플렉스 LNG(FLNG) 2026년 2분기 실적발표 콜: 견조한 매출, 가이던스 유지

핵심 요약

• 2026년 2분기 매출은 1억 680만 달러(탄소배출권(EUA) 제외 시 1억 270만 달러)를 기록하며, 플렉스 LNG(Flex LNG) 기준 2021년 4분기 이후 두 번째로 높은 분기 실적을 나타냈습니다.
• 선대 평균 기간용선 등가 수입(TCE)은 일당 86,100달러를 기록했습니다. 순이익은 총 4,490만 달러(주당 0.83달러), 조정 순이익은 4,250만 달러(주당 0.79달러)였습니다.
• 플렉스 발런티어(Flex Volunteer)호와 플렉스 아르테미스(Flex Artemis)호의 견조한 스팟 수익과 더불어, 플렉스 콘스텔레이션(Flex Constellation)호 및 플렉스 오로라(Flex Aurora)호의 신규 계약이 분기 전체 실적에 기여하며 매출을 견인했습니다.
• 플렉스 LNG는 2026년 전체 실적 가이던스로 매출 3억 4,500만~3억 7,000만 달러, 일당 TCE 73,000~78,000달러, 조정 EBITDA 2억 5,500만~2억 8,000만 달러를 유지했습니다.
• 이사회는 주당 0.75달러의 분기 배당금을 의결했으며, 이는 20분기 연속 동일한 수준의 배당 발표입니다. 지난 12개월간 지급된 총 배당금은 주당 3달러입니다.
• 확정 계약 물량 기준 최소 계약 기간은 총 51년이며, 모든 옵션 행사 시 최대 78년까지 늘어날 수 있습니다. 2026년 잔여 가용 선박 운항일수의 약 89%가 계약으로 확보된 상태입니다.

주요 재무 데이터

플렉스 LNG는 해당 분기 동안 정기 부채 상환금 2,800만 달러를 상환하고 주주들에게 4,100만 달러를 환원했습니다. 이자율 파생상품 포트폴리오의 명목 가치는 7억 7,500만 달러, 평균 고정금리는 2.46%였으며, 분기말 기준 공정가치는 2,200만 달러였습니다.

사업 및 운영 성과

플렉스 발런티어호와 플렉스 아르테미스호는 2분기 동안 강세를 보인 스팟 시장의 수혜를 입었습니다. 두 선박 모두 3분기 말에 계약이 종료될 예정이며, 회사는 스팟 투입 및 신규 장기 계약을 위한 마케팅을 진행 중입니다.

플렉스 비질런트(Flex Vigilant)호는 6월 덴마크에서 드라이도킹(입거 수리)을 완료하여, 13척 선대 전체에 대한 예정된 5년 정기 검사를 마무리했습니다. 2026년에 진행된 3건의 드라이도킹은 선박당 평균 약 600만 달러의 비용과 17일의 기간이 소요되었습니다. 2027년에는 드라이도킹 일정이 없으며, 최초의 10년 정기 입거 수리는 2028년으로 계획되어 있습니다.

올해 들어 현재까지 글로벌 LNG 거래량은 전년 대비 1% 미만 감소했습니다. 경영진은 카타르의 수출이 약 2,900만 톤 감소한 반면, 미국의 수출은 23%(약 1,400만 톤) 증가했다고 밝혔습니다. 미국산 공급 비중의 확대는 대서양-아시아 간 항로 연장으로 이어져 해상 운송 수요를 뒷받침할 수 있습니다.

LNG 운반선 인도 예정 물량(수주 잔고)은 약 285척으로 기존 선대의 약 38%에 달해 여전히 높은 수준을 유지하고 있습니다. 경영진은 대부분이 카타르 프로젝트나 기타 장기 계약에 이미 투입 확정되어 있어 미계약 선박은 비교적 적다고 덧붙였습니다.

경영진 가이던스

플렉스 LNG는 다음과 같이 2026년 전체 실적 가이던스를 유지했습니다.

경영진은 이자율 헤지 비율이 2027년 중반까지 약 70% 수준을 유지할 것으로 예상합니다. 회사는 시장 조건이 유리해질 경우 2029년 1분기 부채 만기 전에 추가 헤지나 리파이낸싱을 검토할 것이라고 밝혔습니다.

