Participants

Aristides Pittas; Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer; EuroDry Ltd

Anastasios Aslidis; Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, Director; EuroDry Ltd

Tate Sullivan; Analyst; Maxim Group LLC

Mark Reichman; Analyst; Noble Capital Markets

Poe Fratt; Analyst; Alliance Global Partners

Presentation

Operator

Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the EuroDry Limited conference call on the fourth quarter 2024 financial results. We have with us today, Mr. Aristides Pittas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Tasos Aslidis, Chief Financial Officer of the company.
(Operator Instructions)
I must advise you that this conference call is being recorded today. Please be reminded that the company announced its results with a press release that has been publicly distributed.
Before passing the floor to Mr. Pittas, I'd like to remind everyone that in today's presentation and conference call, EuroDry will be making forward-looking statements. These statements are within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Matters discussed may be forward-looking statements, which are based on current management expectations that involve risks and uncertainties that may result in such expectations not being realized.
I kindly draw your attention to Slide number 2 of the webcast presentation, which has the full forward-looking statement and the same statement, which is also included in the press release. Please take a moment to go through the whole statement and read it.
And now I'd like to pass the floor over to Mr. Pittas. Please go ahead, sir.

Aristides Pittas

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you all for joining us today for our scheduled conference call. Together with me is Mr. Tasos Aslidis, our Chief Financial Officer. The purpose of today's call is to discuss our financial results for the 3- and 12-months period ended December 31, 2024.
Please turn to Slide 3 of the presentation. Our financial highlights are shown here. For the fourth quarter of 2024, we reported total net revenues of $14.5 million and a net loss attributable to controlling shareholders of $3.3 million or $1.20 loss per basic and diluted share.
Adjusted net loss attributable to controlling shareholders for the quarter was $0.7 million or $0.25 per basic and diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA for the period was $4.8 million. The single biggest loss for the quarter was the $2.8 million paper loss which we incurred by recognizing an impairment on one elder vessel which we had purchased at a relatively high price.
Please refer to the press release for the detailed reconciliation of adjusted net loss and adjusted EBITDA. Our CFO, Tasos Aslidis, will go over the financial highlights in more detail later on in the presentation. Since the initiation of our repurchase plan of up to $10 million announced in August 2022 and extended twice until August 2025, to date, we have repurchased 334,000 shares of our common stock in the open market for a total of $5.3 million in proceeds.
We will continue to execute the share repurchase program around current share price levels. During this quarter, we successfully completed the refinancing of two of our vessels to a $30 million loan, which further increased our cash reserves by about $11 million.
Please turn to Slide 4 for our recent developments. In November 2024, we signed a contract with Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding for the construction of two 63,000 deadweight Ultramax bulk carriers. Both vessels are geared, eco and are built to EEDI Phase 3 design standard.
The two new buildings are scheduled to be delivered during the second and third quarters of 2027. The consideration for each vessel is about $36 million and will be financed by a combination of debt and equity. Additionally, we sold motor vessel Tasos, the eldest vessel in our fleet built in 2000, for demolition for approximately $5 million in cash.
Motor vessel Tasos is a 75,000 deadweight Panamax dry bulk vessel and is expected to be delivered to its buyers and an affiliated third party by early March 2025 upon completion of the present charter. The gain on the sale of the vessel is expected to be approximately $2.1 million.
On the chartering front, the duration of the majority of our fixtures is short term, ranging between 20 to 65 days according to their minimum duration, providing us flexibility for future employment. You can see the specifics of the various charters in the accompanying presentation.
Throughout the quarter, there were no scheduled dry dockings or repairs, allowing us to maintain full operational efficiency. While we experienced no commercial off-hire during the quarter, motor vessel Blessed Luck had a seven-day committed commercial off hire in January 2025.
