Navigator .(US:NVGS) Globenewswire·2025-05-14 20:14Financial Performance - The company declared a cash dividend of $0.05 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, totaling $3.5 million, and plans to repurchase approximately $3.3 million of its common stock [1] - Total operating revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2025, were $151.4 million, a 12.9% increase from $134.2 million for the same period in 2024 [1] - Net income attributable to stockholders was $27.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to $22.6 million for the same period in 2024, reflecting a 19.8% increase [1][30] - EBITDA for the quarter was $74.3 million, up from $72.8 million in the prior year [1][30] - Basic earnings per share increased to $0.39 for the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to $0.31 for the same period in 2024 [1][30] Operational Highlights - The average daily time charter equivalent (TCE) rate across the fleet was $30,476 for the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to $28,339 for the same period in 2024 [3][36] - Fleet utilization remained strong at 92.4% for the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to 89.3% for the same period in 2024 [4][36] - The company had an average of 30 vessels engaged under time charters and 20 vessels on spot voyage charters during the quarter [6] Debt and Liquidity - The company increased its debt by $48.6 million to $902.1 million during the three months ended March 31, 2025 [1] - As of March 31, 2025, the company had cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash totaling $139.0 million [1][53] - The company entered into a Senior Secured Term Loan and Revolving Credit Facility for up to $300 million on May 2, 2025, to refinance existing loans and for general corporate purposes [14][55] Market Conditions - U.S. domestic ethylene prices were elevated at the beginning of the first quarter, reaching a high of $700 per metric ton in January, but fell to $450 per metric ton by the end of March 2025 [5] - The company’s share of results from the Ethylene Export Terminal showed a loss of $0.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to a gain of $4.4 million for the same period in 2024, primarily due to lower export volumes [10][48] Shareholder Returns - The company’s Return of Capital policy includes quarterly cash dividends and share repurchases, targeting a total return of at least 25% of net income for the applicable quarter [23][24] - A new share repurchase plan was authorized on May 13, 2025, allowing for the repurchase of up to $50 million of common stock [22]