的日子裡也會有利潤分享。

Our shuttle tanker business with all the major oil company is progressing and increasing, and I have a feeling it will further increase as we go forward. And I think a very important part happened last week on the island of Chios, we have the first ever private academy -- naval academy to produce men and women as captains, engineers, naval architects with huge know-how for our fleet.

我們與所有主要石油公司的穿梭油輪業務正在取得進展和增加，我有一種感覺，隨著我們的前進，它會進一步增加。我認為上週在希俄斯島上發生了一個非常重要的部分，我們擁有第一所私人學院——海軍學院，為我們的艦隊培養擁有豐富專業知識的男女船長、工程師和造船師。

I think this puts us in a significant competitive advantage to all our peer group because we're going a step further actually, not only hiring and training our seafarers after they finish their education, but be with them since inception. And I think we want to congratulate the Tsakos Shipping Group for taking such a bold step and producing the future of shipping because we can be here spending billions and billions of dollars in state-of-the-art ships. But as long as we do not have the right people to man those vessels, our vessels are useless. So we see this as a milestone going forward.

我認為這使我們對所有同儕群體具有顯著的競爭優勢，因為我們實際上更進一步，不僅在海員完成學業後僱用和培訓他們，而且從一開始就與他們在一起。我想我們要祝賀察科斯航運集團邁出瞭如此大膽的一步，創造了航運業的未來，因為我們可以在這裡花費數十億美元購買最先進的船舶。但只要我們沒有合適的人來操縱這些船隻，我們的船隻就毫無用處。因此，我們認為這是未來的里程碑。

And with that, I will ask our President, Mr. Saroglou, to give us a quick and to the point presentation of where we have been and where we are going so far in 2024.

接下來，我將請我們的總統薩羅格魯先生向我們快速、中肯地介紹 2024 年我們已經取得的進展以及我們的目標。

Thank you, Nikolas. Good morning to all of you joining our earnings call today. 2024 continues to be a good year for tankers and TEN for the same reasons that played out for the last 2.5 years. We have an aging fleet and low order book. We have changes in trade flows to ongoing crude and oil product movements as a result of western sanctions on Russian seaborne oil that had a multiplying effect on tanker ton-mile growth, and we have continued geopolitical tensions like more recently, the avoidance of crossing the Red Sea as a result of Houthis attacks on merchant vessels.

謝謝你，尼古拉斯。今天參加我們財報電話會議的所有人早安。 2024 年對油輪和 TEN 來說仍然是豐收的一年，原因與過去 2.5 年的情況相同。我們的機隊老化，訂單量低。由於西方對俄羅斯海運石油的製裁，我們的貿易流量發生了變化，導致原油和石油產品的流動發生了變化，這對油輪噸英里的增長產生了倍增效應，而且我們的地緣政治緊張局勢持續存在，例如最近，避免跨越美國胡塞武裝攻擊商船導致紅海。

Let's go to the slides of our presentation. The first slide is we see the growth of the company since inception. Despite the five major crisis that we faced since 1993, each time we came out stronger, thanks to our operating model. And cumulatively in the period since 1993, the company posted an average growth of 21% in terms of total fleet deadweight tons. The next slide, we have built, as you see, a very diversified fleet catering to the needs of our clients, spanning from crude carriers to product tankers, LNGs, and shuttle tankers.

讓我們看一下簡報的幻燈片。第一張投影片是我們看到公司自成立以來的成長。儘管自 1993 年以來我們遇到了五次重大危機，但由於我們的營運模式，每次我們都變得更加強大。自 1993 年以來，該公司的船隊總載重噸數平均增加了 21%。正如您所看到的，在下一張幻燈片中，我們已經建立了一支非常多元化的船隊，以滿足客戶的需求，從原油船到成品油輪、液化天然氣和穿梭油輪。

Today, we have a pro forma fleet of 74 vessels, 62 operating in the water, and 12 new buildings under construction. The red and blue colored vessels in the slide denote vessels trading in the spot, the red and period market with profit sharing, the blue, while black colored vessels denote vessels that are fixed on time charters. 28 out of the 62 vessels in the water or 45% of the fleet has market exposure, spot and profit sharing, which is good in today's environment, while 52% of the 62 vessels in the water or 84% of the fleet are in secured employment, time charters, and time charter with profit sharing, which means that the propellers are spinning 24/7.

