Street Calls of the Week
CBL International Ltd. (NASDAQ:BANL), with a market capitalization of $20.02 million, reported its Q2 2025 financial results, revealing a narrowed net loss and a decline in revenue compared to the previous year. Despite a 4.4% drop in total revenue, the company’s stock surged by 7.95% during the open market, closing at $0.71. The earnings per share (EPS) came in at -$0.04, with total revenue reported at $265.2 million. According to InvestingPro analysis, the company holds more cash than debt on its balance sheet, though it’s currently experiencing rapid cash burn. The company noted significant growth in its biofuel segment and an expanded global service network.
Key Takeaways
- CBL International’s net loss narrowed by 38.8% to $0.99 million.
- Biofuels sales increased by 154.7% year-over-year.
- Operating expenses decreased by 17% to $3.42 million.
- Stock price increased by 7.95% in the open market.
Company Performance
CBL International’s Q2 2025 results highlighted a strategic shift towards sustainable fuels and expanding its service network. The company reported a 9.8% growth in sales volume, despite a 4.4% decrease in revenue from the first half of 2024. While the gross profit margin improved slightly to 0.93%, InvestingPro data indicates the company still suffers from weak gross profit margins compared to peers. The current ratio of 1.54 shows solid liquidity management, with liquid assets exceeding short-term obligations. The company maintains a relatively low market volatility with a beta of 0.81.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue: $265.2 million, a 4.4% decrease from H1 2024.
- EPS: -$0.04.
- Gross profit margin: Increased by 4 basis points to 1.02%.
- Operating expenses: Decreased by 17% to $3.42 million.
Earnings vs. Forecast
CBL International reported an EPS of -$0.04, with revenue at $265.2 million. The market reacted positively, with the stock price increasing by 7.95% during the open market, indicating investor confidence in the company’s future prospects despite the earnings miss.
Market Reaction
The company’s stock closed at $0.71, up from $0.6577, marking a 7.95% increase. This positive movement reflects investor optimism, driven by the company’s strategic initiatives in biofuels and network expansion. Based on InvestingPro Fair Value analysis, the stock appears undervalued at current levels, despite having fallen 36.47% over the past six months. The stock remains within its 52-week range of $0.58 to $1.35, with an Altman Z-Score of 6.25 indicating strong financial health. Discover 10+ additional exclusive insights and detailed valuation metrics with an InvestingPro subscription.
Outlook & Guidance
CBL International plans to continue expanding its service network in Asia-Pacific and European markets. The company aims to explore more sustainable fuel options and strengthen relationships with suppliers. With a trailing twelve-month revenue growth of 11.37% and an overall Financial Health Score of 2.03 (FAIR) from InvestingPro, the company shows promise in its expansion strategy. Future guidance projects revenue growth, with forecasts of $711.02 million for FY2025 and $799.9 million for FY2026. Access the comprehensive Pro Research Report, available for 1,400+ US stocks, to dive deeper into BANL’s growth potential and financial outlook.
Executive Commentary
Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and CEO, emphasized the company’s resilience, stating, "We are turning challenges into differentiators and reinforcing our value propositions as a resilient and future-ready bunkering partner." He also highlighted the diversification strategy, saying, "We strive for customer segment diversification, from containers to non-container customers, from fossil fuels to biofuel and renewable fuels, from Asia to the world."
Risks and Challenges
- Geopolitical tensions affecting trade routes.
- Dependence on a few key customers, despite a reduction in sales concentration.
- Market volatility in the shipping and fuel sectors.
- Implementation of the IMO GHG framework by 2028.
Q&A
During the earnings call, analysts inquired about the impact of geopolitical challenges on trade routes and the company’s strategies for maintaining profitability. The management addressed these concerns by highlighting their focus on cost management, operational efficiency, and diversification efforts in non-container segments.
Full transcript - CBL International Ltd (BANL) Q2 2025:
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the CBL International Limited’s interim result presentation for the period ended June 30, 2025. Today’s meeting will be conducted in English, with simultaneous translation into Mandarin. Before we begin, I’d like to remind you that today’s presentation will include forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Thank you for joining us today. I’m Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director of CBL International Limited. Presenting alongside with me are Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Nick Fung, Assistant Chief Financial Officer. We are excited to share our performance and achievements in the first half of 2025 and provide an outlook for the fiscal year 2025.
