Teleconferência de Resultados do 3T2026 da Navigator Gas (NVGS): Lucro Recorde

Principais Destaques

• A Navigator Gas reportou lucro líquido recorde atribuível aos acionistas no 3T 2026 de US$ 78,3 milhões, ou US$ 1,28 por ação, impulsionado principalmente por aproximadamente US$ 48 milhões em ganhos com a venda de embarcações.
• Os resultados operacionais subjacentes permaneceram rentáveis: o EBITDA ajustado foi de US$ 67,8 milhões, o lucro líquido ajustado foi de US$ 25,4 milhões e o LPA ajustado foi de US$ 0,42.
• O TCE médio recuou em relação ao trimestre anterior para US$ 30.314 por dia, enquanto a utilização da frota ficou em 87,9%. A taxa de utilização recuperou-se para cerca de 94% em setembro e permaneceu firme ao longo de outubro.
• A dívida líquida caiu aproximadamente US$ 153 milhões durante o trimestre, ficando em pouco menos de US$ 500 milhões, o que reduziu a alavancagem líquida para 1,7x o EBITDA ajustado dos últimos 12 meses.
• A venda de oito embarcações da Unigas e da participação na empresa gestora do pool gerou aproximadamente US$ 183 milhões em recursos e um ganho contábil total estimado de US$ 70 milhões, dividido entre o 3T e o 4T.
• A administração espera que a utilização da frota, as taxas de TCE e os resultados do terminal de etileno apresentem melhora sequencial no 4T, sustentados por viagens mais longas, taxas mais firmes e pela recuperação dos volumes no terminal.

Principais Dados Financeiros

Desempenho Comercial e Operacional

O 3T começou com uma atividade de afretamento mais branda, à medida que os clientes reduziam estoques e postergavam compras. A utilização média ficou em torno de 85% em julho e agosto antes de subir para aproximadamente 94% em setembro. A administração informou que essa força continuou ao longo de outubro e até novembro.

Viagens mais longas foram um fator central do mercado. As contínuas perturbações no entorno do Estreito de Ormuz e as restrições no Canal do Panamá levaram mais viagens dos EUA para a Ásia a contornar o Cabo da Boa Esperança. Essas rotas elevam a demanda em tonelada-milha e mantêm as embarcações ocupadas por períodos mais prolongados.

O mix de destinos das exportações de etileno dos EUA também se deslocou em direção à Ásia. A Ásia representou cerca de três quartos das exportações até setembro, contra nenhuma no 2T. Uma viagem de ida e volta entre Morgan's Point e a Ásia leva mais que o dobro do tempo de uma viagem para a Europa, segundo a administração.

O volume movimentado pelo terminal de exportação de etileno recuou para 264.000 toneladas no 3T, diante do arrefecimento da demanda europeia, do estreitamento da arbitragem e da desestocagem por parte dos clientes. A administração informou que a movimentação estava aumentando no 4T, impulsionada por preços mais altos da nafta, recomposição de estoques e demanda asiática mais forte. Quatro novos contratos de offtake foram assinados desde janeiro, enquanto negociações para novos contratos take-or-pay com início em 2027 estão em andamento.

A carteira de encomendas de navios gaseiros Handysize permanece em torno de 7% da frota, com entregas distribuídas ao longo de três anos. Aproximadamente 17% da frota existente tem mais de 25 anos. A administração citou projeções do setor que apontam cerca de 37 milhões de toneladas de capacidade adicional de exportação global de GLP até 2030, juntamente com maior capacidade de exportação de etano dos EUA e nova produção de amônia.

A Navigator concluiu sua saída do pool da Unigas vendendo oito embarcações e sua participação na empresa gestora do pool. A frota restante é composta por 46 embarcações, com idade média de 12,8 anos e capacidade média de 22.900 metros cúbicos.

O programa de novas construções da companhia, composto por seis navios, inclui quatro navios bicombustível (dual-fuel) para transporte de etano/etileno liquefeito e dois navios movidos a amônia para transporte de amônia liquefeita. O custo total de estaleiro é de US$ 586 milhões, respaldado por US$ 461 milhões em financiamento de dívida garantida. A primeira nova embarcação tem entrega prevista para dezembro de 2026 e iniciará um afretamento de um ano a taxas descritas pela administração como saudáveis.

Guidance da Administração

A administração espera que a taxa de utilização da frota, as tarifas de TCE e os resultados do terminal melhorem sequencialmente no 4T 2026, sujeitos a incertezas de mercado e geopolíticas. A gestão não projetou se o desempenho operacional superará o nível recorde do 2T.

O guidance de despesas para o ano fiscal completo de 2026 é:

A administração estima que cada US$ 1.000 por dia adicional de TCE acrescentaria aproximadamente US$ 17 milhões ao EBITDA ajustado anual e cerca de US$ 0,28 ao LPA anual, mantendo-se tudo o mais constante. A companhia enfatizou que se trata de uma análise de sensibilidade, e não de um guidance.