리스크 및 주요 관전 포인트

경영진은 스팟 시장 약세와 신조선 인도 물량 부담을 이유로 시장 전망에 대해 '주황색(경계)' 평가를 유지했습니다. 최근 수에즈 운하 동서 양측에서 가용 선박이 증가함에 따라 스팟 운임이 압박을 받고 있습니다.

지정학적 불확실성은 높은 수준을 유지하고 있습니다. 경영진은 카타르와 아랍에미리트(UAE)의 합산 LNG 수출량이 평시 수준을 약 63% 하회하고 있다고 밝히며, 호르무즈 해협이 2026년 내내 봉쇄 상태를 유지할 것으로 본다고 언급했습니다. 카타르의 공급 정상화 시점은 여전히 불투명합니다.

유럽의 가스 재고율은 61%로, 전년 동기의 73%에 비해 낮으며 15년 만에 가장 낮은 수준을 기록했습니다. 경영진은 유연한 계약 구조의 미국산 LNG 화물을 둘러싼 유럽과 아시아 간의 확보 경쟁이 해운 시장의 핵심 동인으로 작용할 것으로 예상하고 있습니다.

Q&A 주요 내용

• 호르무즈 해협 익스포저: 경영진은 2월 말 이후 플렉스 LNG의 선박 13척 중 해당 구역 내에서 운항한 선박은 없다고 확인했습니다. 선박에 해당 위험 구역 진입을 지시하는 용선주가 추가 고위험 지역 보험료를 부담하게 됩니다.
• 스팟 시장 전망: 경영진은 3분기를 계절적 비수기(숄더 피리어드)로 설명하며 왕복 스팟 운임이 전년 동기 약 12만 달러에서 일당 약 3만 달러 수준으로 하락했다고 밝혔습니다. 회사는 역사적으로 강세를 보여온 겨울철 시장이 미계약 선박 2척의 4분기 운항 계약을 뒷받침할 수 있기를 기대하고 있습니다.
• 배당 지속가능성: 이사회는 매 분기 배당금을 재검토합니다. 경영진은 회사의 현금 보유고, 재무제표, 계약 잔고가 이번 주당 0.75달러 배당 발표의 근거가 되었다고 언급하면서도, 향후 배당은 매 분기 재평가 대상임을 강조했습니다.

실적발표 콘퍼런스 콜 전문

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

H. Foss

Welcome back to Flex LNG's Second Quarter 2026 Results Presentation. Hope you all have a great summer. My name is Marius Foss. I'm the CEO of Flex LNG. And today, I'm joined by our CFO, Knut Traaholt, who will walk you through the financials later in the presentation. Today, we will summarize the second quarter results and provide an update on the LNG shipping market. As always, we will conclude this webcast with a Q&A session.

Knut Traaholt

If you would like to ask questions, please use the chat functions on the webcast or send questions to -- by e-mail to ir@flexlng.com. Before we start, we would like to highlight the following. We are using certain non-GAAP measures such as TCE, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted net income. These are supplements to the earnings reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures are available in the earnings report released today. There are also limitations to the completeness of our presentation. Therefore, we encourage you to read the quarterly report together with today's presentation.

And with that, back to you, Marius.

H. Foss

Thank you, Knut. Let's begin with the highlights of the quarter. We are happy to present very strong results for the second quarter. We sailed in revenues of close to $107 million or close to $103 million, excluding the EUAs. This is our second best quarter since the fourth quarter of 2021. The fleet average TCE during the quarter ended up at $86,100 per day. Net income for the second quarter came in at $44.9 million, implying an earnings per share of $0.83.

When adjusting for unrealized gains and interest rates swaps and FX, we ended up with adjusted net income of $42.5 million or adjusted earnings per share at $0.79.

Flex Artemis and Flex Volunteer have traded in a strong spot market in the second quarter and contributed to our solid quarterly results. We continue to see elevated geopolitical uncertainty in the LNG space as the conflict in Iran causes disruption to the LNG flow from the region.

Lastly, with the dry docking of Flex Vigilant in June, we have completed all scheduled 5-year special surveys for our fleet. We maintain our full year guidance from last quarter and expect revenues to come in between $345 million and $370 million. Similarly, we expect the TCE to come in somewhere between $73,000 and $78,000 per day. We expect adjusted EBITDA to come in between $255 million and $280 million.

