StealthGas Inc. (NASDAQ:GASS) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

But markets are volatile and sound policies, as well as opportunistic plays, need to also guide decisions. As such, the company did not focus on growth for 2023, it rather focused on taking advantage of the market and securing more period charters, currently having over $200 million in contracted revenues, selling vessels as asset prices were rising, paying down debt as interest rates were rising, over $150 million was repaid in 2023, and over $30 million in the current quarter, and returning value to our shareholders by buying back our own stock, having bought over 10% of the issued shares during last year and spending $19.1 million. That being said, it was also important not to neglect to renew the fleet, and in January of this year, StealthGas took delivery of the two 40, 000 cubic meter MGC vessels, Echo Oracle and Eco Wizard who period charters should support profitability this year.

So far, the beginning of 2024 looks promising, as the market for our vessels remains firm, and barring any extraordinary events, we should expect solid revenues in the current quarter. Even though our share prices climbed significantly over the last year, we believe we continue to be a sound, still undervalued investment, not just because we are optimistic on the market and have been producing good results but also because we are trading at a discount in terms of price to NAV and price to earnings ratios. We have now reached the end of our presentation and we would like to thank you for joining us at our conference call today and for your interest and trust in our company. We look forward to having you with us again at our next conference call for our first quarter results in May.

Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.

Operator: [Operator Instructions]