StealthGas (NASDAQ: GASS) reported Q4 EPS of $0.14, $0.02 better than the analyst estimate of $0.12. Revenue for the quarter came in at $35 million versus the consensus estimate of $33.9 million.

CEO Harry Vafias commented

Our revenues for the fourth quarter and the year were affected by the continued decline in charter rates that was driven primarily by falling oil prices. Although the charter market was sluggish we managed to improve our operating profitability significantly compared to the previous quarter and slightly over last year. Overall for 2014 our operating profitability was strong as our Adjusted EBITDA came in at $ 63.5 million increased in comparison with 2013 by $3.4 mm , however our net income was significantly lower, reflecting a $6.2 million impairment loss, as a result of our decision to seek to dispose of some of our oldest vessels in 2015.

Our Company follows a conservative chartering policy, with 85% of our fleet on period charters in 2014 and reduced exposure in the spot market. In these challenging charter markets we will continue to secure cash flow through period charters and to focus on controlling our costs. As of 2014 year end, we had approximately $220 million in contracted revenues, of which 72% are payable within the period 2015-2017. Our combined management fees and G&A expense was less than 7% of our 2014 revenues. We believe this compares very favourably with other public companies in the LPG and LNG shipping sectors, including those that rely on independent technical managers and those that manage their vessels in-house.

We are also focused on renewing and diversifying our fleet with modern eco vessels. We have 15 newbuildings, including four 22,000 cbm LPG carriers, under contract with scheduled deliveries of these vessels from this year until 2017. Our orderbook is of quality ships being mainly built in Japan and a few in Korea. Most importantly, in this charter market cycle, we are in a strong liquidity position which, together with our charter coverage, should enable us to meet our capital expenditure obligations, our existing debt service requirements and our working capital needs as our fleet expands. We have about $130 million in cash and cash equivalents at year end. Our strong balance sheet, with a ratio of debt to total assets of 34.4%, puts us in a position to address any investment need that might arise. In addition we are boosting our share repurchase program with another 20 million on top of the 10 million that was announced in November 2014.

Our current outlook for 2015 is for LPG charter rates to likely remain at similar levels. We believe, however, that our leading position among operators of small LPG carriers will over time enable us to capitalize on opportunities presented as the anticipated longer term growth in LPG trade is realized.

Last, but not least, we point out that our common shares are currently trading at about 50% discount to our NAV.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on StealthGas (GASS) click here.