Global Ship Lease reports Q4 normalized EPS $2.49, consensus $2.35

Reports Q4 revenue $178.9M, consensus $172.02M. George Youroukos, our Executive Chairman, stated: “In a time of rising geopolitical uncertainty, Global Ship Lease has remained committed to its successful business model, combining operational excellence with a disciplined approach to preserving and building shareholder value through the cycle. Trade disruptions in the Red Sea significantly escalated towards the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, resulting in large-scale re-routing of containerships away from the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope, absorbing substantial effective supply. Meanwhile, water shortages in the Panama Canal have led to a reduction in the number of vessels that can transit that key waterway, adding further bottlenecks to the global supply chain. Taken together, these two developments have caused a meaningful tightening of containership supply and demand – arresting, and even reversing, the previous downward normalization of charter rates and asset values. It is impossible to predict how long disruptions to the Red Sea and Panama will last, and significant macroeconomic, geopolitical, and regulatory uncertainty remain prominent features of the market outlook. In this environment, our fleet of high-quality, mid-sized and smaller containerships continues to provide liner companies with the flexible tonnage that is key to their service networks through the cycle – especially at times of uncertainty and disruption. We have entered 2024 with strong charter coverage for much of the year and continue to work hard to capitalize on current market firmness to grow contract cover and strengthen forward cash flow visibility. Further, the steps that we continue to take to enhance our balance sheet, our extensive contract coverage, and our discipline in allocating capital have put us in a strong position as the sector transitions into the increasingly uncertain period ahead. And we remain as tightly focused as ever on maximizing long-term value for our shareholders: alongside returning capital in the form of both dividends and buybacks, we expect to see a growing number of interesting countercyclical investment opportunities in the months and quarters ahead.”