Globus Maritime Share Discussion Threads

[courant] 24/9/2007 10:03

Matt,

2 charters are up in Dec 07, one in Jan 08, one in Feb 08. GOC was reporting new charter contracts something like 1-2 months in advance - so news should start to flow in about a month or so. As I said before, anything above USD25,000 per day for one of the handymaxes and USD35,000 for the panamax should give a significant boost to forecast earnings. Even at these levels, GLBS is cheap.

Regards,

Courant

[matt] 21/9/2007 18:55

Courant - Excellent write up. Thanks for your help. When do you expect new contract news to start filtering through during the next 4 months?

It would be good if Ianwc added your TMF link to the header.

[courant] 21/9/2007 13:06

It's a pleasure!

Without getting political, I'd rather keep my post just on the Fool and link it here. I don't mind posting here, and for detailed company discussions ADVFN can be good, as long as the silly-crowd don't hijack a thread. However, I find the Fool a far superior platform and it manages to self-police itself very well - as such, I want to lend it my support. Also, the (lack of a) search facility here is a major issue - a few months down the line posts effectively become lost.

Regards,

Courant

[xdavid] 21/9/2007 11:41

Thanks, Courant. Despite the unknowns over dollar exposure and the periodic volatility of the Baltic Dry Index, the following have convinced me to buy today...

• Forward earnings are very transparent - quite different from any other sector I have had experience of.
• The cash-cow effect allows one to properly assess debt risk (and as you point out, how this can be driven down quickly if market needs require).
• But the major attraction... despite having such transparent earnings going forwards, the low PE (6 for '08) and yield (7 - 8% for '08) already appears to discount any adverse earnings effects which might appear. Good protection to downside - appeals to my 'value' credentials :-)

Thanks for introducing me to this sector. It is one of those where you need to sit down and understand how it works before you can properly get an understanding of the value metrics. A bit like when I first had to figure out the oil explo sector!

PS. might be worth just re-posting your TMF post here. The comparison with peers is very useful.

[courant] 21/9/2007 09:23

1. No, USD reporting is the industry standard. I guess it's down to you to manage your dollar exposure through your portfolio.

2. This kind of dividend policy is very common. Yes, I do share your concern on this front. However, with charters being anything from 20-36 months, the idea is to smooth the cycle out a little. Another point... say things take a hike down. It would then be prudent to refrain from further vessel acquisitions and reduce debt. This would have the knock on effect of reducing interest payments, freeing more cash up.

The more I think about it, the more similar shipping becomes to property investment: the trick is managing your debt levels while seeking high-quality, long term tenants!

Courant

[xdavid] 21/9/2007 08:37

Cople of questions for Courant (excellent writeup n TMF!)...

1. Any concerns about earnings being in dollars? Do all these type of companies report in dollars? The slide in dollar in the past year must have affected the reported earnings of the UK based ones (as in UK stock exchange).

2. The divi yield, being 50% of earnings, is obviously good when earnings are high but if earnings downturn then this could produce a 'geared' effect on sentiment. Do the other companies also use this type of % of earnings for divi or is GLBS on its own in this regard?

Ta.

[courant] 21/9/2007 07:37

Hi Matt,

Just posted a review yesterday on the Fool:



You might want to check out GOC as well, there's also an advfn thread.

Regards,

Courant

[matt] 21/9/2007 07:06

Anyone following these?



Corporate Profile

Globus Maritime Ltd. is a dry-bulk shipping company, providing reliable and secure marine transportation services on a worldwide basis.

The Company was incorporated on July 26, 2006 in Jersey to consolidate our founders' ship-owning and ship-management interests and has executive offices in Athens, Greece.

We are a vertically integrated shipping company focusing initially on the dry bulk Handymax and Panamax sectors. We own and operate a fleet of dry bulk vessels that transport iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, cement, alumina and other dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Our fleet consists of five Handymax sistership vessels and one Panamax vessel. All of our vessels are chartered to reputable charterers on medium to long-term charters. Our fleet of six dry bulk carriers has an aggregate carrying capacity of 289,129 dwt and has an average age of approximately 12.5 years as at June 30, 2007.

On July 19, 2007 we announced that we entered into an agreement to acquire a 53,500 dwt handymax bulk carrier currently under construction at Yangzhou Shipyard in China with expected delivery in December 2007. Furthermore, on September 14, 2007, we announced that we entered into an agreement to acquire a 72,929 dwt 1998 built Panamax bulk carriers with delivery expected around mid-December 2007. When these acquisitions are completed, Globus' fleet will expand to a total of eight modern dry bulk carriers, consisting of six Handymax vessels and two Panamax vessels with a total carrying capacity of 415,558 dwt, and an average age approximately 10.7 years as at December 31, 2007.

Unlike other shipping companies which tend to be managed externally, our operations are managed by our wholly-owned subsidiary, Globus Shipmanagement Corp, out of Athens, Greece. Our in-house commercial and technical management teams focuses exclusively on our vessels. This structure means that we avoid the risks of conflicts of interest arising which are inherent with external or affiliated ship management.

Our primary objective is to manage our fleet in a manner that allows us to maintain profitability across the shipping cycle and thus to maximize returns for our Shareholders.

The Company is listed on the AIM of the London Stock Exchange under ticker GLBS. Jefferies International Limited is acting as nominated adviser and broker to the Company.