FSL Trust announces sale of three ships, following Q2 profit decline

THREE wholly-owned subsidiaries of First Ship Lease (FSL) Trust have executed memoranda of agreement to sell three containerships to unaffiliated third parties, and received the initial 10 per cent deposit in escrow, the trust's manager said in a bourse filing on Wednesday.

Details of the net proceeds from the disposal and their utilisation will be announced upon completion of the disposals, it added.

The vessels - FSL Eminence, FSL Elixir, and YM Enhancer - each has a capacity of 4,250 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) and were owned by FSL Trust since they were built in 2008.

FSL Eminence and FSL Elixir were re-delivered to FSL Trust upon completion of their charters with Yang Ming Marine in May and June 2020 respectively, and will be delivered to their buyers as soon as practically possible, the manager said.

YM Enhancer is chartered to Yang Ming Marine until October 2020, and will be delivered to its buyers upon completion of the charter.

On Tuesday, FSL Trust posted a 34.7 per cent drop in net profit to US$1.33 million for Q2 FY2020 ended June. The lower earnings came on the back of an 11 per cent fall in revenue to US$14.5 million for the quarter.

The bottom line was boosted by a US$2.7 million gain from the sale of two product tankers and a crude oil tanker in March. FSL Trust said then that it is continuing to pare its debt and improve its capital structure.

Units of FSL Trust were trading at 7.5 Singapore cents as at 11.08am on Thursday, up 0.1 cent or 1.4 per cent.