Let’s begin with today’s agenda. Our presentation will cover the following: First, company introduction. Second, market trends and geopolitical impact. Third, financial review. Fourth, operational review. Fifth, strategic initiatives and market outlook. Sixth, Q&A. Let me start with a brief introduction to CBL International. CBL International Limited, NASDAQ ticker BANL, is the listing vehicle of Banle Group, a reputable marine fuel logistics company based in the Asia-Pacific region that was established in 2015. We are a global marine fuel logistics provider operating under an asset-light business model. Our key services include: bunkering services across strategic global ports, supplying both fossil fuels and sustainable fuels, and serving container shipping lines, bulk carriers, and tankers. We are recognized as professional and trustworthy by our business counterparties, delivering flexible and integrated vessel refueling solutions. Our competitive advantages include: First, global ports network.
We operate in over 65 ports across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, and Central America. Second, supplier relationships. We maintain strong relationships, enabling us to offer competitive fuel pricing, superior service, and operational efficiency. Third, customer relationship. With our extensive service, we can provide one-stop refueling solutions for customers, ensuring seamless service and operational efficiency. Fourth, growth strategy. We are focused on expanding our service network, increasing sales volumes, and integrating sustainable fuel solutions to meet evolving market needs. This short corporate video will give you a comprehensive overview of our company’s operation. I hope this video provides insight into who we are and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead. Please enjoy.
Corporate Video Narrator, CBL International Limited: Starting 2015, we served mainly the world’s top 20 international container liner operators. We are providing customers with options to get their vessels refueled in more than 60 refueling ports worldwide. We are CBL. Our services cover the majority of the ports in the fast-growing market of Asia-Pacific, which includes our customers sailing routes along the Euro-Asia Route, Inter-Asia Route, and Trans-Pacific Route. We have established an extensive supply network to provide our customers with more options and flexibility in fulfilling their vessel refueling requirements. Our establishments include Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Seoul, Labuan, Singapore, London, and Dublin that form a network which currently covers more than 60 ports worldwide. Customers can customize the best quality bunkering services and select the most convenient port. Our business is built with a customer-oriented culture and focuses on providing marine fuel.
With our professional and reliable bunkering services at a competitive price, as well as helping customers whenever they are dealing with contingencies. In 2023, we marked the listing on NASDAQ. In support of International Maritime Organization’s decarbonization initiatives, we have obtained both the ISCC EU and ISCC+ certifications. This enables us to support the industry’s collective efforts towards the net-zero journey. Moving forward, we intend to allocate more resources to further expand our supply network targeting at the continual market share enhancement. We have positioned ourselves as one of the pioneers in providing stable biofuel supply at major ports during this transition period. Simultaneously, we will continue to explore various green and sustainable marine fuel solutions for our customers. We endeavor to ensure that our customers can continue their voyages safely and with confidence. We are CBL.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Okay, let’s come back to our presentation. We maintain long-term strategic partnerships with global industry leaders and are recognized in the industry as a professional and trustworthy provider of flexible and integrated vessel refueling services. Through collaboration with reputable local partners, we consistently deliver high-quality services to our clients worldwide. This ensures access to efficient, reliable, and competitively priced bunker fuel solutions, meeting the diverse needs of the global maritime industry. Now, we move on to market trends and geopolitical impact. Let’s continue. Seaborne trade and container volume have demonstrated steady growth, as shown in this review of maritime transport by the United Nations. According to U.S. CTAD, total seaborne trade grew by 2.5% in 2025, while containerized trade grew by 2.9%. Both are forecasted to maintain moderate annual growth rates through 2029. Ship supply increased by 6.1% in 2025, with demand growing by 3.5% to 4.5%.
These numbers reflect a consistent recovery and expansion of global trade. CBL International Limited’s bunkering operation network aligns strongly with this trend, with a presence in 13 out of the top 15 global container ports, including 9 of the top 10 ports such as Shanghai, Singapore, and Ningbo Zhoushan. On the customer front, CBL serves 9 out of the top 12 global container liners, which represent a combined around 16% market share in global container liners. Let’s move on to this slide, which highlights geopolitical tensions and market impacts. Global maritime trade faced significant disruptions in the first half of 2025 due to geopolitical tensions. First, let’s review the whole global economic landscape. The broader economic environment remains uncertain. The recent decline in oil prices, though a source of market uncertainty, directly eased our working capital.
