Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript February 23, 2024 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Ed Nebb - IR

Semiramis Paliou - CEO

Ioannis Zafirakis - Director, CFO and CSO

Stasi Margaronis - Director and President

Conference Call Participants

Kristoffer Skeie - Arctic Securities

Operator

Hello, and welcome to the Diana Shipping Inc. 2023 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Conference Call and Webcast. [Operator Instructions] A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It's now my pleasure to turn the call over to Ed Nebb, Investor Relations for Diana Shipping. Please go ahead, Ed.

Ed Nebb

Thank you, Kevin, and thanks to everyone who is joining us today for the Diana Shipping Inc. 2023 fourth quarter and full year conference call. With us today from management are Semiramis Paliou, Chief Executive Officer, and she will introduce the other members of the management team. And so without further ado, I will turn the call over to Ms. Paliou.

Semiramis Paliou

Thank you, Ed. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Diana Shipping Inc.'s Fourth Quarter and End of Year 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. As Ed said, I'm Semiramis Paliou, the CEO of the company. And it's my pleasure to present alongside our esteemed team, Mr. Stasi Margaronis, who is the Director and President; Mr. Ioannis Zafirakis, Director, CFO and Chief Strategy Officer; Mr. Eleftherios Papatrifon, Director. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone to review the forward-looking statement on Page 4 of the accompanying presentation, please.

So despite market conditions being mixed during the last quarter of 2023 and in early 2024, our disciplined chartering strategy has allowed us to continue generating positive free cash flows. Within February, we have witnessed the market sentiment improving significantly. And as a result, current market conditions are more robust. In this background, we announced a cash dividend for the fourth quarter of 2023 of $0.075 per share.

Turning to Slide 5. I will review with you the company's snapshot as of today. Our fleet comprises 41 vessels in the water with a total deadweight of approximately 4.5 million tons. Our fleet utilization has remained consistently high, reaching 99.7% for the fiscal year 2023, attributed to our prudent and efficient management of our vessels. Additionally, as of the end of the fourth quarter, we employed 1,018 people at sea and the shore.