Para o 3T, o conselho declarou um dividendo trimestral de US$ 0,08 por ação, a ser pago em 3 de dezembro aos acionistas registrados em 17 de novembro. A Navigator também planeja destinar US$ 22,6 milhões à recompra de ações até 31 de dezembro. Espera-se que os retornos combinados de capital totalizem US$ 27,4 milhões, o equivalente a 35% do lucro líquido reportado atribuível aos acionistas no 3T.

Riscos e Pontos de Atenção

• As condições no Estreito de Ormuz não apresentaram melhora relevante. Embora as interrupções tenham sustentado as exportações dos EUA e a demanda em tonelada-milha, a administração reconheceu que a visibilidade é limitada diante das incertezas geopolíticas.
• O tráfego no Canal do Panamá continua enfrentando menos vagas (slots), custos mais elevados e tempos de espera maiores, sem previsão de melhora no curto prazo por parte da administração.
• As taxas de frete permanecem como uma variável central para os resultados. Os números do 3T refletiram TCE menor, menos dias geradores de receita e menor contribuição dos terminais em relação a um ano antes.
• A movimentação do terminal de etileno está exposta à demanda regional, à arbitragem internacional e aos ciclos de estoques dos clientes.
• O mercado aquecido de embarcações elevou as expectativas de preços dos vendedores, o que pode restringir oportunidades atraentes de consolidação ou aquisição de embarcações usadas.

Destaques da Sessão de Perguntas e Respostas com Analistas

Contratos do terminal de etileno: A administração afirmou que a maior parte da capacidade do terminal está contratada por meio de uma combinação de acordos de prazo mais curto e plurianuais. A expectativa é que o terminal continue lucrativo no próximo ano, mesmo que apenas os volumes contratados sejam vendidos, mas não divulgou detalhes específicos de capacidade e rentabilidade por motivos comerciais.

Alocação de capital: A companhia pretende equilibrar o crescimento disciplinado da frota com o retorno aos acionistas. A administração disse que a alavancagem e as reservas de caixa oferecem atualmente capacidade para aquisições, encomendas de novas embarcações e recompras adicionais de ações, mas que não pretende pagar valores excessivos por embarcações de segunda mão.

Perspectivas para as taxas de afretamento: A administração informou que os mercados petroquímico e de GLP apresentavam aperto na transição para o 4T. A avaliação de afretamento por tempo (time charter) de 12 meses da Clarksons era de aproximadamente US$ 1,05 milhão por mês, tanto para embarcações Handysize capacitadas para etileno quanto para navios de GLP semirrefrigerados.

Emprego de novas construções: O primeiro navio transportador de etileno entrará em um afretamento de um ano logo após a entrega. As duas novas construções de GLP/amônia estão cobertas por afretamentos de cinco anos. Os contratos de afretamento para outras três embarcações de etano/etileno, com entrega programada para junho, setembro e dezembro de 2027, ainda estavam em fase de finalização.

Renovação da frota: A Navigator espera continuar vendendo embarcações mais antigas e menos flexíveis, incluindo potencialmente o Navigator Pluto, que tem mais de 25 anos, dentro dos próximos seis meses. A administração destacou que a capacidade da frota e o potencial de geração de resultados estão aumentando, mesmo com a venda de navios menores.

Transcrição Completa da Teleconferência de Resultados

Transcrição completa da teleconferência de resultados

Comentários da administração

Randall Giveans

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Navigator Holdings Conference Call for the Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results. On today's call, we have Mads Peter Zacho, Chief Executive Officer; Gary Chapman, Chief Financial Officer; Oeyvind Lindeman, Chief Commercial Officer; and myself, Randy Giveans, Chief Investor Relations Officer. I must advise you that this conference call is being recorded today.

As we conduct today's presentation, we'll be making various forward-looking statements, and these statements include, but are not limited to, the future expectations, plans and prospects from both a financial and operational perspective and are based on our assumptions, forecasts and expectations as of today's date, November 4th, 2026, and as such, are subject to material risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ significantly from our forward-looking information and financial results. Additional information about these factors and assumptions are included in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC.

With that, I now pass the floor to our CEO, Mads Peter Zacho. Please go ahead.

Mads Zacho

Thank you. Good morning and good afternoon, and thank you so much for joining this Navigator earnings call for Q3 2026. Before I turn to the quarter, let me briefly touch on the Middle East. Conditions in the Strait of Hormuz have not materially improved. And from our perspective, and since we have not had any ships trading in the Strait over the past 8 months, the effect continues to be primarily commercial and positive. The disruption is supporting U.S. natural gas liquids and petrochemical exports, while longer voyages continue to add ton miles.

Please turn to Slide #4. Q3 was another strong quarter for Navigator Gas. We delivered record reported net income and earnings per share, supported by gains from our vessel sales. At the same time, our underlying business remained solid through what we had expected would be a seasonally softer quarter.

TCE averaged just over $30,000 per day. Utilization was softer during July and August, but importantly, recovered to around 94% in September. And that recovery has continued unabated into the start of the fourth quarter. So for me, the key message this quarter is not really so much where we started Q3, it's where we finished it and the position that we are in today. Our markets are firm.