Seaborne trade showed moderate resilience, expanding by 1.5% in the first quarter and accelerating to a projected 2% in the second quarter. One of the notable disruptions in global shipping was the ongoing instability in the Red Sea, where vessels were rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope. This diversion extended Eurasian voyages by 10 to 14 days, resulting in increased fuel consumption due to longer travel distances. Consequently, demand for bunkering services surged at alternative ports along these rerouted shipping lanes. The situation in Ukraine and the accompanying sanctions contributed to the instability in energy markets, prompting the European Union to seek alternatives to Russian fuel supplies. This shift added volatility to global oil prices, creating challenges in fuel supply and demand. U.S. trade policy, particularly the tariffs implemented in April 2025, significantly impacted global trade flows, leading to a shift in shipping volumes.
These tariffs redirected cargo from traditional routes, especially between China and the U.S., to alternative regions such as Inter-Asian and Europe-Asian. This adjustment increased demand for bunkering services along these alternative corridors, particularly in the Asia-Pacific and the Europe-Asian regions. Despite these challenges, the CBL team responded swiftly and strategically. We targeted the increased demand from rerouted vessels, ensuring that our strategic supply chain could meet these demands. Effectively, we responded by capturing this increased demand, resulting in a notable rise in sales volumes across the Asia-Pacific and Europe. Refraining from supplying vessels subject to the sanctions that were outlined in the latest list containing the United Nations Security Council consolidated list, we maintained operational efficiency, positioning CBL to navigate both the economic uncertainties. Let’s move on to our financial highlights. Here are the first half of 2025 financial highlights, showcasing CBL’s strong performance.
Total sales volume grew by 9.8%, while revenue decreased by 4.4% to $265.2 million. Gross profit margin increased by 4 basis points to 1.02%, and net loss narrowed by 38.8%. Our current ratio of 1.54 demonstrates healthy liquidity, while capital debt at -4.44 highlights excellent cash cycle management. In the first half of 2025, CBL’s revenue distribution and growth by geographic location highlight key market trends. China accounted for 67.5% of total revenue, followed by Hong Kong at 27.8% and Malaysia at 2.1%, with smaller contributions from Singapore, South Korea, and others. Compared to the first half of 2024, revenue growth was seen at 26% growth in China and 131% in others. CBL’s strategic focus on establishing a network to capture regional demands as they shifted, supported by macro seabound trade volume in China and Europe.
Delving deeper into our financial results, revenue, CBL’s total revenue decreased by 4.4%, reaching $265 million, down from $277 million in the first half of 2024. The decrease was mainly attributable to the decrease in the marine fuel price, which was partially offset by the increase in the sales volume. Gross profit: Gross profit remained at a similar level, while gross profit margin slightly improved. We managed to maintain our gross profit with an increase in sales volume to cope with the challenging competition in the market. Operating expenses: Operating expenses decreased to 17%, from $4.12 million to $3.42 million. The decrease was due to harvesting the results of our investment in the past year on an enlarging port network, expanding our customer base, and developing our biofuel operations and the initiatives undertaken in the first half of 2025 to streamline operations.
Net income: Net income narrowed from a loss of $1.62 million in the first half of 2024 to a loss of $0.99 million in the first half of 2025. This 38.8% improvement was mainly driven by the reduction of operating expenses through the cost savings and the control initiatives in the group’s operations during the period. CBL’s high liquidity and financial flexibility have enabled sustainable growth in the first half of 2025. Working capital management: High liquidity strengthens the cash cycle and supports business operations. Bank facility: Ample bank facilities, a total of $50 million to fund future business expansion. Debt and leverage: Focus on maintaining low debt levels provides flexibility for future growth. Just-in-time inventory management: Optimized cash flow minimizes storage risk and enhances efficiency. Minimal fixed assets: Maintaining a lean asset base ensures operational agility. Let’s move on to operational review.