如今，我們的預計船隊由 74 艘船舶組成，其中 62 艘在水中作業，還有 12 座新建築正在建設中。幻燈片中的紅色和藍色船舶表示現貨交易的船舶，紅色和有利潤分享的定期市場交易的船舶，藍色和黑色船舶表示固定定期租船的船舶。 62 艘船舶中的28 艘（即船隊的45%）擁有市場敞口、現貨和利潤共享，這在當今環境下是良好的，而62 艘船舶中的52%（即船隊的84%）處於安全狀態。

In slide 5, we see the company's fleet growth and capital market access since inception. The blue boxes denote common shares offering, while the red offerings in preferred shares. The first three preferred shares totaling $188 million of par value have been already redeemed together with a privately placed preferred instrument of $35 million, creating savings for the company in excess of $18 million per year on coupon payments.

在投影片 5 中，我們看到了該公司自成立以來的機隊成長和資本市場進入情況。藍色方框表示普通股發行，紅色方框表示優先股發行。面額總計 1.88 億美元的前三股優先股已連同價值 3,500 萬美元的私募優先股一起被贖回，每年為公司節省超過 1,800 萬美元的息票支付費用。

Next slide presents the company's current and long-term clients. As you can see, we have a blue-chip customer base consisting of all major global energy companies, refineries, commodity traders with Equinor currently topping the list as our largest charter with 13 vessels, all on long-term time charter.

下一張投影片介紹了該公司的現有和長期客戶。正如您所看到的，我們擁有一個由全球所有主要能源公司、煉油廠、大宗商品貿易商組成的藍籌客戶群，其中Equinor 目前位居榜首，是我們最大的租船公司，擁有13 艘船舶，全部為長期租船。

Slide 7 presents the all-in breakeven cost for the various vessel types we operate in our company. Our operating model is very simple. We try to have our time charter vessels generate revenue to cover the company's cash expenses and let revenue from spot trading vessels to make a contribution to the profitability of the company.

幻燈片 7 展示了我們公司營運的各種船舶類型的全部損益平衡成本。我們的營運模式非常簡單。我們努力讓期租船舶產生收入來支付公司的現金支出，並讓現貨交易船舶的收入為公司的獲利能力做出貢獻。

Fleet utilization for the six months of the year was 92%, still a high number despite having eight vessels undergoing scheduled repairs and four vessels earmarked for sale embarking in repositioning voyages. And thanks to the profit-sharing element in the fleet for every $1 per day increase in spot rates, this has a positive $0.12 impact in annual earnings per share based on the number of vessels that currently has exposure on spot rates.

今年 6 個月的船隊利用率為 92%，儘管有 8 艘船舶正在進行定期維修，4 艘船舶已準備出售，即將開始重新定位航程，但這一數字仍然很高。由於即期運價每天每增加 1 美元，船隊中就有利潤分享元素，根據目前採用即期運價的船舶數量，這會對每股年收益產生 0.12 美元的正面影響。

Managing debt is an integral part of the company's strategy and capital allocation. Since the end of 2016, the corporate fleet grew by more than 40% in terms of deadweight ton, while at the same time, total bank debt came down by almost 7%. One must consider also that in addition to the reduction in the total bank debt, the company also redeemed $211 million in D Series of preferred shares plus a privately placed preferred instrument. And so today, the net debt-to-capital ratio is currently at 42.4%, which is considered to be low.

