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Odfjell SE reported its third-quarter 2025 earnings, showing steady financial performance with an EPS of $0.54, surpassing the forecast of $0.4823. The company’s revenue reached $173 million, slightly below the forecast of $195.45 million. Following the earnings release, Odfjell’s stock rose by 2.2% to $121, reflecting a positive market reaction. The company’s trailing twelve-month EPS stands at $5.00, according to InvestingPro data.
Key Takeaways
- Odfjell’s EPS of $0.54 exceeded expectations, contributing to a 2.2% stock price increase.
- Revenue fell short of forecasts, but the market reacted positively to the EPS beat.
- The company reported a strong liquidity position with $306 million available.
- Odfjell continues its decarbonization efforts, achieving a 16% fuel reduction on a key vessel.
- The company anticipates stable Q4 results, similar to Q3.
Company Performance
Odfjell’s performance in Q3 2025 remained robust, with total time charter earnings hitting $173 million, nearly matching the previous quarter. Despite a 7% decline in time charter earnings per day, the company maintained a strong EBIT of $59 million and a net result of $43 million. The chemical freight rates showed stabilization west of Suez, while declining east of Suez, yet remaining above pre-2022 levels.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue: $173 million (slightly below the forecast of $195.45 million)
- Earnings per share: $0.54 (above the forecast of $0.4823)
- EBIT: $59 million
- Net result: $43 million
- Available liquidity: $306 million
Earnings vs. Forecast
Odfjell’s EPS of $0.54 exceeded the forecasted $0.4823, representing a positive surprise of approximately 12%. However, revenue came in lower than anticipated at $173 million, compared to the $195.45 million forecast. The EPS beat suggests effective cost management and operational efficiency despite revenue shortfalls.
Market Reaction
Following the earnings announcement, Odfjell’s stock rose by 2.2%, closing at $121. This price movement aligns with the positive earnings surprise. The stock’s performance remains strong within its 52-week range, moving closer to its high of $134.4. The market’s reaction reflects investor confidence in Odfjell’s strategic direction and financial stability.
Outlook & Guidance
Odfjell expects Q4 financial results to mirror the stable performance of Q3, with continued investments in decarbonization and a long-term cash break-even target of $21,000 per day. The company projects a steady development in chemical trade, despite global challenges.
Executive Commentary
"We continue to invest in decarbonization projects," emphasized Harald, highlighting Odfjell’s commitment to sustainability. Tarje Wergeland noted, "We have a long-term target to reach $21,000 per day," underscoring the company’s strategic financial goals. Harald also remarked on the market conditions, stating, "We are still significantly above the levels that we saw before the end of 2022."
Risks and Challenges
- Fluctuating chemical freight rates, particularly east of Suez, pose a potential risk.
- Global economic uncertainties may impact trade volumes.
- The company’s reliance on decarbonization investments could face regulatory or technological hurdles.
- Currency fluctuations and geopolitical tensions might affect operational costs and revenue.
Q&A
During the earnings call, analysts inquired about the impact of U.S. and China port fees, to which Odfjell responded that no significant effects are expected. Additionally, the closure of the Red Sea was discussed, with management assuring no material impact on the chemical tanker segment. Stable cash break-even levels are anticipated in the coming quarters, providing reassurance to investors.
Full transcript - Odfjell SE (ODF) Q3 2025:
Harald, Primary Presenter/Executive, Odfjell: Good morning to all of you and welcome to this presentation of Odfjell’s third quarter results. We will follow a standard agenda for this presentation. I will take you through the highlights. My colleague Tarje Wergeland will present our financial performance and then I will conclude this presentation by an operational review and a market update and prospects. If we then turn to the highlights. We once again delivered a strong safety performance in our third quarter. We had high operational performance and we also saw no significant incidents during the quarter. We are delivering a robust financial result and this is in line with what we saw in the second quarter. Our total volumes were slightly up in the third quarter. We saw our contract coverage volumes going up and we now have a contract percentage of approximately 56%.
At the same time we also saw that the spot rates continued to decline during the third quarter. Our time charter earnings were up ended at $173 million and this compares to $174 million in the previous quarter. The time charter earnings per day was $28,174. This is slightly down from the previous quarter which ended at $30,306. We deliver an EBIT of $59 million. This is very much in line with what we saw in the second quarter. Our quarterly net result was $43 million. Adjusted for one off items. We ended at $42 million which is again in line with what we saw in the second quarter. The net result contribution from Odfjell Terminals was $2.6 million. This is slightly up from the $1.9 million that we saw in the second quarter. Finally our carbon intensity, the AER for our controlled fleet remained at 6.8.