Global development is part of CBL’s four-step strategy, and we have continued to see successful expansion since our IPO in 2023. As of June 30, 2025, CBL’s global service network has expanded to 65 ports, an increase of 81%, marking a significant milestone in our growth strategy. The Asia-Pacific region remains CBL’s primary revenue driver, with key contributions from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea. Volume contributable to deliveries in Asia-Pacific surged 9.1% year-on-year. Given several ports in the Asia-Pacific are major global shipping hubs, 13 of the world’s top 15 container ports in 2024, according to the latest list, bunkering operations in these regions account for a significant portion of deliveries. The expansion is especially evident in Europe, where our strategic focus on the ERA region has enhanced our market presence.
We continue to develop our presence through our service network and maintain relationships with suppliers and customers. While current volumes in these regions remain steady, we are well positioned to scale operations in response to rising customer demand, ensuring we can meet market needs as they arise. In the first half of 2025, CBL International Limited achieved a 9.8% increase in sales volume, despite a challenging macroeconomic environment marked by fluctuating oil prices and geopolitical instability. This growth was fueled by the expansion of our service network, the successful acquisition of new customers, and a strategic shift towards non-container liner segments. As of June 30, 2025, CBL International Limited serves nine of the world’s top 12 container shipping lines, which contributed to nearly 60% of global container fleet capacity. The company’s expanding customer base and broader service portfolio have reinforced its market position.
Customer diversification: Revenue share from top 12 liners increased to 60.1% versus 45.7% in the first half of 2024. Non-container sales (bulk and tanker) accounted for 36.9%. Top 5 customer sales concentration declined to 60.4% in the first half of 2025 versus 66.7% in the first half of 2024. New customers from 2024 and the first half of 2025 contributed to 11.9% in the first half of 2025. In the biofuels sector, CBL International Limited achieved significant growth in sales and volume in the first half of 2025. Biofuels sales saw an impressive increase of 154.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, with volume growth reaching 189.5%.
This growth can be attributed to CBL International Limited’s continued leadership in the sustainable fuels market, driven by the increasing adoption of biofuels among our customers. CBL International Limited has remained at the forefront of biofuels adoption, with increased sales volume in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and various ports in China. Globally, CBL International Limited facilitated the first B24 supplies across several markets. Besides, the launch of biofuels helped reduce the GHG emissions by 20% compared to traditional fuels. CBL International Limited has obtained ISCC EU and ISCC+ certifications in early 2023. We supplied biofuels in Singapore since March 2025 and proactively supported customers to meet IMO GHG targets with sustainable and cost-effective alternatives. Looking ahead, CBL International Limited plans to further diversify biofuel offerings and strengthen our market position in green marine fuels.
In addition, the company will explore more green fuel options, such as LNG and methanol, to meet its evolving sustainability regulations and industry demand. In the capital markets, CBL International Limited also made remarkable progress with the following highlights. In January 2025, the company filed a shelf registration statement, which became effective on January 24, 2025, allowing for the offering of securities with an aggregate initial offering price of up to $15 million. Following this, on January 28, 2025, the company initiated an at-the-market ATM offering with a total offering price of up to $2,604,166. The net proceeds from the ATM offering will be used for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions, business opportunities, and debt repayment, with management retaining discretion over the allocation.
Additionally, on June 3, 2025, the company launched a share repurchase program approved by the Board of Directors, authorizing repurchases of up to the lesser of $5 million or 5 million ordinary shares, set to expire on April 15, 2028. Repurchases will be made in the open market, with amounts and timing depending on the market conditions and corporate needs. The company highly values the relationships with our investors. In the first half of 2025, we have participated in several investor events and conferences, such as Linden Partners Investor Conference, Noble Capital Market Virtual Equity Conference, 8th China IR White Paper Summit, and ZSE 2025 Global Investor Conference. Besides, we also held media and analyst luncheons and investor happy hours to further exchange insights with investors and media in person. CBL International Limited continues to actively communicate with different sites through various platforms, including AGM, newsletter, website, and social media.