With our strong quarter, contract coverage and solid balance sheet, the Board has declared another dividend of $0.75 per share. This is the 20th consecutive dividend of $0.75 per share, and we have now distributed around $850 million since 2021, including special dividends. Our last 12 months dividend is $3 per share, implying a dividend yield of around 9.7%.

Flex Vigilant completed her dry dock in Denmark in June, and this was the third and final dry docking for 2026. The average cost per dry docking came in around $6 million per vessel as guided, and we spent averagely 17 days in dry dock per vessel. Flex Vigilant marks the final 5-year special survey in our fleet of 13 vessels. Looking ahead, we have no dry dockings coming up in 2027, and we will commence our first 10-year docking in 2028.

Let's have a look at our contract backlog. Looking at our total contract coverage, we have 51 years of minimum firm backlog, which may grow to 78 years if all options are declared. In the near term, we have close to 89% coverage for the remaining available days in 2026. Flex Artemis and Flex Volunteer have both been trading in the spot market in the second quarter and will come open at the end of the third quarter. We are now marketing the vessels both for spot and new term contracts.

With our good contract coverage for the remainder of the year, we maintain our guiding which we upgraded last quarter. This means that we expect full year revenues to come in between $345 million to $370 million. Similarly, we expect TCE to come in somewhere between $73,000 and $78,000 per day. Lastly, we expect the adjusted EBITDA to come in between $255 million and $280 million. We are pleased to announce that the Board has declared a dividend of $0.75 per share.

Let us briefly revisit decision factors for the dividends. We maintain the orange level for market outlook. This reflects a softer spot market and heavy schedule of newbuilding deliveries. Looking ahead, we note that low European storage levels going into the cold winter season. Confidence in the long-term structural demand story remains intact, supported by the third wave of U.S. LNG export capacity currently under construction. We keep other considerations in orange given the continued elevated geopolitical risk. There is still uncertainty around the duration of the Iran conflict and the timing of normalization of the Qatar supply.

Taking all factors into account, the Board has declared another quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share. This brings dividends paid over the last 12 months to $3 per share. The dividend will be paid on or about 17th of September to shareholders of record as of 3rd of September.

And with that, I hand it over to you, Knut, for final financial updates.

Knut Traaholt

Thank you, Marius. And the second quarter was significantly improved quarter-over-quarter, mainly driven by higher revenues. And revenues were $106.8 million or $102.7 million, excluding EUAs. The higher revenues were driven by high spot earnings for Flex Volunteer and Flex Artemis, while both Flex Constellation and Flex Aurora contributed by having a full quarter of earnings under the new contracts that commenced in March.

On the cost side, vessel OpEx was higher quarter-over-quarter as the second quarter was impacted by higher crew travel costs related to the disruptions in the Middle East. The average OpEx per day in the second quarter was $16,260, while the average OpEx for the first 6 months of the year was around $16,100 per day. We maintain our OpEx guidance of $16,000 per day for the full year.

Interest expense continued to improve, reflecting lower loan margins and active management of our RCF facilities. We booked $4.7 million in gains on our interest rate derivatives, of which $2.3 million was realized gains and $2.4 million was unrealized gains. Net income came in at $44.9 million or $0.83 per share, and adjusting for noncash items like unrealized gains from the interest derivative portfolio, the adjusted net income was $42.5 million or equivalent to adjusted earnings per share of $0.79. This is more than double than of the first quarter. So overall, this was a very strong quarter, impacted by improved revenues from the spot market, new contracts, completion of dry docking and continued cost control and improved financial efficiency.

On the cash flow, during the quarter, we generated strong cash flow from operations of $63 million, up from $37 million in the first quarter. The increase was mainly driven by higher revenues, as explained on the previous slide. This excludes $19 million in positive change in working capital and $5 million of CapEx related to the dry dockings this year. And the reduction in receivables during the quarter was related to timing of advanced charter hire receipts.

We repaid $28 million in scheduled debt installments and distributed $41 million to our shareholders. And then in sum, our net cash flow was $8 million in the quarter, and that resulted in a cash position of $397 million at the end of the quarter. So looking at our balance sheet, we maintain a clean balance sheet with mainly ships and close to $400 million in cash. And our debt financing is comprised of a combination of bank loans, which gives us flexibility and attractive long-term leases.