債務管理是公司策略和資本配置的一個組成部分。自 2016 年底以來，企業船隊以載重噸計算增加了 40% 以上，同時，銀行債務總額下降了近 7%。人們還必須考慮到，除了銀行債務總額減少外，該公司還贖回了 2.11 億美元的 D 系列優先股以及一項私募優先工具。因此，目前淨負債與資本比率為 42.4%，被認為較低。

Fleet modernity is a key element of our operating model. This slide shows fleet renewal and green ship growth since January 1, 2023, as we transition TEN for its next growth phase. We contracted and acquired 21 vessels in total with an average age of one year and 2.3 million deadweight ton. 9 vessels are already in the water, earning money for the company, while 12 vessels are newbuilding that were purpose-built to serve the transportation requirements of the company's long-term clients. We have more than doubled the cargo capacity of the fleet with new, more environmentally friendly, greener eco-built tankers.

機隊現代化是我們營運模式的關鍵要素。這張幻燈片顯示了自 2023 年 1 月 1 日以來船隊更新和綠色船舶增長，我們將 TEN 過渡到下一個增長階段。共承包收購船舶21艘，平均船齡1年，230萬載重噸。 9 艘船舶已下水，為該公司賺錢，另外 12 艘船舶正在新建，專門用於滿足公司長期客戶的運輸需求。我們使用更環保、更綠色的生態建造油輪，將船隊的貨運能力增加了一倍以上。

This slide highlights the company's financial performance since 2004. As the fleet grew, so did the company's key financial indicators. We always maintain strong cash reserves to manage the ups and downs of the shipping cycle. We had manageable debt levels and traded mostly profitable through the 20-plus years with the last two years generating consecutive record profit years. The first six months of 2024 have given TEN the opportunity to further upgrade the quality and earnings power of the fleet. We expect the new additions to contribute positively to the overall financial performance of TEN going forward.

這張投影片重點介紹了該公司自 2004 年以來的財務表現。隨著機隊的成長，公司的主要財務指標也隨之成長。我們始終保持充足的現金儲備，以應對運輸週期的起伏。我們的債務水平處於可控範圍內，在過去的 20 多年裡，我們的交易大部分都是盈利的，其中過去兩年連續創造了創紀錄的盈利年份。2024 年前六個月給了 TEN 進一步提昇機隊品質和獲利能力的機會。我們預計新成員將為 TEN 未來的整體財務表現做出積極貢獻。

In addition to paying down debt, dividend continuity is important for common shareholders and management. TEN has always paid the dividend irrespective of the market cycle. Our dividend policy is semiannual. Last year, we paid a total dividend of $1 per share. This year, we announced a total dividend of $1.50, a 50% increase in the distribution.

除了償還債務外，股息連續性對於普通股股東和管理層也很重要。無論市場週期如何，TEN 始終支付股息。我們的股利政策是半年一次。去年，我們支付的股利總額為每股 1 美元。今年，我們宣布總股息為 1.50 美元，分配增加 50%。

We have already paid $0.60 on July 18. We announced today the payment of $0.90 with payment to be determined in our upcoming BOD strategy meeting in October. Inclusive of this upcoming dividend, TEN has distributed over $827 million of common and preferred share dividends with $573 million to common shareholders since the company's 2002 New York Stock Exchange listing.

我們已於 7 月 18 日支付了 0.60 美元。我們今天宣布支付 0.90 美元，付款金額將在 10 月召開的董事會策略會議上確定。包括即將到來的股息在內，自 2002 年在紐約證券交易所上市以來，TEN 已向普通股股東派發了超過 8.27 億美元的普通股和優先股股息，其中 5.73 億美元分配給了普通股股東。

Global oil demand continues to grow. Despite financial and geopolitical headwinds, the International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to grow by approximately one million barrels per day this year. It's going to be another record year after last year with most of the growth coming again from Asia and the Asia Pacific region. On the supply side, most of the growth is coming from non-OPEC+ countries, Brazil, the United States of America, Guyana, and Canada. The majority of the additional supply is in the Atlantic Basin, while demand growth continues to be concentrated in the Pacific, boosting long-haul tanker demand.

