Eagle Bulk Shipping generated net revenues of $79.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, representing an increase of 73% compared to the same period in 2017.
The owner-operators in the Supramax / Ultramax segment took delivery of the New London Eagle, a 2015-built CROWN-63 Ultramax, closed the sale of the Avocet, a 2010-built DIAMOND-53 Supramax, and signed a memorandum of agreement to sell the vessel Thrush for $10.9 million net of commissions and selling expenses.
Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk's CEO, commented, "We continued to execute on our active owner-operator strategy during the first quarter, achieving a TCE of $11,052 and outperforming the benchmark Baltic Supramax Index by over $1,100 per day. This represents the fifth consecutive quarter we have meaningfully outperformed the market, which I believe underscores the value of our unique business model and our team’s ability to execute.
With attractive supply/demand fundamentals in place, we expect the underlying dry bulk market to continue to improve. Against this backdrop, we believe the Company is well positioned to continue to generate strong cash flow with a proven business model, significant operational leverage and a healthy balance sheet."
For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company reported net income of $0.1 million, or basic and diluted earnings of $0.00 per share. In the comparable quarter of 2017, the Company reported a net loss of $11.1 million, or basic and diluted earnings of $0.17 per share.
Net time and voyage charter revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $79.4 million compared with $45.9 million recorded in the comparable quarter in 2017.
Voyage expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $22.5 million compared to $13.4 million in the comparable quarter in 2017.