Our balance sheet is stronger with net leverage now down to 1.7x adjusted EBITDA. We have completed the Unigas transaction, generating approximately $183 million of proceeds and around $70 million of profit across Q3 and Q4. Again, evidence to how we consistently sell high-quality yet older noncore assets well above book value and thereby generating solid sales gains.

And all 6 of our new buildings are now fully financed at some of the lowest margins ever achieved by Navigator. Our planned U.K. redomiciliation remains on track with shareholder approval to be sought on November the 16th, 2026, and completion targeted by year-end 2026. More importantly, the fundamentals around our core markets continue to strengthen.

U.S. export capacity for natural gas liquids such as propane and ethane continues to grow. The Handysize order book remains very limited at around 7%, while 17% of the existing fleet is already more than 25 years of age. That's the supply and demand picture that we really like.

Looking into Q4, we are seeing higher utilization and higher TCE rates. We also expect volumes at our ethylene export terminal to recover from the seasonally softer third quarter. So we ended the final quarter of the year with good momentum, very strong balance sheet and considerable flexibility to continue investing in the business, while returning substantial capital to the shareholders.

Over to you, Gary, please tell us a little bit about the financial details.

Gary Chapman

Thanks, Mads, and hello, everyone. Following on from our last call in August, the third quarter unfolded broadly as we anticipated. After our exceptional second quarter, chartering activity moderated in the early part of the third quarter as customers reduced inventories and delayed purchases. But importantly, that didn't pause the underlying picture.

Utilization recovered to approximately 94% in September. At the same time, we completed sales under the Unigas transaction, reduced our leverage, further funded our newbuild program and continued to return capital to shareholders. So the financial story this quarter is not simply our reported profit, but also the strengthening of our platform beneath it.

Turning to Slide 6. Average TCE was $30,314 per day, down from last quarter's all-time high of close to $34,000 and only about 2% below the $30,966 of the third quarter a year ago. This was a moderation we guided to back in August.

Utilization was 87.9% for the quarter compared with 90.8% last quarter and 89.3% in the third quarter of 2025. And it was very much a quarter of 2 halves, around 85% in July and August, recovering to approximately 94% in September, with utilization remaining firm through October.

Total operating revenues were $155 million, slightly above the $153 million in the third quarter of 2025. Voyage expenses were higher, principally reflecting higher bunker costs on spot voyages, which are largely passed through in revenue to our customers.

Vessel operating expenses in the quarter were $42.8 million, down 13% on last year, reflecting our reduced fleet size and also down on a per vessel per day basis at $8,928 from $9,275 a year ago, reflecting the timing of costs and project-related expenses. However, our forecast for vessel operating expenses for the full year remains at $9,250 per day per vessel.

Reported EBITDA reached a record $120.8 million and net income attributable to stockholders was $78.3 million or $1.28 per share. The principal driver was the approximately $48 million of profit on vessel sales completed during the quarter.

To distinguish the underlying operating result from those disposal gains, adjusted EBITDA was $67.8 million. Adjusted net income attributable to stockholders was $25.4 million and adjusted EPS was $0.42.

Compared to the same period last year, although this third quarter, we experienced fewer earnings days, marginally lower TCE and a slightly lower contribution from the ethylene export terminal, partly offset by lower operating costs, reported earnings reached a record while underlying earnings remained solid.

The sales gains demonstrate clear value realization from our fleet, but the adjusted figures provide a cleaner view of recurring quarterly performance. And on both measures, the business remained profitable and cash generative.

Moving to Slide 7, we had another busy quarter of disciplined capital allocation. First, we delivered the second quarter shareholder return we've committed to. We repurchased 661,482 shares for approximately $14.2 million and paid the $0.07 cash dividend. Together, that was a return of capital of $18.5 million or 35% of second quarter net income attributable to stockholders.

During the third quarter, we also repaid $28.9 million of scheduled amortization against our debt, repaid a further $201.5 million of debt, including $156.7 million of revolving facilities that remain available for us to redraw and paid $21.4 million to the shipyards for our newbuild programs.

Set against this in the third quarter, we received $129.9 million net proceeds from asset sales between July and September. We drew $72.5 million from a combination of debt facilities towards our newbuild vessels, and we received $12.7 million of net cash distributions from our equity investments together with some insurance recoveries.

Then overall, at September 30, cash and cash equivalents totaled $221 million and restricted cash was $48 million. Including $156.7 million of undrawn vessel facilities, total liquidity was approximately $425.8 million, of which approximately $378 million was available, i.e., excluding our restricted cash. By October 31, total liquidity had risen to approximately $482 million or approximately $434 million as available, excluding the restricted cash.

Equity, excluding noncontrolling interest, was $1.3 billion, up from $1.23 billion at the start of the year. The key message here is that Unigas vessel sales did more than generate an accounting gain. It converted noncore assets into cash, removed associated debt and simplified the fleet, while preserving substantial liquidity for our newbuild program and other disciplined uses of capital.

Slide 8 shows how we have used the proceeds from our fleet sales to strengthen our balance sheet with debt reduced, our newbuilds fully financed on attractive terms and returns going to shareholders.