全球石油需求持續成長。儘管面臨金融和地緣政治阻力，國際能源總署預計今年全球石油需求將增加約100萬桶/日。繼去年之後，今年將再創歷史新高，其中大部分成長再次來自亞洲和亞太地區。在供應方面，大部分成長來自非歐佩克+國家、巴西、美國、圭亞那和加拿大。大部分新增供應來自大西洋盆地，而需求成長持續集中在太平洋地區，因此提振了長途油輪需求。

As global oil demand continues to grow, let's look at the forecast for the supply of tankers. The order book as of August stands at 706 tankers a little over 13% over the next three years. This figure still represents a low number of new buildings. At the same time, a big part of the fleet over 2,360 vessels or 44% is over 15 years and 865 tankers or 16% of the current tanker fleet are currently over 20 years. So this order book that we have is quite manageable.

隨著全球石油需求持續成長，我們來看看油輪供應的預測。截至 8 月的訂單量為 706 艘油輪，略高於未來三年的 13%。這個數字仍然顯示新建築數量較少。同時，超過 2,360 艘船（佔 44%）的船隊中大部分船齡超過 15 年，865 艘油輪（佔現有油輪船隊的 16%）船齡超過 20 年。因此，我們的訂單簿非常易於管理。

The last slide shows the scrapping activity since 2018. We believe scrapping activity will pick up as the global fleet gets older and older tankers are getting out of favor for long-term business by major charters.

最後一張幻燈片顯示了 2018 年以來的報廢活動。我們認為，隨著全球船隊老化，舊油輪不再受到主要租船公司長期業務的青睞，拆船活動將會增加。

And with that, I will pass, I will ask Paul and Harrys to walk you through the financial highlights of the first half and second quarter 2024. Paul?

接下來，我會請 Paul 和 Harrys 向您介紹 2024 年上半年和第二季的財務亮點。保羅？

Well, thank you, George. Great stuff, as always, from you. Over the past months, the company has taken advantage of utilizing in-house resources to restructure much of its organization and to develop the company in new directions in the remaining months of the year. Therefore, this will continue to be a major focus for management. The tanker market fundamentals continue to remain firm and assisted by the various geopolitical events around the globe, we are confident that TEN will continue to be a main beneficiary. These were just a few issues on confidence in our company.

嗯，謝謝你，喬治。一如既往，來自你的好東西。在過去的幾個月裡，該公司利用內部資源重組了大部分組織，並在今年剩餘的幾個月朝著新的方向發展公司。因此，這仍將是管理階層關注的重點。油輪市場基本面持續堅挺，並在全球各種地緣政治事件的助力下，我們有信心TEN將繼續成為主要受益者。這些只是對我們公司信心的幾個問題。

Let me try to increase our confidence by going over some details on the numbers. Let me take it over from here. Thank you, Paul.

讓我透過回顧一些數位細節來嘗試增強我們的信心。讓我從這裡接手。謝謝你，保羅。

So with the fleet averaging about 62 vessels in the water, 8 of which going through scheduled dry dockings, and 3 performing repositioning voyages, fleet utilization for the first half of 2024 settled at 92%, a slight drop from the 2023 equivalent period. In this backdrop, TEN in the first half of 2024 generated gross revenues of $416 million and operating income of $179 million, which included $49 million of capital gains. Fleet operating expenses of $98 million increased in line with the larger number and size of vessels in the fleet. Operating expenses per ship per day, however, remained almost identical to the 2023 first half at $9,367, thanks again to efficient management performed by TEN's technical experts onshore and onboard the vessels. TCE per ship per daytime charter equivalent that is for the 2024 first half was at a healthy $33,830, even though impacted by repositioning voyages, dry docking, and spot market softening. Driven by Chinese reduction of oil imports, something however, that is expected to be temporary.

