FRONTLINE PLC REPORTS RESULTS FOR THE
THIRD QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023
Frontline plc (the “Company” or “Frontline”),
today reported unaudited results for the nine months ended
September 30, 2023:
Highlights
- Profit of $107.7 million, or $0.48 per basic and diluted share
for the third quarter of 2023.
- Adjusted profit of $80.8 million, or $0.36 per basic and
diluted share for the third quarter of 2023.
- Declared a cash dividend of $0.30 per share for the third
quarter of 2023.
- Reported revenues of $377.1 million for the third quarter of
2023.
- Announced agreement for an integrated solution to the strategic
and structural deadlock in Euronav NV (“Euronav”).
- Closed the sale of 13.7 million shares of Euronav to CMB NV for
proceeds of $252.0 million.
- Entered into agreements with Euronav to purchase 24 VLCCs with
an average age of 5.3 years, for an aggregate purchase price of
$2,350.0 million from Euronav (the “Acquisition”). All agreements
are effective, and a majority of the vessels are expected to be
delivered in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the balance of the
vessels are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of
2024.
- Entered into a senior secured term loan facility with a group
of our relationship banks in November 2023 in an amount of up to
$1,410.0 million and a shareholder loan from Hemen Holding Ltd.,
the Company’s largest shareholder (“Hemen”), in an amount up to
$539.9 million to partly finance the Acquisition.
Lars H. Barstad, Chief Executive Officer
of Frontline Management AS, commented:
“The third quarter of the year proved to be a
shoulder quarter for Frontline. As the Russian benchmark crude
price firmly established itself above the price cap, owners left
the trade causing the capacity in the non-Russia fleet to grow. We
have had a streak of four strong quarters, but July to September
came in on the softer side. Towards the end of the quarter, we saw
normal seasonality return, and freight demand picked up as
refineries in the northern hemisphere came out of their maintenance
season. Strong US exports and continuous firm Asian imports have
brought us back to a more normalized market where VLCCs take the
lead on earnings. This amplifies our excitement as we prepare to
take delivery of the 24 modern VLCCs from Euronav, more than
doubling our exposure to this segment, increasing our overall
tanker footprint by more than 30%.”
Inger M. Klemp, Chief Financial Officer
of Frontline Management AS, added:
"We are very grateful for the financial support
from a group of our relationship banks and our largest shareholder,
allowing us to react quickly to growth opportunities which made the
acquisition of the 24 modern VLCCs from Euronav possible. We
will continue to consistently focus on maintaining our competitive
breakeven levels to ensure that we are well positioned to generate
significant cash flow and create value for our shareholders.”
Average daily time charter equivalents
("TCEs")1
($ per day) |
Spot TCE |
Spot TCE estimates |
% Covered |
Estimated average daily cash breakeven rates |
|
2023 |
Q3 2023 |
Q2 2023 |
Q4 2022 |
2022 |
Q4 2023 |
2023 |
VLCC |
52,900 |
42,500 |
64,000 |
63,200 |
31,300 |
48,100 |
81% |
28,200 |
Suezmax |
54,600 |
37,600 |
61,700 |
57,900 |
37,100 |
50,300 |
70% |
25,700 |
LR2 / Aframax |
48,000 |
33,900 |
52,900 |
58,800 |
38,500 |
51,300 |
70% |
17,100 |
We expect the spot TCEs for the full fourth
quarter of 2023 to be lower than the TCEs currently contracted, due
to the impact of ballast days at the end of the third quarter. The
number of ballast days at the end of the third quarter was 429 for
VLCCs, 394 for Suezmax tankers and 128 for LR2/Aframax tankers. The
estimated spot TCE rates and cash breakeven rates exclude the
impact of the Acquisition. The Company expects the Acquisition
vessels delivered in the fourth quarter to load their first cargos
for the Company in January 2024 and, as such, expects the
additional revenues to be recognized in the fourth quarter of 2023
in relation to these vessels to be limited.
The Board of DirectorsFrontline plcLimassol,
CyprusNovember 29, 2023
Ola Lorentzon - Chairman and DirectorJohn
Fredriksen - DirectorOle B. Hjertaker - Director
James O'Shaughnessy - Director Steen Jakobsen - DirectorMarios
Demetriades - Director
Questions should be directed to:Lars H. Barstad:
Chief Executive Officer, Frontline Management AS+47 23 11 40
00Inger M. Klemp: Chief Financial Officer, Frontline Management
AS+47 23 11 40 00
Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this report may constitute
forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for
forward-looking statements, which include statements concerning
plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance,
and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other
than statements of historical facts.
Frontline plc and its subsidiaries, or the
Company, desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is
including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe
harbor legislation. This report and any other written or oral
statements made by us or on our behalf may include forward-looking
statements, which reflect our current views with respect to future
events and financial performance and are not intended to give any
assurance as to future results. When used in this document, the
words "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "forecast,"
"project," "plan," "potential," "will," "may," "should," "expect"
and similar expressions, terms or phrases may identify
forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this report
are based upon various assumptions, including without limitation,
management's examination of historical operating trends, data
contained in our records and data available from third parties.
Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when
made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to
significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or
impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure
you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs
or projections. We undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
In addition to these important factors and
matters discussed elsewhere herein, important factors that, in our
view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those
discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of
world economies, fluctuations in currencies and interest rates,
general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter hire
rates and vessel values, changes in the supply and demand for
vessels comparable to ours, changes in worldwide oil production and
consumption and storage, changes in the Company's operating
expenses, including bunker prices, dry docking and insurance costs,
the market for the Company's vessels, availability of financing and
refinancing, our ability to obtain financing and comply with the
restrictions and other covenants in our financing arrangements,
availability of skilled workers and the related labor costs,
compliance with governmental, tax, environmental and safety
regulation, any non-compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) or other applicable regulations
relating to bribery, the impact of increasing scrutiny and changing
expectations from investors, lenders and other market participants
with respect to our ESG policies, general economic conditions and
conditions in the oil industry, effects of new products and new
technology in our industry, the failure of counter parties to fully
perform their contracts with us, our dependence on key personnel,
adequacy of insurance coverage, our ability to obtain indemnities
from customers, changes in laws, treaties or regulations, the
volatility of the price of our ordinary shares; our incorporation
under the laws of Cyprus and the different rights to relief that
may be available compared to other countries, including the United
States, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions
taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending
or future litigation, general domestic and international political
conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to
accidents, environmental factors, political events, public health
threats, international hostilities including the ongoing
developments in the Ukraine region and the development in the
Middle East, including the armed conflict in Israel and the Gaza
Strip, acts by terrorists or acts of piracy on ocean-going vessels,
the length and severity of epidemics and pandemics and their
impacts on the demand for seaborne transportation of petroleum
products, the impact of increasing scrutiny and changing
expectations from investors, lenders and other market participants
with respect to our Environmental, Social and Governance policies,
the impact of port or canal congestion, the ability of the Company
to complete the acquisition of 24 VLCCs from Euronav and other
important factors described from time to time in the reports filed
by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission or
Commission.
We caution readers of this report not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of their dates. These forward-looking statements are no
guarantee of our future performance, and actual results and future
developments may vary materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements.
This information is subject to the disclosure
requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities
Trading Act.
1 This press release describes Time Charter Equivalent earnings
and related per day amounts, which are not measures prepared in
accordance with IFRS (“non-GAAP”). See Appendix 1 for a full
description of the measures and reconciliation to the nearest IFRS
measure.
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