Seaspan continues strong revenue in the 1st half

Seaspan Corporation announced its financial results for the three and six months ended June  30, 2012.

Normalized net earnings and normalized earnings per share are non-GAAP measures that are adjusted for items such as interest expense, change in fair value of financial instruments, interest expense at the hedged rate, organizational development costs, losses (gains) on vessels and certain other items that Seaspan believes are not representative of its operating performance.

Normalized earnings per share, converted, reflects normalized earnings per share on a pro-forma basis on the assumption that Seaspan's outstanding Series A preferred shares are converted at $15.00 per share.

Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that represents net earnings before interest expense and other debt-related expenses, interest income, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense, bareboat charter adjustment, organizational development costs, losses (gains) on vessels, change in fair value of financial instruments, and certain other items that Seaspan believes are not representative of its operating performance.

Revenues increased by 24.4% and 25.0%, respectively, for the three and six months ended June  30, 2012 over the prior year's comparable periods. This is due to an increase in operating days of 8.4% and 9.2% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, respectively, over the prior year's comparable periods and higher time-charter rates attributed to the delivery of Seaspan's larger newbuild vessels.

Gerry Wang, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chairman, and Co-Founder of Seaspan, commented, "During the second quarter, Seaspan's business continued to perform as expected. We achieved high utilization and posted strong results in revenue, normalized net earnings, and cash available for distribution. During the quarter, we grew our fleet by taking delivery of the last two of a series of eight 13,100 TEU vessels on 12-year time charters with COSCON and continued to extend and re-charter vessels and expand our customer portfolio."

Mr. Wang added, "We remain well positioned to capitalize on our strong capital structure and liquidity position to grow our business. We intend to maintain a disciplined approach to growth, as we seek to provide liner companies with fuel efficient, state-of-the-art vessels using our SAVER vessel design."

Seaspan accepted delivery of 10 vessels during the year ended December 31, 2011. Seaspan began 2012 with 65 vessels in operation and during the six months ended June 30, 2012, accepted delivery of four vessels, bringing its fleet to a total of 69 vessels in operation as of June 30, 2012. Revenue is determined primarily by the number of operating days, and ship operating expenses is determined primarily by the number of ownership days.

Meanwhile, the holders of Seaspan's outstanding Series A Preferred shares elected Mr. Harald Ludwig to Seaspan's board of directors on August 1, 2012. Pursuant to Seaspan's articles of incorporation, the holders of Series A Preferred shares have the right to elect up to two members of the board. George Juetten was elected by the holders of Series A Preferred shares in 2009.

Mr. Harald Ludwig is an experienced businessman and board director. Mr. Ludwig is the Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer at Macluan Capital Corporation, a private equity investment firm and serves on the board of directors of a number of publicly listed companies.

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