因此，由於船隊平均約有 62 艘船舶在水，其中 8 艘進行預定乾船塢，3 艘進行重新定位航行，2024 年上半年船隊利用率穩定在 92%，比 2023 年同期略有下降。在此背景下，TEN在2024年上半年的總收入為4.16億美元，營業收入為1.79億美元，其中包括4,900萬美元的資本利得。隨著船隊船舶數量和規模的增加，船隊營運費用增加了 9,800 萬美元。然而，由於 TEN 岸上和船上技術專家的高效管理，每艘船每天的營運費用幾乎與 2023 年上半年相同，為 9,367 美元。儘管受到航程重新定位、乾船塢和現貨市場疲軟的影響，2024 年上半年每艘日間租船的 TCE 仍處於健康的 33,830 美元。然而，在中國減少石油進口的推動下，預計這只是暫時的。

Adjusted EBITDA for the 2024 six months was at $214 million. A net income of $130 million was recorded for the first half of 2024, generating earnings per share of $3.96. Of interest, dividend payments for the company's outstanding preferred during the 2024 first six months were $4.6 million lower the amount paid during the 2023 first half.

2024 年六個月的調整後 EBITDA 為 2.14 億美元。2024 年上半年淨利為 1.3 億美元，每股收益為 3.96 美元。有趣的是，該公司 2024 年前六個月未償還優先股的股息支付比 2023 年上半年支付的金額低了 460 萬美元。

Results for the second quarter of 2024 were equally attractive. A fleet of 62 vessels generated gross revenues of $214 million and operating income of $103 million, which includes $32.5 million of capital gains. Fleet operating expenses for the second quarter of 2024, impacted by three dry dockings and repositioning voyages in a fleet larger than the one in the second quarter of 2023 were at $49.7 million, only $3 million higher than the second quarter of 2023 levels. Operating expenses per ship per day were, however, $150 lower than the 2023 second quarter at $9,347, with TCE per ship per day closing the quarter 3.7 times higher than OpEx level at $34,235.

2024 年第二季的業績同樣有吸引力。由 62 艘船組成的船隊創造了 2.14 億美元的總收入和 1.03 億美元的營業收入，其中包括 3,250 萬美元的資本利得。受3次乾船塢和比2023年第二季度規模更大的船隊重新定位航次的影響，2024年第二季度的船隊運營費用為4970萬美元，僅比2023年第二季度的水平高出300萬美元。然而，每艘船每天的營運費用比 2023 年第二季的 9,347 美元低 150 美元，本季每艘船每天的 TCE 比營運支出水準高出 3.7 倍，為 34,235 美元。

Adjusted EBITDA finished the quarter at $133 million due to a seasonal softening in spot rates and vessel repositionings. The resulting net income of $76.4 million produced $2.36 in EPS. Again, preferred coupon payments during the second quarter of 2024 were approximately $2 million lower than 2023 second quarter amount. As of June 30, 2024, bank debt increased to $1.8 billion, corresponding to a higher fleet size as five vessels acquired earlier in the year from Norwegian concerns began entering the fleet and two dual-fuel Aframax new buildings were delivered during the first quarter of the year. At the same time, net debt to capital was at a very comfortable 42.4%.

由於即期運價季節性疲軟和船舶重新定位，本季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.33 億美元。由此產生的淨利潤為 7,640 萬美元，每股收益為 2.36 美元。同樣，2024 年第二季的優先票息支付金額比 2023 年第二季的金額低約 200 萬美元。截至2024 年6 月30 日，銀行債務增加至18 億美元，對應於更大的船隊規模，因為今年早些時候從挪威公司購買的五艘船開始加入船隊，兩座雙燃料阿芙拉型新船在今年第一季交付那一年。同時，淨債務與資本比率處於非常舒適的 42.4%。

And with this, I'll turn it back to Nikos for the closing remarks. Thank you.

說到這裡，我將把它轉回尼科斯做結束語。謝謝。

Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Harrys, for putting the right numbers behind the efforts of all our men and women on board our ships and our onshore personnel and the team here. It's been an exciting first six months and I think we're looking for a very interesting period for the remaining of the year. I think this is a milestone. 2024 has been a milestone period of growth for the company.

