United Maritime Corporation ($USEA)

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the United Maritime Corporation Conference Call for the Fourth Quarter and Year ended December 31, 2025, financial results. We have with us Mr. Stamatios Tsantanis, Chairman and CEO; and Mr. Stavros Gyftakis, Chief Financial Officer of United Maritime Corporation. [Operator Instructions]. Please be advised that this conference call is being recorded today, Thursday, March 12, 2026. The archived webcast of the conference call will soon be made available on the United Maritime website, www.unitedmaritime.gr under the Investor Relations section. Many of the remarks today contain forward-looking statements based on current expectations. Actual results may differ materially from the results projected from those forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that can cause the actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2025, earnings release, which is available on the United Maritime website, again, www.unitedmaritime.gr. I would now like to turn the conference over to one of your speakers today, the Chairman and CEO of the company, Mr. Stamatios Tsantanis. Please go ahead, sir.

Hello, everybody. Welcome to United Maritime's conference call to discuss our financial results for the fourth quarter and full year period ended December 31, 2025. During the fourth quarter, United generated net revenues of $6.6 million and EBITDA of $1.5 million. More importantly, since our last update, we have executed a series of strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing the company's earnings profile, strengthening our balance sheet and increasing our free cash flow generation capacity. In addition, we're pleased to declare our 13th consecutive quarterly dividend, a milestone that reflects our commitment for capital returns. Since initiating our dividend program in November 2022, United has declared cumulative cash dividends of approximately $1.84 per share. With stronger cash generation now secured through recently contracted fleet employment, we are confident in our ability to sustain a competitive level of distributions, while preserving the financial flexibility to pursue accretive growth opportunities. A central pillar of our 2025-2026 strategy has been disciplined capital reallocation, divesting lower returning assets and redeploying proceeds into higher-earning Capesize exposure. In early 2026, we agreed to sell the 2009-built Kamsarmax Cretansea for a net price of $14.7 million, generating approximately $6 million in net cash proceeds after debt repayment. We also agreed to exit our investment in the offshore energy construction vessel, realizing proceeds of approximately EUR 30 million, a profit of approximately EUR 1.7 million and a return on invested capital of approximately 15% in a very limited period of time. These 2 agreed sales combined are expected to release approximately $21 million in net liquidity. Moving into the investment for now. In February, we took delivery of the 2010 Capesize Dukeship under an 18-month bareboat charter for a daily rate of $9,450, while the vessel will be earning an average fixed gross daily rate of approximately $29,300 through year-end of 2026, providing immediate contracted cash flow visibility. In addition, we recently agreed to acquire the 2010-built scrubber-fitted Capesize Squireship from Seanergy Maritime Holdings for approximately $29.5 million with delivery in May 2026, financed through a combination of debt and internally generated liquidity, including the aforementioned sales. Similar to the Dukeship, the daily earnings of the Squireship have also been converted to a fixed rate of $28,250 until the end of 2026. The implied investment in the 2 Capesizes is approximately $62 million. Operationally, our fourth quarter TCE of $14,129 was in line with the same period of 2024, a solid result that reflects United's transition to a pure Panamax fleet during the third quarter of 2025. Fleet utilization remained high at 97.6%, and OpEx daily of approximately $6,404 was well controlled. For the first quarter of 2026, we anticipate a daily Time Charter Equivalent of approximately $15,230 per day with approximately 92% of available days already fixed, providing a meaningful degree of revenue certainty. Looking further ahead, the Panamax market is exhibiting solid fundamentals, while the addition of the Capesizes Dukeship and Squireship, both earning high fixed rates, meaningfully enhances earnings and cash flow visibility through the end of 2026. Our fourth quarter daily Time Charter Equivalent reflects a resilient Panamax market despite the seasonal softness typically observed during this period. Market conditions have strengthened since the end of 2025 and the outlook for the coming quarters remains encouraging. Our balanced commercial strategy between index-linked exposure and fixed rates has allowed us to benefit from improving market conditions while maintaining reasonable earnings visibility for the coming quarters. Let me now turn to the dry bulk market to provide some additional context around the industry environment. We have seen a very strong start in 2026 in both Capesizes and Panamax markets. Limited fleet growth, combined with steadily expanding commodity demand, has created a supportive market environment. Year-to-date, the Baltic Kamsarmax Index has averaged about $14,800, up from $9,600 during the same period of 2025. The Baltic Capesize Index has averaged about $23,000 in the first quarter, quarter-to-date compared to about $13,000 for the same period last year. That's almost double. In the Panamax market, we have seen strong growth in grain and minor bulk ton miles, while the decline in coal trade observed in early 2025 has moderated. The geopolitical crisis unfolding currently in the Middle East adds uncertainty in the global outlook. In the near term, we expect that reduced cargo demand relating to Arabian Gulf may be offset by increasing coal trade flows if energy markets remain disrupted, which they are. In addition, approximately 3% of the global Panamax fleet is currently in the Arabian Gulf, contributing to vessel supply inefficiencies and providing additional support to freight rates. Turning to the Capesize market. We continue to see strong ton-mile growth driven by the iron ore and bauxite trade. The ramp-up of Simandou iron ore project in Guinea beginning in 2026, together with increased output projections from Vale in Brazil is expected to support long-term ton-mile demand for Capesize vessels. Bauxite trade is also expanding, driven by strong global aluminum demand. Export volumes from Guinea have already grown by more than 10% during the first months of 2026. On the supply side, the dry bulk order book remains low by historical standards and well below the fleet replacement needs. Continued uncertainty about future environmental regulations and the priority placed by shipyards on higher profit margin vessels like containers, gas carriers and tankers have prevented the large-scale speculative dry bulk ship ordering. As a result, the dry bulk fleet continues to age. Vessels older than 15 years represent more than 30% of the global fleet. In the Capesize sector, in particular, by 2030, more than 1/4 of the fleet will be older than 20 years old. On that note, I would like to turn the call over to Stavros for an overview of our financial performance before returning with some concluding remarks. Stavros, please go ahead.