Please turn to Slide 5. EuroDry's fleet currently consists of 13 vessels, including 5 Panamax dry bulk carriers, 5 Ultramax, 2 Kamsarmax and the Supramax dry bulk carrier. Our 13 dry bulk carriers have a total cargo capacity of approximately 920,000 deadweight tonnes.
After the sale of motor vessel Tasos, which is expected by early March 2025, EuroDry's fleet will consist of 12 vessels. Not including the Tasos, the average age will drop to 13.6 years from 14.5 years currently. As a reminder, EuroDry owns 61% of the entities that own motor vessels Christos and Maria. The remaining 39% is owned by owners represented by NRP Project Finance, otherwise referred to as NRP investors.
Upon the delivery of the two 63,500 tonnes deadweight new buildings, which is set to take place in the second and third quarters of 2027, the company's fleet will increase to 14 dry bulk vessels and with a carrying capacity of just under 1 million deadweights.
Please turn to Slide 6 for the further update on our fleet employment. Fixed rate coverage for 2025 is approximately 18% through existing charters. This percentage excludes ships on index charters, which are open to market fluctuations but have secured employment. Our vessels are chartered under short-term charters until rates rise enough for longer charters to be deemed beneficial.
Turning to Slide 8. We go over the market highlights for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024, up until recently. In Q4 2024, Panamax vessels experienced a decline in both 1-year time charter and spot rates. The average 1-year time charter rate for Panamax vessels stood at $12,700 per day for the quarter, dropping to $11,250 per day by the end of December.
Similarly, the average 1-year spot rate for Panamax during the quarter was $9,250 per day, with a decline to about $7,700 per day in the last day of Q4. Both the Baltic Panamax Index and the Baltic Dry Index show sharp contractions during the period, dropping by 30% and 28%, respectively.
However, from the year-end 2024 to February 21, 2025, 1-year time charter rates for Panamax vessels have rebounded by 12%. And similarly, spot rates have increased by 14% in the same time period. On the Supramax side, we saw less violent drops in Q1. Currently, spot rates are about $1,000 or $2,000 per day higher than Panamax, but 1-year charters and about $500 less than the corresponding Panamax rates.
Please turn to Slide 9. The IMF's latest update from January 2025 projects stable yet somewhat underwhelming global economic forecast, showing only a slight improvement to 3.3% of GDP growth from 3.2% predicted in October '24. This 3.3% GDP growth is also the estimate for 2026.
While the US has seen an upward revision with growth in our forecast to grow 2.7% in 2025, this stands in stark contrast to other advanced economies, particularly in Europe, which have seen either downgrades or stable growth outlooks at around 1% only.
Adding to this uncertainty, the new US administration's rapid policy changes and reversals, particularly concerning trade policies and geopolitical conflicts, collectively pose risks to the medium-term growth prospects. Global inflation is still expected to decline.
However, the near-term trajectory to price stability may still be challenged with persistent services and wages inflation in several parts of the world, leading to the synchronized monetary policy responses. The risks to the global inflation outlook will be tilted to the upside, given the prospects of increased protectionism, geopolitical tensions and demographic constraints.
Emerging markets continue to drive global growth, led by India, the ASEAN-5 countries and China. China's growth appears to be slightly revised upwards, but in the lopsided fashion, with projections of 4.6% this year and 4.5% next year as the country continues to face tepid domestic demand, persistent deflationary pressures and falling property markets.
India is projected to maintain steady economic growth of 6.5% in both 2025 and 2026, driven by strong investment activity, robust agricultural performance and continued expansion in the services sector, which remains a key engine of economic growth. Southeast Asian countries are also positioned for solid growth, benefiting from regional demand and investment momentum.
In parallel to global GDP issues, Clarksons' forecast indicates a more challenging period ahead for the dry bulk trade, with demand growth sharply decelerating from 5% in 2024 to just 0.9% in 2025, followed by stagnant trade levels in 2026.
While supply constraints and environmental regulations may offer some rate support, geopolitical risks in the Red Sea persist and despite the Gaza ceasefire, a swift return to normal shipping operations remain unlikely. In light of these projections, we remain cautious of the outlook for the dry bulk sector, given key macroeconomic risks and evolving geopolitical tensions, which could impact medium growth prospects.