Our efforts have received market recognition. We have won the Most Creative Corporate Communication Award at the 2024 Valuable Capital Community Annual Selection, and the Best Digital Investor Relations Award and Best Investor Relations Director at the 8th China Excellence Fine Art Award. As an industry pioneer, CBL is committed to sustainability development and has initiated multiple steps with fruitful outcomes in ESG. In the first half of 2025, we built a corporate model for sustainability development, focusing on a reliable and responsible marine fuel supply, customer growth support, and life quality enhancement. We engaged a consultancy with the aim of enhancing our ESG practices in a comprehensive four-stage approach. We conducted a materiality analysis on sustainability issues among internal and external stakeholders. We organized various maritime-related volunteering programs and initiatives to support ESG practices in the community.
Following the corporate responsibility roadmap, we will mainly focus on three parts: ESG goal setting, ESG rating platform, and ESG disclosure. Looking forward, CBL will continue to take actions in ESG to achieve a sustainable development. More specifically, CBL’s 2025 ESG plan and long-term commitment underscore the importance of adopting ESG practices to enhance transparency, implement sustainable initiatives, manage risks, and meet stakeholder expectations. On the environmental front, CBL leads with its biofuel initiative, aligned with IMO’s 2023 strategy, blending marine fuel oil with 24% newcoming to reduce scope 3 supply chain emissions. The company also supports customers in achieving sustainability goals while ensuring its biofuel production avoids deforestation, land use changes, and competition with food production. In terms of social responsibility, CBL promotes equitable practices, including adherence to pay-for-performance principles, fostering diversity and inclusion with strong female representation, and supporting employee development through education subsidies.
CBL also prioritizes employee well-being with regular events and encourages community engagement by holding various training and programs, such as International Coastal Cleanup for World Oceans Day. On governance, CBL’s practice is in alignment with IMO decarbonization targets and fuel-eval maritime regulation. The company ensures fresh perspectives and independent oversight through annual director elections and rotation. The company also established strong reporting channels for misconduct, fraud, or violations of company policy, ensuring swift management response and whistleblower protection. The plan is structured across four phases: Q1 to Q2 2025, establishing a sustainability strategy, governance framework, and action plan. Q1 to Q3 2025, improving sustainability management and implementing the sustainable development plan. Q2 to Q3 2025, implementing our sustainable development plan. Q3 to Q4 2025, enhancing disclosure practices and strengthening investor relations. Now, let’s move on to strategic initiatives and a look.
Looking ahead to fiscal year 2025, our key initiatives include: strengthen our service network, focusing on Asian, Asia-Pacific, and European markets, strengthening our presence in emerging markets, continue expanding port coverage, grow sales volume, continue to target new customers and new segments while maintaining strong relationships with current customers, enhance market position, stronger and more in-depth supplier relationships, explore sustainable fuels, biofuel adoption as a core of CBL’s sustainability strategy, focus on compliance with the latest carbon emissions regulations with further exploration of biofuel products and other sustainable fuels. The International Maritime Organization, IMO, agreed on its Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) framework in April, with full implementation set for 2028. This decision further emphasized the urgency of reducing emissions, promoting biofuel adoption, and encouraging future investment in ships capable of running on zero-carbon fuels.
In the first half of 2025, CBL has the following achievements in improving its performance across three key areas: First, to improve gross profit and narrow down net losses. The company plans to increase sales volume through network expansion and new customer acquisitions, while leveraging its network to mitigate supply chain disruptions. CBL will also focus on developing biofuels and exploring sustainable fuels such as methanol and LNG for higher margins, alongside achieving economics of scale to reduce unit costs. CBL’s gross profit margin increased by 4 basis points, and net loss has narrowed by 38.8% in the first half of 2025. Second, to maintain sufficient cash flow and manage working capital. CBL will prioritize a strong cash position, strengthen liquidity, and closely monitor accounts receivable and payable. Assessing the capital market at the right time and increasing trade financing will further enhance financial flexibility to support growth initiatives.
In the first half of 2025, CBL’s current ratio improved from 1.51 to 1.54, while capital debt improved by 1.8 days to -4.44 days. Finally, to enhance efficiency, CBL will utilize office automation and IT systems to streamline operations and explore advanced technologies for continuous improvement, cost-saving, upgraded backend systems, and implementing real-time order tracking data analytics. CBL’s operational expenses have decreased by 17%. These efforts will improve customer service and operational efficiency, enhancing sustained progress and long-term growth. Thank you for your attention. We are now happy to take your questions. Please feel free to share your queries, and I will facilitate the discussion along with Dr. Chia and Mr. Fung. Now we come to the Q&A session. Please type in your question in the Q&A box, and we will read them aloud for management to address. I can see the first question on the screen.
