Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ: SBLK) reported Q4 EPS of $0.33, $0.04 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.37. Revenue for the quarter came in at $209.43 million versus the consensus estimate of $147.13 million.

Petros Pappas, Chief Executive Officer of Star Bulk, commented: “This is our fifth consecutive profitable quarter, as we achieved $12.3 million Net Income. This figure also includes a non-cash charge of $17.8 million, related to impairment for realized as well as expected vessel sales in 2019, which if excluded, brings our Adjusted Net Income to $30.3 million. Our voyage revenues for the fourth quarter of 2018 amount to $209.4 million, our average TCE for the quarter is $14,140/day per vessel, while average OPEX per vessel are $3,938/day and average Net Cash G&A expenses per vessel are $969/day, given our continuous focus to keep costs low.

On a yearly basis we realized Net Income of $59.0 million and Adjusted Net Income of $86.1 million. Our voyage revenues for the year amount to $651.6 million, our average TCE is $13,768/day per vessel, while average OPEX per vessel (excl. pre-delivery expenses) are $3,994/day and average Net Cash G&A expenses per vessel are $1,004/day.

As of today, we have fixed a minimum of 70% of Q1 2019 days at average TCE rates of $12,954 per day.

During this quarter, we concluded the refinancing of loans of approximately $248 million with new debt with an average margin of 120 bps lower than the debt that we refinanced. We remain committed to refinancing debt at lower interest costs when such opportunities arise. We have also committed financing for the procurement and installation of scrubbers, of approximately $140 million, to be drawn during the rollout of our program in 2019. Maintaining a large cash balance remains a top priority for us.

We are currently completing the installation of scrubbers on 15 of our larger vessels enabling us to have the vast majority of our fleet fitted with scrubbers ahead of the January 1st 2020 implementation date.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK) click here.