This is equal to the record low achievement that we reported after the second quarter. This concludes the highlights and then I give the words to Tarje which will take you through the financials.
Tarje Wergeland, Financial Presenter, Odfjell: Thank you, Haval, and good morning to all of you. I will, as usual, start with the income statement this quarter. Starting with the time charter earnings that decreased with $1 million compared to first quarter, and that $173.3 million, so very much in line with the preceding quarter. However, looking back, looking behind the figures, we saw that the time charter earnings per day was around 7% lower. While we also saw that the freight rate we achieved in the quarter was very stable to the previous quarter. The reason we are able to maintain the time charter earnings in total in line with the second quarter is that we increased the number of commercial days in this quarter, both with new vessels and also with fewer off-hire days than we had in the second quarter. Time charter expenses ended at $8 million, up from $4.1 million.
Operating expenses was slightly down to $50.6 million compared to $52.9 million in the second quarter. Main reason being that we had less dry docking activity this quarter and also we had one vessel that left the fleet during the quarter. Share of net results from joint ventures being Odfjell terminal investments was $2.6 million up from $1.9 million in the second quarter. That gives us an EBITDA of $97.3 million compared to $98.4 million in the second quarter. Depreciation amortization $39.3 million, quite the same figure that we saw in the second quarter. Then we achieved a small capital gain on the sale of Bow Vargas in this quarter which was sold for recycling at $1.1 million, leaving us with an EBIT of $59 million compared to $58.6 million in the second quarter.
Net interest expenses ended at $15.5 million compared to $16.4 million and after other financial items and taxes we then delivered a net result of $42.8 million, increase compared to second quarter with $40.1 million, and that gave us an earnings per share of $0.54 in this quarter. Adjusting for non-recurring items being other financial items this quarter, we then delivered a net result of $42 million in this quarter. Looking at the time charter earnings per day compared to cash break even as Harald mentioned, time charter earnings per day ended at $28,174, down from $30,306 in the previous quarter. We saw also an improvement in cash break even per day which ended at $24,554 this quarter compared to $23,791 in the second quarter, bringing over 12 months rolling average cash break even to $23,307.
Decrease in cash break even was due to more commercial revenue days and also as I mentioned less dry docking activity this quarter. Going forward we expect cash break even to remain stable around this level in the coming quarter. Looking at the balance sheet, we took delivery of both Bogemini this quarter which previously was a bareboat vessel that was already included in the balance sheet the right of use of assets and we also sold as I mentioned Bufagus for recycling for $10 million leaving us with ships and newbuilding contracts. Book value at the $1.3 billion and as of third quarter right of use of assets under that $229.6 million decreased due to the acquisition of Bogemini which I mentioned was previously classified as right of use of assets.
Investments in associate and joint ventures ended at $173 million, down from $181 million, despite any positive result from the JVs. However, we took out dividend from the US terminal of $9.1 million this quarter, which then was transferred to the group cash and cash equivalents. Under that, $136 million, or if you include undrawn loan facilities, we have then available liquidity of around $306 million per end of third quarter.
Equity increased with around $1 million corresponding to the total comprehensive income in the quarter, and last, the dividend, $38 million, that we paid out due to the first, on the back of the first half result this year, which was then paid in September. Non-current interest bearing debt increased slightly, and that is related to the acquisition of Bow Gemini, which I mentioned, that was fully financed by bank debt when we took delivery. Looking at the cash flow, operating cash flow ended at $67 million compared to $109.2 million in the second quarter.
The reason for decline, I would say that is that we had really strong operational cash flow in the second quarter with a quite substantial decrease in the working capital in the second quarter where we saw a more normalized working capital this quarter, leaving us with a cash flow from operation at $67 million, which is very much in line with the first quarter this year.
Looking at cash flow from investing activities, we see that we have included a sale from Buffagus with $10 million in plus and then we have invested in both Gemini and we also have done some drydocking and invested in some of our assets, $43.7 million in total, and if you include the dividend from the terminals in the US which is included in the $8.2, we are left with a cash flow for investing activity of $25.5 million in the third quarter. On the debt side, not that much happening this quarter, but we financed the acquisition of Boge Gemini and we also paid a dividend of $38 million as mentioned and that is summarized then with the net cash flow from financing activities of $37 million this quarter.
If we include investing activities and operational activities, we are then increasing the cash this quarter with $5 million. Looking at the free cash flow on a quarterly basis the last 12 quarters, as I mentioned, we saw the operating cash flow this quarter was $67.4 million, a decrease of $41.8 million compared to previous quarter. The decline was, as mentioned, primarily driven by increase in the working capital or more normalization of the working capital this quarter, while we saw cash flow investment was summarized to $25.5 million in this quarter.