The first question is: Among growth areas, what was the most significant achievement achieved by CBL? How did the company produce results in this area, and what were the challenges, and how did CBL overcome them? This question is from Hu Guangyi from Southwest Securities. I would like to direct this question to Wilming.
Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CBL International Limited: Sure. Good morning. Thank you very much for joining our webcast this morning. Thank you, Mr. Hu, for the questions, and thank you, Venus, for the presentations. I think we all know ocean is never short of challenges. Right now, we are actually facing geopolitical conflicts, the Red Sea crisis, tariff war, switching to biofuels and other renewable energies. We have been seeing all these challenges one by one all coming together, but we have managed to keep and maintain our growth. We have achieved a sales volume growth of almost 10% for the first half of 2025, and we have achieved continuous goals in the sales volume over the past few years. Amid all these challenges, we managed to keep down our expenses and reduce our loss. We will continue to strive to make more improvements.
CBL’s significant achievements have been rapid and strategic expansions on our global service network, growing from 36 ports at the time of our NASDAQ IPO in the year 2023 to 65 ports by the first half of 2025. This expansion underscores our successful executions of a scalable, asset-light growth. Our asset-light growth model solidifies CBL’s presence across key maritime regions, including the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Central America, and Africa. Our growth was actually driven by targeting entities into high-demand ports and strengthening our partnerships with major suppliers and customers. We focus on customer-driven diversification, especially in bulk carriers and tankers, which is actually beyond our core container liner space. These moves have actually allowed us to capture volume growth despite a very challenging market and a declining bulk price environment. CBL has navigated through significant headwinds, including geopolitical disruptions, oil price fluctuations, and intensified competition in key markets where we operate.
By leveraging our agile and capital-light structure, we minimize the fixed costs while securing scalable supply partnerships, as well as our early investment into biofuel capabilities, such as the successful rollout of the ISCC certifications in China, in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. We supply in these ports, enabling us to align with the tightening emissions regulations and customer demand for sustainable options. The strategic and operational agility allow CBL to expand meaningfully without compromising our financial stability. We are turning challenges into differentiators and reinforcing our value propositions as a resilient and a future-ready bunkering partner. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Dr. Chia. Okay, please submit your question through the Q&A box, and we will read aloud for management to address. Okay, I see the second question on the screen. CBL International Limited reduced its net loss by 38.8% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, despite challenges in the macroeconomic environment and oil price volatility. What were the key drivers behind this improvement, and how sustainable are the measures for the second half of the year? This question is from Wang Chen from Added Financial. I would like to direct this question to me.
Nick Fung, Assistant Chief Financial Officer, CBL International Limited: Thank you. Thank you, Venus, and thank you for everyone joining this event this morning. In our first half of 2025, the improvement in the bottom line of 38.8% was a result of effort and resources we invested to enlarge our port network, expand our customer base, and develop our biofuel operations over the past years. We are now half sustained out of such investment. As a result, we increased our sales volume by double digits in the full year of 2024, as well as the first half of 2025. We brought in new customers and lowered our reliance on top five customers. Our biofuel sales have continued to demonstrate significant growth in the past 12 months. In addition, in the first half of 2025, by streamlining our operations, thus enhancing operation efficiency, we reduced our OpEx by 17%.
Going forward, we continue to look for investment windows to further expand our network and especially for the sustainable fuel segment. In fact, we have taken a more strategic approach to optimize our profitability. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Nick. We’ll come to the third question. The third question on the screen is: Given the ongoing geopolitical tensions and disruptions in shipping routes, how is CBL positioned to capture demand from rerouted trade flows, especially in the Eurasian and Asia-Pacific corridors? This question is from Marcus Wong from Hensan Bank. I would like to direct this question to Wilming.
Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CBL International Limited: Thank you very much, Marcus, for raising these questions. The ongoing instabilities in the Red Sea, which has led vessels to reroute via the Cape of Good Hope, extending the Eurasian voyages by probably about 10 to 14 days, and as a result of that, increasing the fuel consumptions. This redirection has caused a surge in demand for bunkering services at alternative ports along these new routes. CBL has actually targeted ourselves to meet these demands and to capitalize on the opportunities. On the U.S. trade policy changes in April this year, it has also redirected cargo to different regions. The shift in the trade flows has increased the demand for bunkering services in Eurasian and Asia-Pacific corridors. Luckily enough, with our CBL’s extensive supply network in these regions, we are seeing additional requirements for our services.
Therefore, despite all these disruptions, we have responded effectively, resulting in increased sales volumes in the Asia-Pacific and other emerging markets. CBL’s supply network has also positioned ourselves to adapt to changing trade flows, while we maintain efficient bunkering operations and are also able to seize the opportunities in these new and alternate routes. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Dr. Chia. Okay, please, all the investors, please type in your questions on the question box, and I will read it aloud for management to address. I can see the fourth question on the screen. Gross profit margins increased slightly to 1.02% in the first half of 2025. How does CBL plan to maintain or further improve margins as you continue expanding your supply network and customer base? This question is from Pauline Lau from Citibank. I would like to direct this question to me.
Nick Fung, Assistant Chief Financial Officer, CBL International Limited: Okay, thank you. Thank you, Pauline, from Citibank, for these questions. In the first half of 2025, we managed to maintain our gross profit at the same level as compared to 2024. Our sales volume increased, while our gross margin improved from 0.98% to 1.02%. We continue to improve our gross profit by increasing sales volume, riding on the foundation we laid down in our expanded network, improved customer base, and growth in non-container liner and biofuel segments. Furthermore, we keep on exploring new sustainable fuels such as methanol and LNG for higher margins and to achieve economics of scale to reduce unit costs. We believe our profitability will improve through those measures and actions. Amid market volatility, tariff conflict, and geopolitical tension, we still achieve steady growth of sales volumes.
As we adopt a cost-plus model in our pricing, our gross margin increases when the oil price comes down in 2025’s first half. Looking forward, if world trade recovers to normal when tariff wars stabilize, we expect there may be further improvement in our gross margins. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Nick. I see more questions coming on the screen. The next question will be: Non-container liner sales now account for 36.9% of revenue, reflecting successful diversification efforts. How does CBL plan to further grow this segment while maintaining strong relationships with container liner customers? This question is from Alvin Chung from Prudential Brokerage Limited. I would like to direct this question to Wilming.
Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Alvin. Thanks to our network expansions in the last few years, we are able to provide reliable and flexible supply arrangements for our non-container liner customers, like those bulk carriers and tankers. Also, thanks to our network expansions in the last few years, we can effectively and efficiently serve the non-container liner customers where their vessels have less predictable scheduling as compared to the container liners. Meanwhile, we continue to service nine out of the world’s top 12 container shipping lines, which represent nearly 60% of the global container fleet capacities. CBL International Limited has been actively targeting new customers, including mid-tier shipowners, bulkers, tankers, and others. Our customer diversification has actually reached a significant milestone, and non-container liner sales have become an important segment for us, accounting for about 36.9% of our revenue.
Our sales concentrations for the top five customers have also reduced to 60.4% from the previous 66.7% in the same period. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Dr. Chia. Okay, please type in your questions in the question box, and I will read aloud to management for them to address. The next question will be: Operating expenses decreased by 17% in the first half of 2025. What were the primary cost efficiencies achieved, and how do these reflect the company’s long-term strategy for expense management? This question is from Alan Wu from Philip Securities, and I would like to direct this question to Nick.
Nick Fung, Assistant Chief Financial Officer, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Alan, for raising these questions. It has been our strategy to develop new ports, improve our customer base, and diversify the profit mix over the past three years, including 2024. Therefore, we deploy efforts and resources in this respect. In 2025, it actually is our half-assistant year, rather than planting as compared to previous years in this regard. As some of these spendings are non-recurring in nature, such as port operating preparation for new ports, market intelligence regarding new customers and new products, such as biofuel and methanol, we keep the operating expenses down. This enables us to achieve promising results. In the first half of 2025, we implement initiatives to streamline our operations and rationalize our resources. As a result, we are saving in our OpEx.