Our first debt maturity is in the first quarter of 2029. And if we look at the book equity ratio, it's robust at 27.4%. And as noted before, our book values reflect the historical cost adjusted with regular depreciation. Our interest rate swap portfolio is unchanged and was valued at $22 million at the end of the second quarter. The notional value of the portfolio is $775 million, with an average fixed rate of 2.46%. We expect to maintain a hedge ratio of around 70% into mid-next year.

And with that, I hand it back to you, Marius, for the market outlook.

H. Foss

Thank you, Knut. Let's have a look at the LNG trade. Global LNG trade volumes are broadly flat year-to-date, down less than 1% compared with the same period last year. On the supply side, the key development has been significant reduction in the Qatari exports, down around 29 million tonnes. This shortfall has to a large extent been offset by strong growth from the U.S., where exports are up 23% or close to 14 million tonnes. We have also seen continued growth from Australia and Russia.

Other exporters have contributed strongly and are up 6 million tonnes from last year. These include LNG Canada, but also West Africa exporters, including Nigeria and Senegal. Industry sources report that global export capacity ran at 96% utilization in July, excluding Qatar. This is above 90% utilization seen last year and a 5-year average of 86%. On the demand side, imports into JKT remained resilient, while Europe and China are down compared to last year. At the same time, India and other importing markets have continued to grow. The key takeaway is that despite a significant disruption from one of the world's largest LNG exporters, Qatar, global trade volumes have remained resilient. And more importantly, for shipping, the growing share of U.S. supply means more LNG coming into the Atlantic Basin. This will likely have a positive ton-mile effect when those volumes move into Asia.

Let's have a look a bit closer to the supply side. The reduction in Middle East LNG volumes has been significant. Combined exports from Qatar and UAE are currently down around 63% compared to normal levels. As you can see from the left-hand side, exports dropped very sharply earlier in the year. And while volumes have started to recover, they remain below historical levels. At the same time, the U.S. has continued to ramp up LNG exports. U.S. liquefaction capacity is up around 14 million tonnes year-on-year, supported by the ramp-up of new capacity, particularly in the Plaquemines. It is also worth to mention that the long anticipated Golden Pass is slowly but steadily increasing its production. We expect to see increased loading from Golden Pass going forward and from Port Arthur as it comes on stream next year. So despite substantial loss from Middle East supply, this has mitigated by strong U.S. growth, and that shift is positive for the shipping demand.

Let us have a look at the demand side on the competition between Europe and Asia for the LNG. Europe entered the year with relatively low gas inventories. Inventories are today 61% full, the lowest level in over 15 years and below the 73% seen last year. This means Europe still has a substantial requirement to rebuild inventories ahead of the winter season. At the same time, U.S. LNG is highly flexible and can move between Europe and Asia depending on the relative pricing.

Looking at the chart on the left-hand side, there have historically been significant swings in the U.S. LNG flows between the 2 regions. So far this year, both Europe and Asia have attracted additional U.S. LNG volumes, although the balance has shifted through the year. Looking forward, this sets up a continued tug-of-war of U.S. LNG exports. If European storage remain low, Europe will need to keep bidding on Atlantic cargoes, while lack of Qatari volumes could pull more of those volumes into Asia.

If you are looking at the newbuildings, we stand out on this slide, ordering activity remains very strong, even with newbuilding prices holding around $250 million and the term rates remain more moderate levels. We have already seen around 60 newbuildings ordered so far this year. A number of these are made without any employment contracts. This year, orders are well above last year's figures of 35 vessels. That tells us there's still significant confidence in the long-term LNG shipping markets. At the same time, elevated newbuilding prices continue to provide support for the value of modern existing tonnage, including our fleet.

The order book remains substantial with around 285 vessels to be delivered going forward, equivalent to roughly 38% of the existing fleet. However, the majority of these vessels are already tied up with Qatar or other long-term employment, and the number of open vessels remains fairly limited.

Contracting activity remains at very high levels. LNG SPAs volumes signed in the first half of 2026 are already above 30 million tonnes per year. This continued appetite for long-term LNG supply is important because it provides the commercial basis required for new projects to reach FID. We have already seen around 28 million tonnes of projects that reached FID so far this year, including Venture Global's expansion of the CP2, Commonwealth and Delfin. And there are additional projects that could reach FID later this year, up to 39 million tonnes. These potential projects include LNG Canada Phase 2, Ksi Lismis in Canada and Delfin Phase 2 and the Brownsville in the U.S. This would take the potential FIDs in 2026 up to around 67 million tonnes. The key takeaway is that the next wave of LNG supply continues to gain momentum, supported by strong customer contracting and a healthy pipeline of projects moving forward to FID.