That leaves us on free cash flow of $42 million in the third quarter and looking at the 12 months rolling we have a cash flow, done free cash flow of $41.6 million and if you adjust for repayment related right of use of assets we reach $28.4 million in 12 months rolling average end of third quarter. On the financing side not much happening this quarter. This is showing the scheduled repayments in the coming quarters including fourth quarter 2027.
We are showing here that we have some balloons in the fourth quarter this year but that is actually what we have already repaid on revolving credit facilities and then we have two loans that are maturing in first quarter and second quarter 2026 and we already started refinancing of those vessels and we are quite positive or optimistic with regard to what we are going to achieve in the market when it comes to both tenor loan profile and also margin on these refinancing. Looking at the total debt we today have interest bearing debt of $756 million is expected to decline somewhat to year end to $709 million but we also expect a slight increase next year due to delivery of new vessels in 2026. Here we see that we have total CapEx and time charter commitments.
Looking at the CapEx, we have, as mentioned, both Gemini, which is the last operating lease vessel where we have declared purchase options being delivered, expected to be taken ownership in first quarter of next year. Also, the purchase option for that is very much below the current market values, and we expect to obtain financing around the full purchase amount for that vessel. The vessel is already included in the balance sheet, that’s current debt right of use of assets. We do not include impact the total asset on our balance sheet, and in addition to that, we have also two new buildings on order for own account. If we summarize CapEx commitments, we are around $122.8 million per end of third quarter. Looking at the time charter vessels, we have 18 new buildings that are going to be delivered from first quarter 2026 until 2028.
Ten of those will be delivered in 2026, seven in 2027 and one in 2028. Here we’re showing the total expected time charter payments for these 18 vessels, i.e. $1.1 billion, same figure as we have shown before, and total time charter payments on the first 10 vessels in 2026 will be $43 million. However, when we take ownership of these vessels or enter into the contracts as the vessels are delivered, we have to account for the total time charter commitments or the bareboat element of these vessels, and we are talking around $300 million that will be capitalized in 2026 for these around 10 newbuildings, which will then be booked as right of use of assets and also debt related to right of use of assets these months data.
Here are more the total time shelter commitments including also the OPEX element and as we have mentioned, these vessels together with our new buildings account for 14% of the current order book in our core segment. We will leave the word to Harald again.
Harald, Primary Presenter/Executive, Odfjell: Thank you, Talia. We follow on the agenda and I will take you through an operational review of the quarter that is behind you. I will start with the volumes. Once again, we saw an increase in total volumes carried on board Odfjell vessels. This is the third consecutive quarter where we see volume increases. We also, as Tarje mentioned, we have started to take delivery of our newbuilding program and we did see a 7% increase in commercial revenue days during the quarter and that was compensated. Increase in revenue days was to some extent compensated by increase in volumes and we also saw relatively robust increase in our contract volumes. Today the contract coverage stands at 56% and we are now entering the renewal season for our contracts.
Only 3% of our contract volumes were renewed in the third quarter and those contracts were renewed more or less on rollover terms. If you look at earnings per day as mentioned, we saw a 7% decline in average time charter earnings per day. This was mainly driven by the mentioned increase in commercial revenue days which exceeded the mentioned volume growth. We saw a positive development in specialty chemicals which is the core business of Odfjell. We also saw an increase in the commodity chemicals, the large volume chemicals. We saw a flat development when it comes to vegetable oils and finally the last segment, clean products. Here we saw a decline in volumes carried by Odfjell and we are now back to what I would call the more normal influx of clean products on board our ships.
All in all we see an increase in our core activity, specialty and commodity chemicals. We see a flat development in WEG oils and we see a healthy decline when it comes to oilfield vessels carrying clean products. Turning to sustainability, as mentioned, we are repeating the record low AER that we delivered in the second quarter. Once again we deliver an AER of 6.8. This is the lowest ever reported by Odfjell. It is important to notice that when the second quarter is perhaps the best quarter when it comes to fuel consumption due to weather conditions, we are now back to the more normal weather conditions in the areas where we operate. It comes as no surprise that Odfjell was disappointed that the IMO Net zero framework was not adopted in October. However, this will not deter Odfjell from continuing on our decarbonisation pathway.
