Norwegian shipping firm Flex LNG, the owner of 13 liquefied natural gas carriers, reported higher revenues and net income in 2022.
Vessel operating revenues were $347.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $343.4 million in 2021, the shipping firm controlled by billionaire John Fredriksen said on Tuesday.
The company’s full-year net income rose to $188 million last year compared to $162.2 million in the year before.
Flex LNG reported vessel operating revenues of $97.9 million for the fourth quarter of last year, a rise from $91.3 million in the prior quarter and a drop when compared to $114.6 million million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Net income in the fourth quarter reached $41.4 million, down from $46.6 million in the prior quarter and $69.4 million in the same quarter in 2021.
Average time charter equivalent (TCE) rate was $81,699 per day in the fourth quarter 2022, compared to $75,941 per day for the third quarter 2022.
The TCE rate for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $72,806 per day and compares to $74,536 per day in the year before.
The company declared a dividend for the fourth quarter 2022 of $1.00 per share, consisting of a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share and a special dividend of $0.25 per share.
Flex LNG expects revenues to grow in 2023
Flex LNG has 12 LNG carriers on fixed hire time charters, including to US LNG exporter Cheniere, and one ship, Flex Artemis, on a variable time charter.
In January this year, the company signed 12-year sale and leaseback agreements for Flex Amber and Flex Artemis of $170 million and $160 million respectively, with a margin of 215 basis points per annum.
Also, the company said it signed term sheets this month for a $180 million 10-year sale and leaseback with an Asian-based lease provider for Flex Rainbow.
“Altogether, we added a total of minimum 38 years of backlog during 2022 through extension of time charters with existing customers and our first two fully open positions are now in 2027 which coincide nicely with the next wave of LNG volumes coming to the market in that period,” Flex LNG CEO Øystein Kalleklev said in the report.
“We are therefore upbeat about the prospects for adding additional long term charter backlog for those two ships in due course,” he said.
“Going forward we do expect our financial performance to further improve as we are fully booked for 2023,” Kalleklev said.
The company expects its revenues to grow from $348 million in 2022 to around $370 million for 2023, driven by higher TCE earnings which the company expects to be around $80,000 per day in 2023, an improvement from the $72,800 per day delivered in 2022.
“Revenues are expected to increase despite us carrying out our first five-year special surveys for four ships with associated off-hire during 2023,” Kalleklev said.