Thank you, Stamatios, and good morning, everyone. I will now review the key financial highlights for the fourth quarter and the full year ended December 31, 2025. Net revenue in the fourth quarter amounted to $6.6 million, reflecting a decline compared to the same period last year, primarily due to the reduction in our fleet in the softer Panamax market conditions. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter amounted to $1.5 million, while we recorded a net loss of $3.8 million, reflecting both the challenging market environment and the impairment loss recognized on one of our vessels. For the full year, net revenue totaled $37.8 million, while adjusted EBITDA amounted to $12.9 million and net loss reached $6.2 million. Overall, we view 2025 as a transitional year for the company, reflecting our efforts to optimize our fleet and position United for improved earnings generation. On the expense side, we successfully reduced daily operating expenses to approximately $6,300 per day, while also keeping our general and administrative expenses contained. Turning to our balance sheet. Our cash position at year-end stood at $14.6 million. In the near term, we expect some temporary fluctuations in our liquidity position, primarily related to the recently completed dry docking of the Nisea and advance payment made for the acquisition of the Dukeship. However, following the completion of the transactions discussed earlier by Stamatios, we expect our liquidity levels to normalize at approximately $2 million per vessel, which we consider an appropriate level to support the company's operations and financial flexibility. Total assets amounted to $138 million, while stockholders' equity stood at $56 million, reflecting a solid capital base. Outstanding debt totaled approximately $65 million, corresponding to approximately $13.2 million per vessel, which compares favorably with the average estimated market value of our fleet of approximately $20 million. LTV stands at approximately 65% reflecting our efforts to balance fleet optimization with a prudent financing strategy. In parallel, we entered into an $18.3 million sale and leaseback transaction with Huarong Leasing to finance the $16.6 million purchase option for the Nisea. The financing bears an interest rate of 3-month Term SOFR plus 1.95% per annum and amortizes over 60 monthly installments of $0.1 million. With respect to the Dukeship, we took delivery of the vessel in February under an 18-month bareboat charter with a down payment of $5.5 million. The daily bareboat rate is $9,450, and United has a purchase obligation of $22.1 million at the end of the bareboat period. At the same time, here index-linked charter has been converted to fixed for the balance of the year at a gross daily rate of approximately $29,300, enhancing our earnings visibility and cash flow stability. Regarding the upcoming Capesize addition in our fleet, the Squireship, the agreed purchase price of $21.5 million (sic) [ $29.5 million ] will be financed through a combination of debt and cash at hand with a respective leverage ratio expected to be around 60%. In summary, the steps we have taken over the past several months have strengthened United's financial position, while enhancing our earnings visibility and cash flow generation. Combined with a disciplined capital allocation approach and improved market conditions, we believe the company is well positioned to generate meaningful free cash flow and continue delivering attractive return to shareholders. With that, I will now turn the call back to Stamatios for his concluding remarks. Stamatios?

