Danaos Corporation 2026 Q2 Earnings Call

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, I quickly want to remind everyone that management remarks this morning may contain certain forward-looking statements and that actual results could differ materially from those projected today. These forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update them. Factors that might affect future results are discussed in our filings with the SEC, and we encourage you to review these detailed safe harbor and risk factor disclosures. Please also note that where we feel appropriate, we will continue to refer to non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, Time Charter Equivalent revenues, and Time Charter Equivalent dollars per day to evaluate our business. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release and accompanying materials.

With that, let me now turn the call over to Dr. John Coustas, who will provide the broad overview of the quarter.

John? Thank you, Evangelos. Good morning.

Thank you all for joining today's call to discuss our results for the second quarter of 2026. The conflicts in Ukraine and Iran continue with no clear resolution in sight. Although a brief ceasefire allowed us to move our two vessels out of the Gulf and both our crews and vessels safe and fully operational. Uncertainty in global supply chains, the disruption in the Gulf, the restrictions in Bab el-Mandeb, and the tariff measures in the United States have combined to create exceptionally tight conditions with rates across most shipping sectors at multiyear highs. Shipping remains the only industry capable of absorbing disruption on this scale and keeping the world supplied with goods, energy, and raw materials.

Against this backdrop, Danaos continued to execute its long-term strategy of securing extended charter employment at attractive rates and arranging competitive long-term financing for our new building program. This quarter, we saw significant contribution from our dry bulk investment as Capesize rates reached multiyear highs and the segment contributed $18.8 million of adjusted EBITDA against $5.9 million a year ago. As charters continue to compete for quality tonnage, we took the opportunity to extend charters across a broad part of the fleet, adding approximately $683 million to our contracted revenue backlog. Backlog now stands at a record $4.6 billion, with 100% of our container operating days contracted for 2026, 93% for 2027, and 79% for 2028. While even for 2029, contract coverage is already above 60%. We also continued to term out our financing, refinancing two further vessels through Japanese operating leases.

We added a further $236 million in charter financing commitments for three vessels delivering in 2027 and entered into a $132 million credit facility to finance our sixth 1,800 TEU newbuildings. With 78 of our 87 operating vessels at three possibly $1.5 billion, we remain well-positioned to pursue accretive opportunities, including the development of our investment in the Alaska LNG project. Together with a disciplined approach to expansion, we believe these dynamics will continue to drive improving profitability and create lasting value for our shareholders. With that, I'll hand the call over back to Evangelos, who will take you through the financials for the quarter.

Evangelos? Thank you, John. Good morning again to everyone, and thank you for joining us.

I will review the results for the quarter. We will then open the call to Q&A. Adjusted net income for the second quarter was $133.1 million or $7.29 per share, compared to $117 million or $6.36 per share in the second quarter of 2025. That is an increase of $16.1 million or approximately 15% on a per-share basis. The improvement was driven principally by our dry bulk segment. Container vessel revenue was broadly unchanged, down $0.8 million on a base of $238.7 million. New building deliveries of container ships contributed $3.2 million of incremental revenues and higher charter rates, a further $0.6 million. Offsetting this were a $3.4 million reduction in non-GAAP revenue recognition under US GAAP and the $1.2 million effect from higher off-hire charges during this period.

Dry revenue, on the other hand, increased by $13 million or 57%, from $22.7 million to $35.7 million. The principal driver was the improved dry bulk market. Our Capesize Time Charter Equivalent rate rose to $30,400 per day from approximately $18,000 per day in the comparable prior quarter, which reflects improved market conditions. During this quarter, we also operated one additional vessel that we acquired a few months ago. Segment adjusted EBITDA for the dry bulk segment increased to $18.8 million from $5.9 million a year ago. Turning now to operating costs. Vessel operating expenses were stable and came in at $56.7 million in the current quarter against $56.4 million in the second quarter of 2025, notwithstanding an increase in the average number of vessels in the fleet between the two periods.

Daily operating costs declined to $7,416 per vessel per day in the current quarter from $7,556 per vessel per day in the second quarter of 2025. Our operating costs remain among the most competitive in the industry. G&A expenses increased by $3.7 million to $14.9 million in the current quarter, compared to $11.2 million in the second quarter of 2025. This increase mainly relates to $1.5 million in higher management fees, partially driven by the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet, but a $2.2 million increase in corporate G&A. On the finance cost side, interest expense excluding amortization of finance fees and debt discount, decreased by $1.6 million to $7.3 million in the current quarter from $8.9 million in the second quarter of 2025. There are two components to this improvement.

Capitalized interest on vessels under construction rose to $9 million from $4.8 million previously as our new building program advanced, thus reducing interest expense by $4.2 million. Working in the opposite direction, average indebtedness increased by $326 million to $1.1 billion, and that added $2.6 million in interest expense. The effect of the increase in average indebtedness was partially mitigated by a reduction in our average cost of debt service of approximately 1.1%, reflecting lower SOFR rates and a lower bond coupon following the refinancing of our bond in Q4 of last year. Interest income doubled to $7.4 million, compared to $3.7 million a year ago on the back of higher cash balances. Therefore, net interest expense decreased by $5.3 million between the two periods.

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 6.1% or $10.8 million to $186.8 million this quarter compared to $176 million in the second quarter of 2025 for reasons that have already been outlined earlier on this call. We would also encourage you to review our updated investor presentation and the subsequent event disclosures, both of which are available on our website. We would like to turn to some of the highlights. Since the date of our last earnings release, we have added $683 million to our contracted revenue backlog. As a result, our backlog stands at $4.6 billion with a 4.7 average charter duration, while contract coverage is already at 100% for this year, 93% for 2027, 79% for 2028, and 61% for 2029. Our investor presentation has analytical disclosure on our contracted charter book.

As of June 30, net debt stood at $224.5 million, equivalent to 0.3 times last 12 months EBITDA. Out of our 87 vessels, 78 carried no debt. That is, 66 are unencumbered and a further 12 secure our revolving credit facility, which remains undrawn. Finally, as at the end of the second quarter of 2026, cash stood at $1 billion. Total liquidity that includes cash availability under our RCFs and value of marketable securities stood at approximately $1.5 billion, while in addition to that, we also hold committed undrawn facilities in support Of our new building program.