Global Ship Lease quarterly profit US$12 million on 52pc more sales

GLOBAL Ship Lease Inc, a containership lessor, has announced an unaudited net income of US$12.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to a $43.7 million loss for the fourth quarter 2008. The fourth quarter result includes a $5.1 million non-cash interest rate derivative mark-to-market gain.

Net profit for the whole of 2009 amounted to $42.4 million drawn on revenue of $148.7 million, up 57 per cent year on year.

Fourth quarter revenue grew to $39.9 million, representing an increase of 52 per cent against the same quarter in 2008, which the company attributed to "the purchase of four additional vessels in December 2008 and one additional vessel in August 2009."

The most recent ship purchase was the 6,627-TEU, 2001-build, CMA CGM Berlioz that was purchased for $82 million and chartered to CMA CGM for 12 years.

The company also generated $16.5 million in cash in the fourth quarter, an increase of 29 per cent year on year. For the whole of 2009, the company generated $62 million in cash.

"During a challenging year for the industry and global economy, our entire fleet remained secured on long-term contracts. We also achieved strong utilisation for the year and grew both revenue and cash flow during a time when we finalised an amendment to our credit facility," said CEO Ian Webber.

"With the amended credit facility, we have mitigated loan-to-value covenant concerns effectively until April 2011 and protected the company from short-term volatility in asset values. We are now paying down debt aggressively with approximately $68 million expected to be repaid in 2010," he said.

(Source: www.schednet.com)