Please turn to Slide 10, where we review the current state of the order book in the dry bulk sector. As you can see, as of February '25, the order book is currently at just 10.5% of the fleet, still standing among the lowest historical levels.
Turning to Slide 11. Let us look into the supply fundamentals in a bit more detail. As of February 2025, the total dry bulk vessel operating fleet was 14,150 vessels. According to Clarksons' latest report, new deliveries as a percentage of total fleet are expected to be 3.7% in 2025, 3.5% in 2026 and 3% in 2027 onwards.
The actual fleet growth is, of course, expected to be lower than the aforementioned figures due to scrapping and slippage. If the 10% of the fleet that is older than 20 years were to be scrapped within the next three years, we would end up with a fleet that has zero growth.
Factors such as increased slow steaming, higher scrapping rates and the tightening of environmental regulations could further constrain the available bulk of fleet, whilst, of course, the reopening of Suez works in the opposite direction.
Please turn to Slide 12, where we summarize our outlook for the dry bulk market. As already said, in 2024, the bulk carrier charter market experienced mixed results, with the Capesize segment experiencing gains while smaller vessel categories such as Ultramax and Kamsarmax faced significant declines.
The reopening of the Panama Canal and the easing of post congestion placed additional pressure on the dry bulk market, contributing to a decline in freight rates, some of which reached multiyear lows. The fourth quarter underperformed expectations with average trip charter rates for Ultramax and Kamsarmax vessels falling by 25% year-over-year, reflecting the broader market weakness.
Looking ahead, the 2025 bulk carrier demand outlook suggests a softer market compared to 2024. A key factor in China slowing dry bulk imports, which are not expected to match the robust growth seen in 2023 and 2024. While the recent government stimulus measures have supported sentiment, they are unlikely to feed to substantial structural improvements in demand, especially given the persistently high stockpiles.
Additionally, US trade policy is emerging as a critical factor for the dry bulk sector under the new Trump administration. Tires from China, Mexico and Canada could disrupt grain and minor bulk trade, particularly if escalating trade tensions led to retaliatory measures.
My initial reaction to the measures Trump announced yesterday regarding Chinese vessel penalties and extra fees on calling the US means that they will not pass as their main and perhaps only consequence will be to make products imported to the US more expensive to the US consumer. Meanwhile, however, geopolitical risks in the Red Sea remain unresolved.
Despite the Gaza ceasefire, shipping in the region is unlikely to return to normalcy in the near term, and any easing of Red Sea disruptions could further constrain dry bulk demand growth, adding to the challenges faced in the market.
However, on the supply side, vessel ordering has remained relatively limited, primarily due to shipyard capacity constraints and the uncertainty surrounding the fuel of the future amid a growing number of methanol and LNG fueled orders.
The order book to fleet ratio remains at historically low levels, which could create a backdrop for a potential charter rate recovery if demand strengthens. However, trends differ across vessel classes, while Panamax and Ultramax order books are returned to historical medium levels, the Capesize fleet remains near historical lows, but is comparatively younger, meaning fleet renewal pressures may be less immediate.
Furthermore, the new environmental regulations, excluding EEXI, CII, EU ETS and Fuel EU are expected to further constrain vessel supply through increased scrapping and slower operational speeds. These regulatory measures could help mitigate excess fleet capacity, supporting the market by reducing effective tonnage availability.
Let's turn to Slide 13. As of February 21, 2025, the 1-year time charter rate for Panamax ships with a capacity of 75,000 deadweight tonnes is at $12,625 per day, slightly higher than a week ago, but below the historical medium of $13,560 per day. Meanwhile, the market for 10-year-old Panamax bulk carriers remains relatively strong with current prices at $24.5 million, well above the historical medium of $14.8 million and the average of $17.4 million.
However, as of the fourth quarter of 2024, asset values have experienced a notable decline from the mid-2024 peak of $29.5 million, reflecting broader market softening. We are closely monitoring the developments. If the markets drop further, and consequently, vessel prices also dropped, we will be able to acquire one or two more vessels. If the charter market improves, our current fleet will become profitable again. And with that, let me pass the floor over to our CFO, Tasos Aslidis, to go over various financial highlights in more detail.