We will continue to invest in decarbonization projects, we will continue to utilize biofuel to reduce our AER and we will continue to invest in a net zero future. Finally, one of those projects relates to the sail installation on our vessel BO Olympus. We have reported on this vessel before. This vessel recently completed a westward transit of the Pacific. Here we saw 16% reduction of fuel consumption. This translates to 4 tons of fuel every day during that transit. This is not only good for the environment, it is also good for Odfjell’s bottom line. The BO Olympus is now loading for the return voyage to the US Gulf. She will commence that voyage in a week or two. Normally the eastward passage across the Pacific has more friendly wind directions. We are very optimistic and eagerly waiting for that transit.
Finally, tank terminals, the headline here is stability. We continue to deliver a stable performance. We had an occupancy rate slightly above 95%, which is marginally down from the second quarter. We saw an increase in inbound throughput of approximately 3% during the quarter. As a result of increased throughput and reduced expenses, we did see an improvement of our EBITDA of approximately $1 million compared to the second quarter. However, we still have one-off items at holding level that are negatively impacting the consolidated EBITDA and net results of our terminal division. The outlook for the division is a stable, similar underlying performance. Also, in the last quarter of this year, we continue to develop our terminals. We are constructing the so-called tankpit queue at the North Nazi terminal in Antwerp.
This expansion project will be completed towards the end of the fourth quarter and that will add approximately 12,000 cubic meters of capacity to our Antwerp terminal. We also have a large expansion project going on in Ulsan in Korea at our OTK terminal, the so-called E5 expansion project. Here we are constructing almost 90,000 cubic meters of capacity and that project will be completed towards the end of next year. In total, we therefore have close to 100,000 cubic meters of capacity under construction at our terminals. It’s also worth mentioning that we are refurbishing both our jetties at the Ulsan terminal OTK. When those refurbishment projects are completed, that will significantly improve the flexibility of that terminal. It’s finally, it’s important to notice that all our CapEx related to the terminals is funded locally within their respective joint ventures.
By that I turn to a market update and prospects going forward. Starting with the freight rate development, you will see that west of Suez we have seen a flattening of the rates. The decline that we have seen over the past 12 months has come to a stop and we now see a relatively flat development. We anticipate that some of the reason for this development is the consequence of the tariff negotiations and also the proposed port fees both in the US and in China. As a consequence of these negotiations and the port fees, we have seen that some of the chemical tank capacity has gradually moved from the western hemisphere over to the Eastern hemisphere. The reduction of available tonnage in the western hemisphere has had a stabilizing effect on the freight rates in this region.
If we look at the situation east of Suez, we’ve seen that there has been a decline in freight rates during the quarter and that in our opinion, the effect of more tonnage moving from west of Suez to east of Suez and the surplus of tonnage east of Suez has put a pressure on chemical freight rates in that region. Overall, it’s important to notice that despite the recent reductions in freight rates, we are still significantly above the levels that we saw before the end of 2022 where rates were at relatively depressed levels. Even if we have had a freight rate reduction over the past 12 months, we are still significantly above the levels that we saw before the end of 2022. And then to swing tonnage.
If you look at the graph on your left hand side, you will see that the EMMA earnings have been in a positive trajectory already end of 2024 and they are now at relatively robust levels. This has had an impact on the swing tonnage, meaning MRs that are carrying liquid chemicals. The situation is still that we see a relatively comfortable level of MRs swinging into our segment. We also have to take into consideration that many of the MRs are 100% employed in the chemical segment. That also goes for Odfjell. As an example, we have six MRs that are continuously trading in chemicals and that implies that we will never see that the influx of swing tonnage becomes zero.
We believe that we are now close to the lowest level that can be achieved. Finally, the order book now stands at 22% of the existing fleet. The reason for the change from the second quarter is mainly that previously entered into new building contracts have now been registered in the various systems. There have been relatively few new orders during the third quarter. The main reason for the change is that orders entered into before are now also registered in our system. The majority of the order book is still related to the medium stainless steel segment, while we have a relatively modest increase for super segregators and, for all practical purposes, a net zero when it comes to large stainless steel. When it comes to our outlook, we still see that volumes are resilient.
We still see that despite the geopolitical uncertainty and tariff negotiations, we still see that we have relatively solid volumes out there. We do see that IMF has revised GDP growth expectations upward once again. We also see that there are indications that the tariff negotiations between the U.S. and China have a slightly reduced risk compared to what we saw one and two quarters ago. We were expecting global seaborne chemical trade volumes to see a slight decrease in 2025. This has not been the fact so far and now we are expecting a flat development when it comes to this year’s volume. We also see that we have higher oil production. We see that India is shifting towards non-Russian oil and this is as we all know supporting the VLCC segment.
