Monaco-based shipping company Scorpio Bulkers closed the fourth quarter of 2019 with a profit.
The company posted a net income of USD 15.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to a net loss of USD 7.4 million seen in the corresponding period a year earlier.
EBITDA for the fourth quarter rose to USD 41.5 million from USD 23.3 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.
However, vessel revenues declined to USD 60.3 million in Q4 2019 from USD 65.2 million reported in Q4 2018.
Specifically, vessel revenues for the company’s Ultramax operations decreased to USD 35.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2019 from USD 42.4 million in the prior year period. On the other hand, vessel revenues for Kamsarmax operations increased to USD 25.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 from USD 22.8 million in the Q4 2018.
In October 2019, Scorpio Bulkers completed the sale of the Ultramax ships SBI Puma and SBI Cougar, for USD 37.9 million. As a result, the company suffered a loss of approximately USD 4.9 million in the second quarter of 2019 and wrote-off deferred financing costs of approximately USD 0.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 upon the repayment of USD 21.9 million of outstanding debt.
The company is currently in the process of installing scrubbers on all of the owned and finance leased vessels in its fleet. A total of 26 Ultramaxes and 14 Kamsarmaxes are expected to be fitted with exhaust gas cleaning systems by the end of Q1 2021, according to the company’s data. As of January 24, Scorpio has completed the scrubber retrofits on eight of its bulkers.
Scorpio Bulkers has an operating fleet of 58 vessels consisting of 52 owned or finance leased dry bulk vessels and six time chartered-in ships, with a total carrying capacity of about 3.6 million dwt.