謝謝你，保羅。哈里斯，謝謝你用正確的數字支持我們船上所有男女員工、岸上人員和這裡的團隊的努力。前六個月是令人興奮的，我認為我們正在為今年剩餘的時間尋找一個非常有趣的時期。我認為這是一個里程碑。 2024年是公司發展的里程碑時期。

As George said, we tend to grow always in difficult times, but I think this is an intriguing time where we depend on our clients, the major oil companies, and their vast appetite for first-class operators to continue growing and servicing their needs. And with this, I would like to open the floor for any questions. Thank you.

正如喬治所說，我們往往總是在困難時期成長，但我認為這是一個有趣的時期，我們依靠我們的客戶、主要石油公司以及他們對一流運營商的巨大興趣來繼續發展和滿足他們的需求。在此，我想歡迎大家提出任何問題。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Poe Fratt, Alliance Global Partners.

（操作員說明）Poe Fratt，Alliance Global Partners。

Good day. Could you help me understand whether the dividend, the $0.90 dividend will be paid this year? Or will it be paid next year?

再會。你能幫我了解今年是否會派發股息，0.90美元的股息嗎？還是明年就可以付錢了？

Well, the dividend we will be paid this year. As last year, we always announced the date after our strategy meeting, which is the end of October.

嗯，今年我們將支付股息。和去年一樣，我們總是在戰略會議之後宣布日期，即十月底。

Okay. Great. And increasing the dividend is great. Your stock price has been a little volatile. It's fallen back from its high in the 30's, low 30s. Where do stock buybacks fit in your capital allocation strategy?

好的。偉大的。增加股利是好事。你的股價有點波動。它從 30 年代的高點回落到 30 年代的低點。股票回購在您的資本配置策略中處於什麼位置？

Well, our stock buyback is not in the forefront of our financial strategy. And the reason is, as you know, we still have quite an illiquid stock, and we are not having a very strong concentration of 40% from the insiders, we rather reward shareholders for staying rather -- over, paying them to leave. So this has been a strategy. I mean, we used to do some buyback back in the day because we've been around so long, we've done everything. But I think from experience, we'd rather pay our shareholders to stay than send them home with a check.

嗯，我們的股票回購並不是我們財務策略的首要內容。原因是，如你所知，我們仍然擁有流動性相當低的股票，而且我們的內部人員持股比例也沒有達到 40%，我們寧願獎勵股東留下來，而不是付錢讓他們離開。所以這是一個策略。我的意思是，我們過去常常進行一些回購，因為我們已經存在了很長時間，我們已經做了所有事情。但我認為根據經驗，我們寧願付錢給股東留下來，也不願用支票讓他們回家。

So this is for the time being. And the company has also growth prospects. We're taking part in significant new contracts with very good returns and accretive returns. So I think dividends growth is number one. And that's where we are.

所以暫時就這樣了。而且該公司也有成長前景。我們正在參與一些重要的新合同，這些合約具有非常好的回報和增值回報。所以我認為股息成長是第一位的。這就是我們現在的情況。

Okay. Understood. And that sort of segues into my next question, which is you ordered five LR1s. What is the rough total amount that you'll spend on those? Is $350 million total appropriate?

好的。明白了。這就引出了我的下一個問題，即您訂購了五台 LR1。您將在這些方面花費的大約總金額是多少？3.5 億美元的總額合適嗎？

And then secondly, have you paid a down payment or deposit on those five LR1s? And if not, when do you anticipate paying a down payment?

其次，您是否為這五台 LR1 支付了首付款或押金？如果沒有，您預計什麼時候支付首付款？

We have made the first down payment. So yeah, you're approximately right. Harrys, why don't you go through the numbers?

我們已經支付了第一筆訂金。所以是的，你大約是對的。哈利斯，你為什麼不看一下這些數字呢？

So let me see here. So the five LR1s, we expect that, obviously, we're going to raise some plain vanilla bank debt on them. So far, we have paid approximately $5.6 million of equity on the one vessel. And as the order progresses, then equal amounts are expected to be paid for the other four.

那麼讓我看看這裡。因此，我們預計，顯然，我們將為這五輛 LR1 籌集一些普通的銀行債務。到目前為止，我們已為一艘船支付了約 560 萬美元的股權。隨著訂單的進展，預計將為其他四個支付相同的金額。

Okay.