To continue enhancing our operational efficiency, we utilize office automation and IT systems to streamline operations, allocate resources to explore advanced technologies for continuous improvement. Cost-saving and upgraded backend systems, implementing real-time order processing and data analysis, we keep investing for the future when good investment opportunities are around. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Nick. Okay, we come to the next question. This question is: Any expansion plan in the second half of 2025? Looking longer term, what does the five-year plan look like for the business, and how do you expect its business model to evolve by 2030? This question is from Nelson Lee from ICBCI, and I would like to direct this question to Wilming.
Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CBL International Limited: Thank you very much, Nelson, for these interesting questions. I would say despite the challenges posed by uncertain global economic conditions, geopolitical volatilities, and regional crises, our gross profit remains stable. In the first half of this year, we had successfully reduced net losses, successfully diversified our customer base, and successfully improved on our operational efficiency and cost management. These strategies and measures we implemented have proven effective in navigating us through these turbulent times. Our strategy will be continuing to strengthen the service network, grow our sales volume, and further explore these sustainable fuels. We will continue to focus on our extensive supply network in Asia-Pacific, and at the same time, looking at strengthening our presence in the emerging markets. We will also continue to target new customers and new segments while deepening our strong relationships with the current customers.
We will continue to promote stronger and more in-depth suppliers’ relationships as well. We will continue to ensure that we have the adequate financial resources for our expanded business. As we can see, in the past 12 months, we have successfully secured more bank facilities to support our growth. On the sustainable fuel side, on biofuel adoptions, it’s actually one of our core sustainability strategies. We shall focus on compliance with the latest carbon emissions regulations and to further explore biofuel products. At the same time, we will be also looking at other sustainable fuels as well. We are also regularly exploring different vertical and horizontal integration opportunities in order to strategically position ourselves to capitalize on the growth opportunities, as well as to support our customers in meeting the decarbonization goals. We are growing CBL International to be a full-fledged bunkering service facilitator.
We strive for customer segment diversification, from customers from containers to non-container customers, from fossil fuels to biofuel and renewable fuels, from Asia to the world. We are proud to build CBL International into a well-rounded bunkering service facilitator for the future. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Dr. Chia. Okay, please type in your questions in the question box, and I will read them aloud for management to address. Now we come to the next question. As the CEO of an international bunker service facilitator, what industry-specific observations and forecasts do you see taking place on a global scale, and how?
Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CBL International Limited: Thank you.
Nick Fung, Assistant Chief Financial Officer, CBL International Limited: International Limited is regularly exploring different verticals and horizontal integration opportunities. The company is also firmly believing in the future demand for sustainable fuels and regional trade shifts. We are well prepared, well positioned to receive these transformations. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Dr. Chia, for a very comprehensive explanation. Due to limited time, we come to the last question. This question is: Considering the U.S. new reciprocal tariffs updates and effective on August 7, what is the impact on CBL and the bunkering industry? This question is from Tony Fei from BOCI, and I would like to direct this question to Wilming.
Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CBL International Limited: Thank you. Thank you, Tony. As CBL currently, we do not have operations in U.S. ports. Our direct impact from the U.S. tariff changes is minimal. However, we do see that tariffs have redirected cargoes from traditional routes that lie between China and the U.S. to alternative regions like Asia-Pacific and Europe. This shift has increased demand for bunkering services along the alternative corridors, as the areas that we have mentioned, Asia-Pacific as well as Eurasia. We can see from the Dana Liners report saying that a 7.8% increase in the export to the Far East and a 2.3% rise in imports from the Far East to other regions. This is covering a period from January to May this year. We see these trade pattern changes have actually affected global shipping, particularly impacting the container sector due to their requirements for rerouting.
As for our company, the overall impact has been limited. We have managed to leverage these changes by our extensive network and are able to meet the demand generated from these new trade flows. Therefore, monitoring the evolving global trading landscape remains a priority for us in the second half of the year. Thank you.
Venus Zhao, Investor Relations and Public Relations Director, CBL International Limited: Thank you, Dr. Chia. Thank you to all the questions from investors. This concludes our investor presentation for today. Thank you for your participation and support of CBL International Limited. If you would like to have further discussion with our management, please feel free to contact us anytime for arrangements. Once again, thank you for your time today, and you may now disconnect. Thank you.
Dr. Teck Lim CHIA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CBL International Limited: Thank you very much.
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