Success has been redefined. Companies exposed to industrial commerce have been catapulted from the luxury of reporting industrial-scale profits to the necessity of proclaiming their long-term viability.
Under these refined criteria for success, one might say that Excel Maritime Carriers
Making allowances for huge writedowns, which included $335 million in goodwill from the purchase of Quintana Maritime last year, $40 million in impaired currency swaps, and $15.6 million surrendered to a cancelled vessel purchase, it appears that investors in this water-logged sector are peering past losses as long as revenue streams remain intact. Excel's shares surged nearly 20% when the market opened.
Like its competitor DryShips
Excel began to ease investors' concerns last week, by announcing waivers on debt covenants that remove some risk of default. Logically, the dividend was suspended in February. With this earnings release, however, Excel also addressed concerns over recent reports of clients reneging on time charter contracts, which had the potential to set a game-changing precedent within the sector.
Excel reported recovering all fees owed by one delinquent client, while compromising with another by cutting the daily rate in half while adding some conciliatory provisions. With several high-quality clients like BHP Billiton
With the precise timing of meaningful demand recovery among dry bulk commodities remaining anyone's guess, I still consider Diana Shipping
Further Foolishness:
- Darwin would have married Diana
- A seaworthy shipper in turbulent times
- Greek mythology meets modern investing