For the third quarter, our Board yesterday declared a dividend of $0.08 per share, the higher fixed element we announced in August being a 14% increase, payable on December 3rd to shareholders of record on November 17. We currently anticipate repurchasing $22.6 million shares -- million of shares by December 31, subject to the terms of our capital return policy and applicable approvals. Together, that's a return of capital of $27.4 million or 35% of net income attributable to stockholders. As a reminder, our policy applies to reported net income attributable to stockholders, and that includes profits on sales of vessels.

Our newbuild financing, as mentioned, during the quarter, we grew $72.5 million of secured predelivery finance as shipyard milestones were reached on 3 of our Panda ethane ethylene vessels. In parallel, long-term financing is now in place for all 6 newbuild vessels, including our 2 ammonia vessels, which were secured at a margin of 135 basis points over SOFR from delivery.

In August 2026, we also repaid $26.7 million and refinanced the remaining $47.9 million of our $74.6 million facility with a new facility that matures in 2031, thus pushing out the maturity.

We have now paid $153 million to the shipyards for our 6 vessels under construction with a further $10 million of capitalized interest, which together make up the $163 million of vessels under construction you'll see on our balance sheet.

Our share in the Morgan's Point terminal remains unencumbered as were 9 of our vessels at September 30th. Two of those were Unigas vessels delivered to buyers in October, leaving us with 7 unencumbered vessels today.

At 30th of September, net debt to last 12 months adjusted EBITDA was 1.7x, falling from over 2x at the end of June 2026. Net debt was just short of $500 million compared with approximately $653 million at June 30, a reduction of about $153 million. Net debt now represents approximately 25% of the on-water fleet market value or 21%, including the valuation of our Morgan's Point terminal investment.

This characterizes the overall balance sheet we have discussed on previous calls. We want to invest in attractive growth, maintain an efficient but conservative balance sheet and return capital. We believe this quarter shows that these priorities can reinforce one another when asset sales, our newbuild program, financing and operating cash flows are managed together.

Slide 9 brings back the 2 strengths I highlighted last time, dependable operating cash flow and a low all-in cash breakeven. Our latest estimated all-in cash breakeven for 2026 is $21,720 per vessel per day. Against the third quarter TCE of $30,314 per day, we continue to see meaningful headroom of approximately $8,600 per day or about 40% of cash breakeven, even after seeing some normalization from our second quarter record operating results.

The breakeven estimate includes more than $175 million of forecast operating expenses, approximately $111 million of debt amortization and approximately $42 million of net interest expense.

Full year 2026 guidance is $175 million to $177 million for vessel operating expenses, $39 million to $42 million for cash G&A, $123 million to $124 million for depreciation and $42 million to $43 million for net interest expense. For the fourth quarter, guidance can be found also on the slide.

As we said last quarter, the sale of the smaller Unigas vessels changes the denominator over which some of our costs are spread. The more relevant point, however, is that the remaining fleet continues to produce a solid margin over the all-in cash breakeven, while our guidance begins to reflect the fleet transition away from the smaller vessels, more of which will be seen as we enter 2027.

Slide 10 is our consistency story. Reported EBITDA of $120.8 million was a record, but the number I would draw your attention to is adjusted EBITDA of $67.8 million because it extends a consistent run, 15 consecutive quarters since the start of 2023 with at least $60 million of adjusted EBITDA, averaging $72 million over that period. That consistency is the more durable story behind quarter-to-quarter movements in utilization and terminal throughput.

Our earnings remain sensitive to freight rates. On a full year basis, we estimate that each additional $1,000 per day TCE could add approximately $17 million of annual adjusted EBITDA, equivalent to approximately $0.28 in annual EPS, all else being equal. This is a sensitivity, not guidance, but it illustrates the operating leverage within our platform.

Looking ahead, the moderation in the early part of the quarter was consistent with the pattern we described in August, but utilization recovered to approximately 94% in September and remained firm through October. We, therefore, currently expect fleet utilization, TCE and terminal earnings to improve sequentially in the fourth quarter, subject, of course, to the forward-looking statements Randy read at the start.

The dry dock schedule, projected costs and off-hire days are included in the appendix on Slide 27 as usual, to help with modeling for those that are interested. So to bring it all together, reported earnings were a record, helped by vessel gains, but underlying performance was solid and as guided.

Net debt is down $153 million to $500 million. Leverage is 1.7x last 12 months adjusted EBITDA. Total liquidity was $482 million at October 31st, and we're returning $27.4 million under our 35% policy, including an $0.08 cash dividend with all 6 of our newbuilds now financed. All of that gives us the confidence and flexibility to pursue opportunities as they arise.

And with that, I'll hand over to Oeyvind for the commercial update. Oeyvind, please go ahead.

Oeyvind Lindeman

Thank you, Gary, and good morning, everyone. If there's one thing to take away from my section today is this, ships are sailing further to deliver the same cargoes. And when voyages get longer, you need more ships, which tightens the market keep that in mind as we go through the next few slides.

