Norwegian shipping firm Flex LNG, the owner of 13 liquefied natural gas carriers, reported higher revenues and net income in the third quarter of this year due to a strong freight market.
The shipping firm controlled by billionaire John Fredriksen reported vessel operating revenues of $91.3 million for the third quarter of this year, compared to $84.2 million in the prior quarter and $81.8 million in the third quarter of 2021.
Net income of $46.6 million rose from $32.8 million in the same quarter last year but also from $44.3 million in the previous quarter.
Also, average time charter equivalent (TCE) rate was $75,941 per day for the third quarter of this year, compared to $70,707 per day for the second quarter and $68,341 per day in the same quarter last year.
Fleet booked
In June, Flex LNG signed charter deals for three of its vessels. Flex Rainbow, Flex Enterprise, and Flex Amber have secured in total 24 years of fixed hire employment.
During the third quarter, Flex Enterprise and Flex Amber started their new seven-year time charters, while Flex Aurora was delivered to Cheniere as the fifth and last ship under the deal announced in April last year.
Flex LNG CEO Øystein Kalleklev said in the report that the company has 12 LNG carriers on fixed hire time charters and one ship, Flex Artemis, on a variable time charter.
“Our first fully open ship, after charterer’s options, is in the middle of 2026 with three other ships coming open in 2027. Today, with 2027 the earliest newbuilding delivery window and newbuilding prices at around $250 million, we are therefore upbeat about the prospects of re-contracting our ships at attractive levels thereby adding further backlog to the company,” he said.
“Given the strong freight market, our extensive contract backlog and our super strong financial position we are therefore today pleased to declare an ordinary quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share which should provide our shareholders with an attractive yield of approximately 10 percent,” Kalleklev said.