Let's have a look at the spot market for the modern 2 strokes. We have seen increasing vessel availability in both West and East of Suez, and that continues to put a weight on the spot rates. It is worth mentioning that the number of vessels available today is in line with the 5-year historical averages. This comes at a time when the LNG fleet is growing. This shows that the newbuildings are being absorbed by going straight into the program after being delivered from the shipyards. We did see a sharp spike in the rates earlier this year. But since then, rates have normalized, and we have seen some pressure on the spot rates over the last few weeks.

As we move into the second half of the year, we would normally expect some historical seasonal tightening. We have 2 vessels coming open at the end of the third quarter, well positioned for a potential strong winter market. With that, let's turn to a Q&A session.

Knut Traaholt

Thank you, Marius, and thank you to everyone who has submitted questions on our webcast and also to our Investor Relations e-mail. It's been an active or a lot of things happening during the quarter, particularly in the Middle East and with the Strait of Hormuz. So we have a number of questions coming in around that and also how that has impacted our operations. So in specific, the question is, do we have any trade in that area or to the Strait of Hormuz? And have we had any ships being stuck inside the Strait of Hormuz?

H. Foss

Yes. Thank you. Now I'm pleased to confirm that all vessels in the Flex fleet of 13 vessels, none of them have been trading inside since the end of February. So our charterers' clients are trading elsewhere for time being.

Knut Traaholt

And there's also then a follow-up question around this as there are a number of additional insurances that are needed to be trading to the Strait of Hormuz. And the question is specifically who pays for this insurance and what insurance is needed to be trading here?

H. Foss

Yes, it's required to have insurance when you sail into high-risk areas. So if and when our ships are ordered to other high-risk areas, this extra coverage will be paid for by the charterers who are instructing the vessel to such areas.

Knut Traaholt

And sticking to the Strait of Hormuz, it's more on the market view and the outlook there for, first of all, the resumption of LNG export out of Qatar and UAE, but also more on the normalization of the transit through the Strait of Hormuz. What's your view on that?

H. Foss

Well, we believe that Strait of Hormuz will remain closed throughout 2026. So we could potentially look at the interesting market going forward for LNG and other shipping segments.

Knut Traaholt

Moving on, you mentioned in the presentation that we have seen a slightly softer spot market now. So there's questions on what your expectations are for the LNG shipping market for the third quarter and then the fourth quarter?

H. Foss

Yes. The Q3 is normally a shoulder month before we head into the winter season. So Q3 has softened up from the spot market has been maybe on $120,000 for round trip during the last Q3 and has now come down to $30,000. Our next ship coming open in the end of Q3. So we are preparing for the Q4 market, which historically has been profitable. So we are hopeful and hoping that we can contribute a little bit more there on our Q3 and Q4 results later. But yes, if Hormuz remains closed, I think this will automatically find its way back to where the LNG market should be.

Knut Traaholt

Good. Then we have some questions on the financing. First of all, on our interest rate derivative portfolio. As we say, we have 70% coverage until mid-next year. And the question relates to when we expect to add more interest rate hedging to our books? In general, we are trading when the markets are favorable. We are very pleased with the coverage we have today. But obviously, when there are opportunities either for adding more on the short-term or longer-term interest rate hedging, that is our aim to do.

And there is also a follow-up questions on our debt maturities in Q1 2029, when we will address that? It's a bit early to address that refinancing now unless that we see an attractive opportunity to add more or better terms to our financings. That is something we are continuously evaluating. And if there are attractive opportunities, we will act on them.

And final question, it's a recurring questions. It's about dividend sustainability and the outlook for future dividends. As we have repeatedly said, each dividend is declared by the Board each quarter. We are fairly transparent on the decision factors, which we have also presented today. That is a repeat of the decision factors that we had last year -- sorry, last quarter, which was basically a downgrade of certain factors. However, with the strong balance sheet and cash position and also the contract backlog, the Board was pleased to confirm a dividend for this quarter of $0.75. Future dividends will be decided by the Board, and reassess all these factors, including then our backlog for the open vessels.

And with that, that concludes the Q&A session.

H. Foss

Thank you. Thank you for participating in our Q2 presentation. We would like to welcome you back in November for our Q3 presentation. Thank you.