Thank you, Stavros. We are very proud of our progress so far, having built a quality fleet with strong prospects without resorting to any dilution of the shareholders that have supported us in our first capital-raising transaction back in 2022. We have not made any other capital raising equity since then, 4 years now. Since 2023, we have paid a total cash dividend exceeding $1.84 per share, which, in fact, is a very large portion of our current share price. Additionally, we have engaged in extensive share repurchases, which continue to be part of our capital returns options. United Maritime's transformation in 2026 with profitable investments of approximately $60 million -- $62 million, following our divestments of about $21 million are expected to produce meaningful returns on capital deriving from 2 Capesize vessels operating under highly profitable time charters as well as direct exposure to healthy Panamax rates, so meaningful returns on capital are further expected. On that note, I would like to turn the call back to the operator, and we are open for any questions you may have. Operator, please take the call. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] We will now take the first question from the line of Tate Sullivan from Maxim Group.

Great. Thank you for the timely update and given all the volatility we've seen in the oil prices and the rates. First, to start with the dividend, $0.10. I mean, that's about 5% of your current share price, are you looking at -- how are you looking at it going forward? Are you going to pay out a portion of the gains on ship transactions? Or can you remind us of your dividend policy and how you're thinking about it?

Thank you for the question. We are intending to set something like a formula like we have with Seanergy. So it's more clear with the investors what they expect to expect. It's always going to be generous. As you know, we have always been very generous to our shareholders. We have paid about $1.80 per share in dividends since our inception a few years ago. So we will continue doing that. As you can see, we are transforming the company now into a strong cash flow engine, to put it this way. And once we have that crystallized and demonstrated in our quarterly earnings, we will set a formula that is going to be more clear for the investors to understand.

Okay. And then second, on the acquisition of the Squireship, $29.5 million, delivery May '26. Can you repeat the fixed rate that you have, was it $28,500? And the strategy related to that? I mean, I think it's prudent with what we've seen, but can you talk about when you walk that in?

Yes. Thank you, Tate. This is Stavros. Yes, we have been coordinating with Seanergy with the commercial management of the ship to convert basically the index-linked time charter to fixed following the decision to acquire the ship. The levels are close to $28,000, a bit higher than that. And as discussed during the call, the strategy to finance the ship is to get leverage of around 60% to 65%, which would imply that the free cash flow of the vessel would be around $10,000 to $12,000 per day.

Okay, I'll factor that in. And then on the market, and you had some good comments, what was -- you linked coal trade flows to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, can you walk through -- if I heard that correctly, can you walk through the implications for coal trade flows for the dry bulk market, please?

Well, yes, of course. We expect that further discontinuation of LNG trade out of Qatar and the Persian Gulf will eventually lead to increase of coal trades because the world needs electrification and LNG and coal are 2 competing, let's say, raw materials in order to produce electricity. So we expect coal to become a very, I'm not going to say dominant, but an important commodity again to produce electricity in certain areas of the world that are reliant on the Persian Gulf for natural gas. It's not an immediate thing, but the more that things escalate in the area, the more we expect countries with prudent, what you say, policies and huge infrastructure and industrial production like China, like Korea, like Japan to start thinking about increasing the coal inventories in order to deal with increased electrification needs. So that's kind of a natural result, which is going to happen. And we expect to see that starting the more that the crisis prevails in that area.

Okay. And a follow-up: Did you mention a certain portion of the global Capesize fleet in the Gulf area or were you referring to the total dry bulk fleet? Can you circle back to that comment, please?

It's not a really substantial number. I think that overall in the general area, we have about 2% of the fleet, not inside the Persian Gulf, but in the overall area. It's not a super critical point, but it really absorbs a lot of tonnage, not only on the Capesizes, but also Panamaxes, Kamsarmaxes and all that. So there is a portion of the fleet absorbed there or kind of stuck there, to put it in a better word. So we will see the effects of that as well soon in the market.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.