Let's start with the choke points on Slide 12. On the left is the Strait of Hormuz. Gas carrier traffic is still running at only a fraction of normal levels. You can see a pickup in recent months, but much of that the ships sailing through in laden condition transferring cargo, ship-to-ship near Oman and returns. That's a very inefficient logistics and it's not an indication of normal trade coming back.

In the middle, the Panama Canal. There are fewer slots, higher costs and longer weights at both the old and the new locks. We don't expect this to get any better over the next few months.

So as you can see on the right-hand side, many ships trading from the U.S. to Asia are going the long way around by the Cape of Good Hope. Every one of those detours ties up more ships..

Now to Slide 13 and U.S. ethylene exports. When Hormuz closed on the 28th of February, buyers rushed to secure supply. The only place to look for substitute supply was the U.S., and you can see that on the right-hand slide. U.S. exports peaked in March, April and May. Then in June and July, buying paused. Talk of possible U.S. Iran peace negotiations made customers wait and see. When the disruption didn't go away, buyers came back. For us, that played out in 3 ways: where the cargoes go, how busy our ships are and what we earn.

Let me take them one at a time. First, the cargoes where the cargoes go. Early on, Chinese buyers have plenty of inventory. So Europe took most of the U.S. ethylene exports. That has changed.

On the left, look at the gap between the gray line, which is the U.S. ethylene price and the dark blue line, which is the Asian price. That's now the widest spread. So the cargoes are heading to Asia.

On the right graph, you can see Asia's share go from 0 in the second quarter to around 3/4 by September. Why does that matter for shipping? A ramp trip from Morgan's Point to Asia takes more than twice as long as one to Europe and even longer if we need to head by a Cape of Good Hope. It's same cargo with more than twice the ship time.

Second, how busy our ships are on Slide 14. Longer voyages mean fewer ships are free for the next cargo. And if you follow the green dash line on the left, our utilization jumped almost 8 points in September to 94%. For the quarter as a whole, we ran at 87.9% above the 5-year average. And this isn't just an ethane and ethylene story. LPG demand was picking up, too. So both markets were pulling in the same direction.

Thirdly, what we earn. When ships get busier, rates follow. We saw it right after Hormuz closed, and we're seeing it again now. Ethylene spot rates have nearly doubled from the quiet months of June and July.

To be fair, ethylene export volumes from the quarter were a bit below what we hoped, but rates firmed into quarter end, nearing the levels we saw just after the closure, and we expect volumes to pick up over the coming months.

Now turning to fleet supply on Slide 15. The short version is that Handysize picture looks healthy, and it hasn't changed much since last quarter. The order book is around 7% of the fleet, the lowest of any of the gas carrier segments with deliveries spread over the next 3 years. That's a good place to be.

On top of that, around 17% of the Handysize fleet is over 25 years old. So depending on how many of those ships get scrapped, the fleet could actually shrink over the next few years.

On the demand side, there's plenty coming. Industry sources such as Argus Media forecast around 37 million tonnes of additional LPG export capacity globally coming by 2030, more ethane export capacity from the U.S. and several million tonnes of new ammonia production. All of that needs ships and not just the big ones. It needs midsize and handysize ships as well. That's why the orders for larger ships don't worry us too much.

To back it up and if you missed it, I'll reiterate what Enterprise Product Partners communicated at their recent earnings call. They raised their 2025 to 2030 Permian NGL production growth forecast from previously 23% to 34% on the back of increasing gas-to-oil ratios for each barrel produced. Permian keeps on giving to the NGL industry.

And finally, rates on Slide 16. Over the past few months, the market has gone from fair to strong. This chart shows 12-month time charter rates. What stands out is how strong LPG is across VLGCs midsize and handysize. In fact, same with refrigerated handysize LPG rates have nearly caught up with ethylene capable vessels.

Ethylene charters are a small market with only a few deals to compare against. So I wouldn't read too much into that. But the bigger point is this, because we can trade in both petrochemicals and LPGs, our earnings are more resilient than if we are just in one.

To wrap up, September strong utilization has carried on through October and rates are firming across LPG, ethane and ethylene. I'll mirror what Mads and Gary mentioned before me, we started the fourth quarter on a good footing.

With that, I'll hand it over to Randy.

Randall Giveans

Thank you, Oeyvind. So yes, following up on some of the earlier comments, there have been several recent developments that we want to provide some additional details on.

So starting on Slide 18. During the third quarter, we paid a $0.07 quarterly cash dividend totaling $4.3 million, and we repurchased over 660,000 common shares of NVGS in the open market, and that totaled $14 million for an average price of less than $21.50 per share.

Now as previously announced, our capital return policy now includes a higher fixed quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share within our overall payout target of 35% of net income. Accordingly, we're returning a total of $27.4 million to shareholders during this fourth quarter. Of this amount, approximately $4.9 million will be paid as dividends with the remaining $22.6 million to be allocated to share repurchases between now and the end of the year. So at the current share price, we plan on repurchasing 1 million shares over the next 2 months.

Now given that NVGS shares continue to trade at a significant discount to our net asset value of more than $32 per share, we believe these share buybacks remain one of the most attractive uses of capital and a highly accretive way to create shareholder value.