好的。

So the price -- your approach, we do not our -- we do not give exact price because we don't want most of our competition to come and do the same. But I think our -- the $350 million is an approximate correct number.

所以價格——你的方法，我們沒有——我們不給出確切的價格，因為我們不希望我們的大多數競爭對手也這樣做。但我認為 3.5 億美元是一個大致正確的數字。

Okay. I can follow up offline on that. But as far as the investment in the quarter, you had a net investment of about $105 million. I calculate during the quarter that you sold about $158 million of assets with the Neo Energy, the Euronike, and then the Izumo Princess. Is that accurate?

好的。我可以離線跟進。但就本季的投資而言，淨投資約為 1.05 億美元。據我計算，本季你們賣了 Neo Energy、Euronike 和 Izumo Princess 約 1.58 億美元的資產。準確嗎？

And then how much did you spend on acquisitions in the quarter? And then did you make any new build payments?

那麼本季您在收購上花了多少錢？然後你支付了任何新建費用嗎？

Well, I think as Harrys said, we have -- since the first quarter, of course, we have increased our payments because that refers to the June 30. Since then, on top of the payments that Harrys said, we have made the down payments for the other four, the remaining four, the LR1 vessels in addition to the $5 million that we paid for the first down payment.

嗯，我認為正如哈里斯所說，當然，自第一季以來，我們增加了付款，因為那是指 6 月 30 日。從那時起，除了哈利斯所說的付款之外，我們還支付了另外四艘，即剩下的四艘LR1船的首付款，以及我們為第一筆首付款支付的500萬美元。

Most of this detail will be recorded in the 6-K, which we expect to publish at the end of the month. But if you want it sooner, then obviously, we're open to discuss it offline.

大部分細節將記錄在 6-K 中，我們預計將在本月底發布。但如果你想要早點，那麼顯然我們願意在線下討論。

Sounds good. Thank you.

聽起來不錯。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Mr. Tsakos, I'm not seeing any other questions at this time. I'll turn the floor back to you for any closing comments.

（操作員說明）Tsakos 先生，目前我沒有看到其他問題。我將把發言權轉回給您以徵求結束意見。

Thank you very much. Well, I think, as I said, it has been a very productive period, a period of growth. But I think what goes also is the continuous appetite and chartering of our ships to the major oil companies. Our shuttle tankers are out for long periods of time, 5 to 7 to 10 years to major oil companies. And the same goes for the majority of our Suezmaxes and vessels that are coming. Our investment in the LR1s is the segment of the market with its lowest order book. And we believe that there is still a future and appetite for vessels like this, and that's why we're renewing our fleet there.

非常感謝。嗯，我認為，正如我所說，這是一個非常有成效的時期，一個成長的時期。但我認為，隨之而來的還有我們對主要石油公司的持續需求和租船。我們的穿梭油輪停駛時間很長，對主要石油公司來說是 5 到 7 到 10 年。我們大多數的蘇伊士型油輪和即將推出的船舶也是如此。我們對 LR1 的投資是訂單量最低的市場部分。我們相信這樣的船隻仍然有未來和需求，這就是我們在那裡更新我們的船隊的原因。

And we are very proud for the operational so far excellence of our dual-fuel vessels. And on top of that, as I said, the milestone for the company has been our technical management inauguration of -- and on-hand nonprofit naval private academy to produce and educate our people for the next future within technology and innovation for our vessels. Looking forward for reporting next significant strong quarter also going forward. And wishing everybody all the best on this difficult day for our American friends. Thank you very much.

我們對雙燃料船迄今為止的卓越運作感到非常自豪。最重要的是，正如我所說，公司的里程碑是我們的技術管理和現有的非營利性海軍私人學院的落成，該學院旨在培養和教育我們的員工，以適應我們船舶技術和創新的未來。期待報告下一個重要的強勁季度的進展。祝福我們的美國朋友在這個艱難的日子裡一切順利。非常感謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。