Top Ships Inc (TOPS) 2009 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the Top Ships Incorporated second quarter 2009 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Michael Mason. Thank you, Mr. Mason, you may now begin.

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to Top Ships results conference call for the second quarter and first half 2009. As mentioned by Chris, I'm Mike Mason of Allen & Caron, Investor Relations.

Before we start the call, there are a couple of items I'd like to cover. Many of you received a copy of the press release announcing the Company's results for its second quarter and first half 2009. It was released last night at 8.00 p.m. Eastern. If you did not receive a copy of the release, it is posted in the client section of our website at www.allencaron.com or you may call our office in New York at 212-691-8087 and we will email it to you right away. It is also posted on Yahoo Finance.

This call is being broadcast live over the internet at www.topships.org or PrecisionIR's webcast site at www.investorcalendar.com. The internet replay will be available shortly after the end of the call and will continue for seven days. In addition, a replay of the conference call will be available for seven days by calling 877-660-6853 from the US and Canada or 201-612-7415 from outside the US and Canada. Enter account number 286 and conference ID number 330236.

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Thomas Jackson, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Top Ships. Good afternoon, Mr. Jackson.

Good afternoon. Thank you, Michael. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Tom Jackson, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Top Ships Inc. It is my great pleasure to welcome you to Top Ships Earnings Conference Call in respect to the second quarter and first half 2009 financial results.

Before we begin, let me draw your attention to the fact that during the conference call we might make certain forward-looking statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings. Those statements and all other statements here today, other than historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and as such, currently defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time and the Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements to reflect certain Company occurring events or circumstances.

The audit committee have reviewed and recommended to the Board the acceptance of the accounts for the second quarter and first half 2009 as presented and the Board of Directors has approved the accounts as presented.

With me today for our conference call are Mr. Evangelos Pistiolis, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Alex Tsirikos, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Pistiolis will provide you with details of Top Ships operation activities and general expectations. Mr. Tsirikos will comment on the financial results of Top Ships Inc. for the second quarter and first half ended June 30th, 2009. Following the financial highlights, the call will move into a Q&A session.

I would now like to pass you over to Mr. Evangelos Pistiolis.

Thank you, Tom. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We are happy to report that we have completed two very important milestones in the history of our company and in a very tough financial environment; the termination of our last leases involving five old vessels as part of our fleet renewal strategy; and the completion of our new building program.

In the current shipping and general economic environment, we believe that we are better positioned than many other companies in the industry and we want to convey to the market the current positive characteristics of Top Ships, which in a nutshell are the following -- no capital expenditure; cash flow from operations is expected to be positive from the full second half of 2009 and the full year of 2010. Very young fleet; our own fleet is made up of 13 vessels, eight product tankers with an average age of two years and five dry bulk vessels with an average age of 8.4 years.

8% of our total ship days until the end of 2011 are under fixed employment and the gross revenue of these charters totals approximately $200 million. Looking further ahead, 73% of our total ship days until the end of 2012 are under fixed employment and the gross revenue of these charters totals approximately $250 million.

I would like to stress that our banks have been very supportive to our plans and actions since the beginning of the year, which can be proven from the fact that we have received waivers from all five banks in relation to certain covenant breaches that occurred on December 31st, 2008.

I would now like to pass the call on to Alexander to discuss the financials.

Thank you, Evangelos. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. For the three months ended June 30, 2009, the Company reported a net loss of $15.949 million or $0.58 per share compared with a net loss of $5.589 million or $0.22 per share for the second quarter of 2008. The results for the second quarter of 2009 include net expenses of $11.786 million relating to the termination of leases.

Excluding these expenses, the net loss becomes $4.163 million or $0.15 per share. Second quarter operating loss was $11.502 million for 2009, compared with operating income of $7.078 million for the corresponding period in 2008. Excluding net expenses of $11.786 million relating to the termination of the leases, operating loss turns into an operating income of $284,000. Revenues for the second quarter of 2009 were $28.636 million, compared to $76.687 million recorded in the second quarter of 2008.

For the six months ended June 30, 2009, the Company reported a net loss of $14.579 million or $0.53 per share compared with a net loss of $24.430 million or $1.07 per share for the first half of 2008. Excluding the net expenses of $11.786 million relating to the termination of leases, the net loss becomes $2.793 million or $0.10 per share. For the six months ended June 30, 2009, operating loss was $9.145 million compared with operating income of $4.644 million for the first half of 2008. Excluding net expenses of $11.786 million relating to the termination of leases, operating loss turns into an operating income of $2.641 million.

Revenues for the six month period ended June 30, 2009 were $58.429 million compared to $149.324 million recorded in the first half of 2008. Liquidity and capital resources. As of June 30, Top Ships had total indebtedness under senior secured credit facilities of $404.7 million with its lenders, RBS, HSH, DVB, ALPHA Bank and EMPORIKI, maturing from 2013 through 2019.

Loan covenants and discussions with banks. As of the date of this release, we have received waivers and signed amendments to our loan agreements with all five of our lenders in relation to certain loan covenant breaches that took place as of December 31st, 2008. The only outstanding amendments are in relation to first, the bulker financing with DVB, even though an agreement has been in effect since April 2009, the legal documentation has not yet been signed. And second, HSH financing for which we have not yet managed to lower the adjusted net worth covenant below $125 million.

As of June 30, 2009, we were in breach of other covenants not previously waived which relate to minimum liquidity, adjusted net worth and asset values of product tankers with certain banks. As of the date of this release, we have received waivers and amended certain loan agreements with RBS and DVB and we are currently in negotiations with other lenders in relations to remaining breaches. We expect that our lenders will not demand payment of our loans before their maturity, provided of course that we pay loan installments and accumulated or accrued interest as they fall due under the existing credit facilities.

I will now pass it back to Tom, for our Q&A. Thank you.

Thank you, Alexandros. I would now like to pass the call back to the operator for the Q&A session.

Thank you. (Operator Instructions). There are no questions at this time. I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any closing comments you may have.

Thank you, Christian. That completes the Q&A session for today. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for participating in this call. We look forward to talking to you again and sharing our continuing progress on our next quarterly conference call. Thank you and have a good day. Ladies and gentlemen, you may now disconnect your lines.