So with a strong balance sheet, robust earnings and our upcoming newbuilding deliveries, we hope to continue to steadily improve our capital return policy in the coming quarters and years.

Now looking at our ethylene export terminal on Slide 19. As previously guided, terminal throughput declined to 264,000 tons during the third quarter as European demand softened, international arbitrage narrowed and customers worked through inventories that had been built earlier in the year.

Now looking ahead to the fourth quarter, where we are today and as seen on the bottom left chart, throughput is on the rise due to higher naphtha prices, global inventory restocking and a stronger pull from Asia, which has also boosted the ton mile demand for cargoes from Morgan's Point to the Far East.

Now commercial activity remains very strong. In addition to the 4 new offtake contracts that have been signed since January, the widening arbitrage and increasing international ethylene demand has led numerous customers to engage in conversations for new take-or-pay contracts beginning in 2027. At the same time, we expect the remaining capacity available during the fourth quarter to be marketed at firm spot rates.

Now as shown in the chart on the bottom right, the United States is expected to maintain a substantial cost advantage for many years, supported by structurally low domestic ethylene prices.

Turning to our fleet on Slide 20, we continue to execute on our fleet renewal program through the sale of older noncore assets while preparing to take delivery of the first of 6 highly efficient newbuildings.

Beginning with the vessel sales, we recently completed the sale of 8 vessels operating in the Unigas pool and shares in the pool company itself for around $183 million. These transactions generated a total book gain of $70 million with $48 million recognized during the third quarter and the remaining $22 million expected in the fourth quarter. Following these sales, our fleet now consists of 46 vessels with an average age of 12.8 years and an average capacity of 22,900 cubic meters.

On the growth side, our newbuilding program consists of 4 midsized dual fuel liquefied ethane ethylene carriers and 2 midsized ammonia fueled liquefied ammonia carriers. The total shipyard cost is $586 million, of which $152 million has already been paid.

Now importantly, we have secured $461 million of debt financing on very attractive terms. So as a result, around 21% of the total shipyard cost on a weighted average basis needs to be funded by our equity with the rest being covered by debt. So we expect to get some cash back as the new buildings are delivered.

The first of these 6 newbuildings will be delivered next month and will immediately commence a time charter and will take delivery of our remaining newbuildings throughout the next 2 years. These vessels will further strengthen our competitive position, enhance our customer service offering and support long-term value creation for shareholders.

And finishing on Slide 21, I'd like to personally invite all of you again to join us in Houston for our 2026 Analyst and Investor Day, which takes place in just 2 weeks. Tuesday afternoon, November 17th, we'll host our tours at the Morgan's Point Ethylene Export Terminal and climb aboard one of our vessels, subject to availability as they are in very high demand.

Later that evening, the management team and members of our Board will also host a dinner for our analysts and investors. And the next day, Wednesday, November 18th, we'll host company and industry presentations covering market trends, a financial update as well as our medium-term strategy. We'll then have lunch followed by an appreciation event for analysts, shareholders, customers and partners. Now the outlook for the weather is only surpassed by the outlook for our business. The best is yet to come.

With that, I'll now turn the call back over to Mads or closing remarks.

Mads Zacho

Thanks a lot, Randy. Let me finish with 3 takeaways from today. First of all, Q3 demonstrated the resilience of our business. The quarter started more slowly as we expected, but utilization recovered strongly in September and remained firm through October. Rates are improving, Terminal volumes are increasing, and we expect both TCE and utilization to be higher in the fourth quarter.

Second, we continue to execute on the transformation of our fleet and our company. The Unigas exit is now complete. At the same time, all 6 newbuildings are fully financed with the first vessel due for delivery next month. So we are replacing smaller and older vessels with larger, more efficient ships, and we are doing so while we are maintaining considerable financial flexibility.

Third and last, our balance sheet and capital return remain clear strengths. Net leverage is down to 1.7x adjusted EBITDA. Available liquidity has increased to $434 million by the end of October. And for Q3, we are returning 35% of net income to shareholders through the increased cash dividend and share buybacks.

If we're looking ahead, the fundamentals remain attractive. U.S. exports continue to grow. Longer voyages are adding ton miles. The handysize order book remains limited and our flexible fleet allows us to benefit from strong demand across LPG, ethane, ethylene.

So we enter the final quarter of the year with improving markets, a stronger balance sheet and a clear path for continued fleet renewal and growth. We're in a strong position right now, and we intend to use that position with discipline. Thanks a lot for listening.

Back to you, Randy.

Randall Giveans

Thank you, Mads. Now operator, we'll now open the lines for some Q&A. [Operator Instructions] First question, your line should be opened.

Perguntas e respostas

Christopher Robertson

This is Chris Robertson at Deutsche Bank. Guys, I just wanted to focus on the ethylene terminal for a moment, especially around the commentary around some contracted cargoes. When you guys are thinking through that, should we think about contracted cargo capacity on more of a short-term quarterly basis? Is that -- is there a percentage of total annual capacity currently on contract? If so, what's the average length of those contracts? And maybe what's the current floor in terms of net profitability that the contracts currently provide?

