SB Reports Q1 Earnings

Safe Bulkers (NYSE: SB ) reported first-quarter financial results on Thursday. The transcript from the company's first-quarter earnings call has been provided below. This transcript is brought to you APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit for a consultation.

05 in the same period last year, with revenues benefiting from higher charter hires. 06 per share and expanded its investor base with a parallel listing on Euronext Athens. Strategic initiatives include the renewal of its fleet with new builds and the sale of older vessels, as well as environmental upgrades for improved fuel efficiency. Safe Bulkers anticipates a 2-3% growth in dry bulk demand for 2026 and continues to focus on maintaining a competitive fleet with a lower average age than the industry.

The company maintains strong financial flexibility with significant liquidity and a healthy balance sheet, supporting sustainable growth and shareholder returns. Full Transcript OPERATOR Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Safe Bulkers Inc's conference call for the first quarter 2026 financial results. We have with us today Mr. Polys Hajioannou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr.

Lucas Barbaris, President, and Mr. Konstantinos Adamopoulos, Chief Financial Officer of the company. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. There'll be a presentation followed by a question and answer session, at which time if you wish to ask a question, please press Star one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced.

Following this conference call, if you need any further information on the conference call or on the presentation, please contact Capital Link at 212-661-7566. I must advise you that this conference call is being recorded today. The archived webcast of the conference call will soon be on Safe Bulkers' website at Many of the remarks today contain forward-looking statements. Based on current expectations, actual results may differ materially from results projected from those forward-looking statements.

Additional information concerning factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the first quarter 2026 earnings release available on Safe Bulkers' website again at I would now like to turn the conference call over to one of our speakers today, the Chairman and CEO of the company, Mr. Polys Hajioannou. Please go ahead, sir. Lucas Barbaris, President Good morning to all.

I will do the talking. I'm Lucas Barbaris, President of Safe Bulkers, and I'm welcoming you all to our quarterly results presentation. During the first quarter of 2026, we operated in an improved charter market environment compared to the same period in 2025, with increased revenues due to higher charter hires and slightly increased earnings from standard fitted vessels. The dry bulk market witnessed increased market volatility mainly due to geopolitical factors.

06 per common share and the opportunity to access European investors through the parallel listing in Euronext Athens, a platform of eight stock exchanges in Europe, are the two highlights of the previous period. 05 for the same period last year. 06 per share for dividend and continued the renewal of our fleet with four new builds and the sale of our oldest Kamsarmax and our oldest Panamax vessels. Following a comprehensive review of the forward-looking statements language presented in slide 2, let us proceed to examine the supply side dynamics in Slide 4.

The dry bulk fleet is projected to grow by about 4% in 2026 due to stable new deliveries, with fleet growth estimated to be highest for the Panamax segment. About 30% of the dry bulk fleet is over 15 years old. The total book now stands at about 30% of the fleet. The forecast for dry bulk supply as per BIMCO is to grow 2% in 2026 in the open state of Cornwall scenario versus 1% growth in case of a closure.

For reference, about 1% of dry bulk capacity is currently tracked in base and Gulf asset prices remain elevated in line with the current freight market. Currently, about 10% of ship capacity in the dry bulk order book will be able to use alternative fuels upon delivery. However, the dual fuel order book remains small in the dry bulk segment. The postponement of the adoption of the global fuel standard by IMO, as well as recent discussions, may move the path on decarbonization towards more pragmatic solutions.

In our total order book and 24 phase three basis plates since 2020, we do have two dual fuel new builds on order with deliveries in Q1 2027, able to operate with fossil fuels until alternative fuels become available and economically viable. Hedging for the increased more freeze and carbon intensity limits of the fuel EU regulation after 2030 and the potential adoption of new regional or global regulations, Safe Bulkers now counts the two phase three vessels on the water, all delivered from 2022 onwards. In addition, 21 vessels have undergone environmental upgrades and 11 vessels are echo incorporating superior fuel efficiency characteristics.

Approximately 80% of our fleet is Japanese-built compared with a global average of roughly 40%, underscoring our focus on construction quality, asset durability, reserve value, and fuel efficiency. We also underline the improved quality of our Chinese ships, which incorporate improvements in durability and fuel efficiency. 5 years, strengthening our competitive position in terms of operational performance and fuel consumption. Our commercial competitiveness will stren