We have seen a spillover to the CPP segment and historically an upswing in crude and CPP have historically had a spillover effect also over some time into the chemical tanker segment. As mentioned, we believe that the swing tonnage will remain low for the rest of this year. To summarize the demand outlook, we see a stable development when it comes to chemical trade. We see a small uptick when it comes to GDP growth and we see a stable development when it comes to the tariff effects on our market. There is an upswing when it comes to the chemical tanker fleet and we do believe that swing tonnage will remain at existing levels. To summarize this presentation, we did deliver a robust financial result in the third quarter which was very much in line with what we delivered in the second quarter.
Time charter earnings were stable. While the average time charter earnings per day saw a decline of 7%, we saw an increase in volumes that was particularly driven by an increase in our contract volumes. We also saw an increase of commercial revenue days of approximately 7%. This was yet another quarter where we had few contract renewals. Those that we had were renewed more or less at rollover terms, and we are now entering into the renewal season which will last until the end of first quarter next year. On the terminal side, we still deliver solid underlying financial results. These were this quarter supported by a moderate revenue growth and also slightly lower operating expenses.
We do have on-off items at the holding level which are negatively impacting the consolidated EBITDA and on that results on the terminal side. Market outlook, we have put a seasonally slower season behind us and we do see some upticks in activity in our markets. We do see positive effects from the increased OPEC production and we do expect that swing tonnage will remain at moderate and low levels and by that we expect the fourth quarter financial results to be more or less in line with what we saw in the third quarter. That concludes our presentation and we now turn to the Q and A and then I welcome Nils and Tarje back.
Moderator/Q&A Facilitator, Odfjell: Thank you, Harald. Just for our listeners and viewers out there, you can still use the question button on the webcast to post any questions. As we proceed with the Q and A, we have some questions that have come in. I think the first one will go to you, Harald, and it relates to we recently saw that the U.S. and China port fees were postponed for now, and the question is how does this impact Odfjell?
Harald, Primary Presenter/Executive, Odfjell: That is correct and I briefly touched upon that when I gave an update on the port freight rate development. Odfjell was exempted or chemical tankers were. Chemical tankers operated by Western operators were exempted from the U.S. port fees. So the U.S. port fees did not have a direct effect on Odfjell’s operations. Then we saw the introduction of China port fees. Those port fees were mainly aimed at U.S.-controlled tonnage and we were also not affected directly by the Chinese suggested port fees. Having said that, there are plenty of other operators that are some way or another impacted by those port fees. As I explained earlier today, this has an impact on how the total world chemical tanker fleet is distributed.
By that we have seen a change where the overall tendency is that more vessels are east of the US and fewer vessels are west of the US. No direct impact, but yes, considerable indirect impact.
Moderator/Q&A Facilitator, Odfjell: Okay, thank you. There is one question concerning cash break even. That goes to you, Tarje. The cash break even came down somewhat this quarter. How do you see the development going forward?
Tarje Wergeland, Financial Presenter, Odfjell: The reason we saw the cash break even coming down this quarter was due to several factors. One was that we had more revenue days. We also had a decrease in both OpEx and G&A and we had less dry docking activities. This was a kind of good quarter. When it comes to cash break even, we are guiding that. We expect stable cash break even when we are looking at the 12 months rolling. We expect that to be stable in the coming quarter. Going further into next year we will see an increase in number of vessels that we have discussed. Ten new vessels being delivered. We will have more revenue days and that should lead to a lower cash break even going forward. We have a long term target to reach $21,000 per day.
Whether we reach that in 2026 or not will not be specific about. But we will still continue to target that $21,000 per day in cash break even.
Moderator/Q&A Facilitator, Odfjell: Okay, thank you. The next question on my list here is. Yeah, it’s of a geopolitical nature, I would say. Back to you, Harald. It concerns the Red Sea and Suez Canal. The question is how would Odfjell be affected by a potential reopening of transits through the Red Sea and the Suez?
Harald, Primary Presenter/Executive, Odfjell: My anticipation is that the effect on the chemical tanker segment will not be that significant. There are estimates indicating that an opening of the Red Sea will add some 1.5-2% capacity to the market and that I think if the Red Sea is opening then that is a positive sign for the world economy. I think that the reopening of the Red Sea will not have a significant impact on Odfjell’s earnings. Right now the Red Sea is closed and we have not so far at any point considered to re-enter the Red Sea. We will continue to have that attitude until we see that there are major changes in the security situation in that area.
Moderator/Q&A Facilitator, Odfjell: Okay, thank you. I believe that was the final question. Yep.
Harald, Primary Presenter/Executive, Odfjell: I thank you for following this presentation. Thank you for the attention and I welcome you back to our fourth quarter presentation, early February next year. Thanks a lot for joining us today.
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