Randall Giveans

Chris, yes, we haven't disclosed all of those numbers. The majority of the offtake or the capacity is sold going forward. Some of those are shorter-term contracts. Some of those are multiyear contracts. So we really have a portfolio approach. Now we're still marketing the remainder of the capacity. So to keep that commercial advantage, we're not going to disclose the specific numbers you're requesting, but we do expect profitability to continue even if only the contracted volumes are sold next year.

Christopher Robertson

Got it. For a follow-up, as you guys are looking around potentially with your current midstream partner as well as other players in the market, are there some interesting or attractive opportunities in kind of the smaller scale export terminal infrastructure space, whether it's in the Gulf Coast or perhaps the Northeast and which region maybe looks interesting for potential opportunities?

Mads Zacho

Yes. We do have a portfolio of business development opportunities, and that does include terminal or infrastructure assets there. So we do. And I think the markets that we are the most comfortable with, where we do most of our trading, that would be the U.S. East Coast and it would be Europe. So those remain, you could say, the tough on the list in terms of finding good outlets either on the export or the import side.

Randall Giveans

Next caller, your line should be opened. Chad, we heard you for a minute there.

Unknown Analyst

Okay. Sorry. Yes, sorry about that. Talk about kind of $430 million of available liquidity kind of post the Unigas sales. And I just wanted to get your latest thoughts on kind of the priority list for using some of this capacity and maybe how you're balancing maybe some potential consolidation opportunities in your vessel classes versus accretive buybacks?

Mads Zacho

Yes. No, it's a good and pressing question. I think if you just step back for a little bit, given the geopolitical surroundings right now, and I think our ability to forecast, if we just look back over the last couple of years, I mean, forecasting some of the events that have come in and impacted our business, our visibility is not super great now.

And that in itself speaks for maybe running the balance sheet a little bit stronger right now than we probably would have in, let's say, 3, 4, 5 years back. That being said, we do not for our day-to-day operations, need the level of cash that we have on the balance sheet right now. And I think arguably, you could also say that the leverage ratios that we're running right now are maybe a little bit lower than they could be. So that means that we do have capital available. And I think a mixed approach where we prioritize growth and capital return at the same time.

So when it comes to growing the business, we did order 6 vessels 1, 2 years ago. During 2026, we haven't bought a lot of assets. So maybe we're a little bit behind on that front, and we continue to look for consolidation opportunities. It's not so easy. At a time when the rates are strong, the sellers of secondhand tonnage, they have high price expectations. And we are not necessarily interested in going out overpaying for those assets. So we may have to be a little bit patient here, but it's definitely high on our agenda.

I think we're quite pleased with the newbuildings that we ordered 1 and 2 years ago. We think we got them at good prices, and we think the outlook for deploying them profitably is still the case. So we also don't want to rule out, you could say, doing more newbuildings in the short to midterm. That being said, we'll be very disciplined about it. We'll be very predictable, and it will be organic evolution, so to speak, in growing our business.

And on the other hand, capital return, I think we have the capacity to continue or even exceed what we've done in the past, where we have returned via the capital return policy, significant amounts of capital.

But on the other hand, also taking the opportunity from time to time to do ad hoc share buybacks. We've done about once a year over the past 3 years, and that's definitely in the cards. When we see weakness in our share price, that's a good opportunity to deploy some of that cash. So expect more of the same. We will be growing our business in a very disciplined manner, but on the other hand, continue, if not increasing the capital return.

Unknown Analyst

Got it. That's very helpful. And maybe just a second question. I wanted to touch on some of the charter rates you're seeing. It sounds like a step down in the third quarter, but it sounds like there are several tailwinds in the fourth quarter. I just want to get your latest thoughts on kind of outlook for charter rates in the fourth quarter relative maybe to what you saw with record levels in the second quarter? And any kind of initial kind of outlook that you can provide into '27?

Mads Zacho

So utilization is up in mid-90s, which is great, which we commented on. When you saw on that rate slide, both Handysize ethylene and Handysize LPG rates were up. So that's the difference between second quarter and going into fourth quarter.

So what that means is that ethylene, ethane is up to where it's very strong, almost at the same levels that we saw in second quarter. But in addition to the LPG rates are also pulling in the right direction. So we have 2 of our main ship segments, LPG and petrochem moving in the same sort of tightening market, which is great to see and be part of.

Randall Giveans

Thanks, Chad. Next caller, your line should be open.

Unknown Analyst

A good update. And my question actually is just on the last one that Spiro was asking, just in terms of -- and Oeyvind, you sort of answered it, but just wanted to get just maybe a slight deeper response. 2Q was obviously a record in terms of revenue, EBITDA, earnings. You had a slight dip in 3Q as you telegraphed, but now it looks like the fourth quarter has really started off on very firm footing.

Randy, you mentioned in your -- I think it was in your closing remarks that the best is yet to come. Do you think that that's as quick as 4Q being the record in terms of relative, I'd say, to 2Q? Do you think it can actually exceed your performance then?

Mads Zacho

I think we tend to be a little bit cautious on predicting, you could say, the exact financial performance of the year. I think it's more the underlying drivers that we like to comment on. And I think here, the utilization and the rate input that Oeyvind has given you where utilization, yes, mid-90s is the beginning of the quarter, which is strong, and we see that unabated going into November. So that's one data point.

The other data point is that now it's broader, the recovery in the rates. It's not only on the ethylene rates, it's also on the semi-refs. So that should give you some guidance as to how we see that play out. But going as far as you could say, predicting whether we'll be above Q2 operating or not, I think we'll just refrain from that.

Unknown Analyst

That's fair. I appreciate your comments. And maybe just a follow-up on your first ethylene MGC that's delivering, I think, in December, you put that on a charter. Just want to get a sense, is that a long-term contract? Or is this more of a 1 or 2 voyages upon delivery? Any sense you can give us in terms of what that contract profile looks like?

Oeyvind Lindeman

I think we have disclosed it in the feet there's a 1-year charter that commences upon delivery of the ship at very healthy rates. The other -- the 2 last newbuildings, the LPG and ammonia ships that we have there on 5-year charters. And the remaining ethane ethylene vessels that are being delivered next year, June, September, December are all being firmed and worked at the moment. So we are hoping that, that will land into place soon and we can announce.

Unknown Analyst

And just maybe a follow-up on those final 3. Is the thinking also something similar to 1 year? Or is there a bit of a go both?

Mads Zacho

We like to have a little mix. So some are longer, some are shorter. So we'll see.

Randall Giveans

Next caller, your line should be open.

Jostein Aschjem

This is Jostein Aschjem from DNB calling. So you mentioned the high price expectation ammonia potential candidates for consolidation. And Randy also mentioned the $32 NAE. How do you sort of balance between the growth prospects versus the high prices on older tonnage? Is there potential to do some divestments going forward as well? And what sort of your targets in terms of fleet size going forward as well?

Mads Zacho

Yes. No, it's a good question. And we have been quite active in selling older noncore tonnage over the past year. And we'll continue. I mean, once our ships are getting past the 20-year mark, we tend to offer them for sale. We have one today in Navigator Pluto. It's more than 25 years of age. So that may be sold over the next half year or so.

So we will continue to focus on rejuvenating our fleet by selling some of the older noncore or less flexible assets. So expect that to be happening also not quite to the speed that you saw with the 8 Unigas vessels being sold just over the last quarter or so, but a few here and there.

And that begs the question, so what does that mean in terms of your fleet size? Now you shouldn't count them one for one because if we are selling, let's say, a 12,000 cubic meter Unigas vessel, it's a very different ship in terms of earnings capacity compared to a 48,000 cubic meter midsized ethylene carrier.

So the capacity in the newbuilding book that we have is actually going up, both when you calculate the value or when you calculate the capacity of the ships. That being said, we will be looking to gradually over time, grow our fleet.

And you mentioned the discount that we are trading at to our net asset value. We are keenly aware that doing share buybacks when our share price is way below the net asset value will remain to be our key priority.

So we will balance those priorities about deploying capital as capital return because that's a good way to spend the money, but also maintaining, you could say, a healthy business overall that has some long-term duration. That's -- those are the 2 concerns that we are balancing.

And I think we have ample opportunity with the cash flow that we're generating and with the strong balance sheet that we have that we can actually do both things at the same time.

Jostein Aschjem

Maybe moving a bit back to the market as well. So you mentioned in the report that you see some tailwinds from very strong markets across the larger vessels as well for the VLGCs, VLECs and also MGCs. How do you see the impact from MGCs maybe most predominantly for your vessel fleet impacting the rates into Q4 versus Q3?

Oeyvind Lindeman

I think it's very helpful. So both the very large gas carriers and the medium gas carrier segments are doing very well. And that supports our ambitions and our rates for the Handysize LPG ships. So they're all in tandem pointing upwards. So yes, it's -- we're all doing well on the rate side.

Randall Giveans

Next caller, I see your hand here, Climent.

Climent Molins

Most has already been covered, but I wanted to follow up on Omar's questions on time charters. With spot rates at very elevated levels and term contracts also creeping up, sorry about that. Is there any appetite to further increase your term cover? And or even what kind of quotes are you currently seeing for 1-year contracts for ethylene capable handys or the usual semi-refs?

Oeyvind Lindeman

So I refer back to that chart, which is actually a 12-month time charter assessment done by Clarksons ship brokers. So both ethylene and LPG semi-ref is about $1,050,000 per month. So -- so that's the rate level that is being quoted.

Now we see some of the shorter ones are higher, some of the longer ones are a little bit below, but it's a good guidance across the fleet. So I think if you're running some modeling, just use those numbers.

Randall Giveans

Thanks so much. I believe that is the end of our Q&A. So Mads, turn it over to you for closing remarks.

Mads Zacho

Yes. Just want to say thank you all for listening in. I thank you a lot for all the good questions that were asked. If you need any further elaboration, please do come back to us. We'll be happy to discuss our business and answer your questions. So hopefully, give us a call, give Randy a call.