Anastasios Aslidis

Thank you very much, Aristides. Good morning from me as well, ladies and gentlemen. Over the next 4 slides, I will give you an overview of our financial highlights for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024 and compared to the same period of last year.
For that, let's turn to Slide 15. For the fourth quarter of 2024, we reported total net revenues of $14.5 million, representing an 8.7% decrease of the total net revenues of $15.9 million during the fourth quarter of last year. And this was the result of the lower time charter rates our vessels earned in the fourth quarter of this year as compared to the last. Interest and other financing costs for the fourth quarter of 2024, including interest income, remained at about $1.9 million, the same level as in the same period of 2023.
Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $4.8 million compared to $6.6 million achieved during the fourth quarter of last year. Basic and diluted loss per share attributable to controlling shareholders for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $1.20, calculated on about 2.7 million basic and diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding compared to earnings of $0.13 per share attributable to controlling shareholders, calculated on approximately 2.7 million basic and 2.8 million diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding in the fourth quarter of last year.
Excluding the effect on the loss attributable to the controlling shareholders for the quarter of the unrealized gain on derivatives and the impairment on the vessel, the adjusted loss per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, would have been $0.25 basic and diluted compared to adjusted earnings per share in the fourth quarter of 2023 of $0.71 and $0.70 per share, basic and diluted.
Let's now look at the numbers for the corresponding full years 2024 and 2023. For the full year of 2024, the company reported total net revenues of $61.1 million, representing a 28.3% increase over total net revenues of $47.6 million during the 12 months of 2023, and that was the result of the increased number of vessels operated during 2024 and the slightly higher time charter rates earned by our vessels on average in 2024 compared to 2023.
Interest and other financing costs, again, including interest income, for the 12 months of 2024 amounted to $7.9 million compared to $5.6 million for the same period of 2023. Interest income was about $0.9 million in 2023 versus $0.1 million in 2024. Interest expense for the period or year was higher due to the increased amount of debt during the year as compared to the previous one. Adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months of 2024 was $12.4 million, compared to $14.6 million during 2023.
Basic and diluted loss per share attributable to controlling shareholders for 2024 was $3.54, calculated on about 2.7 million basic and diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding, compared to basic and diluted loss per share attributable to controlling shareholders for 2023 of $1.05, calculated on about 2.8 million basic and diluted weighted average number of shares for the previous year.
Again, excluding the effect on the net loss attributable to controlling shareholders for the year, the unrealized gain on derivatives and the impairment loss on the vessel, the adjusted loss for the year 2024, would have been $3.02 per share, basic and diluted, compared to adjusted earnings per share of about $0.12 basic and diluted for the same period of 2023.
Let's now move to Slide 16 to review our fleet performance. As usual, we will start our review by looking at fleet utilization rates for the fourth quarter and full year for both 2024 and 2023. Let's first look at 2024 fourth quarter. Our commercial utilization rate during the quarter was 100%, while our operational utilization rate was 99.4% compared to 100% commercial and 99.5% operational for the same period of 2023.
On average, 13 vessels were owned and operated during the fourth quarter of 2024, earning an average time charter equivalent rate of $12,200 per vessel per day compared to 12.2 vessels in the same period, the fourth quarter of 2023, earning an average time charter equivalent rate of $14,507 per day.
Our total operating expenses, including management fees, general and administrative expenses, but excluding dry docking costs, were $7,087 per vessel per day during the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to $7,340 per vessel per day during the fourth quarter of last year of 2023.
If we move further down in this table, we can see the cash flow breakeven rate, which takes also into account dry docking expenses, interest expenses and loan repayments. Thus, in total, for the fourth quarter of 2024, our daily cash flow breakeven rate was $11,529 per vessel per day as compared to $12,263 per vessel per day for the same period of 2023.
Let's now look at the right part of the table to review the same figures for the full year. During the full year of 2024, our commercial utilization rate was 99.9%, our operational utilization was 98.9%, compared to 99.4%, commercial and 98.5% operational in 2023.
On average, we own and operated 13 vessels during 2024, earning an average time charter rate of about $13,039 per vessel per day compared to 10.6 vessels for the whole of 2023, earning $12,528 per vessel per day. Our total operating expenses for the year, including management fees, G&A expenses, but excluding dry docking costs, averaged $6,967 per vessel per day in 2024 compared to $7,131 per vessel per day in 2023.
Again, at the bottom of this table, we can see the cash flow breakeven rate for the entire year, which for 2024 amounted to $13,221 per vessel per day compared to $13,041 for 2023. The increase being primarily due to the higher dry-docking expenses we incurred in 2024 compared to the year before.
Let's now turn to Slide 17 to review our debt profile. As of December 31, 2024, our static debt stood at about $108 million. Total repayments for 2025 and 2026 are $12.1 million and $11.3 million, respectively, with a small volume payment due in 2026 of $2 million and a bigger volume payment due in 2027 of about $10 million, with an additional approximately $10 million of repayments scheduled to be made in 2027.
An important point to highlight in this slide is the average margin of our debt. Which as of December 31, 2024, stood around 2.08% over SOFR. Assuming a 3-month SOFR rate of 4.31%, the estimated cost of our senior debt is approximately 6.39% and actually a little lower because we have swapped some of our debt for a lower rate.
So our effective, the effective cost of our senior debt is about 6.3%. At the bottom of this slide, we can see our projected cash flow breakeven level for the next 12 months, essentially 2025, broken down into its various components. Overall, we expect to have a lower cash flow breakeven level in 2025 of around $11,600 per vessel per day, while our EBITDA breakeven level is about $7,526 per vessel per day.
We're almost done for and to be done, let's move to Slide 18. Where you can see, as usual, some highlights from our balance sheet. This slide offers a snapshot of our assets and liabilities. On our asset side first, our balance sheet is very simple. It includes the book value of our vessels, which as of the end of 2024, amounted to about $185.5 million.
We had also advancements made for our new buildings of $7.2 million and also had cash and some other assets of about $29.2 million, resulting in a total book value of assets of about $222 million. On liability side, as I mentioned earlier, our debt stood at $108 million, representing about 49% of total book value of our assets.
And we have other liabilities and minority interest of about $4.5 million other liabilities and almost $9 million of minority interest, the share of our partners in those two vessels, resulting in a book value of shareholders' equity of above $100 million or $35.5 per share.
Our estimated market value for our vessels as of the end of last year was $222 million, approximately 20% higher than the respective book value, suggesting an NAV per share in excess of $45. Given that our share trade lately between $10 and $11, you can appreciate the potential for appreciation that our stock has should market conditions or other factors lead to a reduction of this discount. And with that, I'd like to pass the floor back to Aristides to continue the call.

Aristides Pittas

Thank you, Tasos. Let me open up the floor for any questions we may have.

Question and Answer Session

Operator

(Operator instructions)
Tate Sullivan, Maxim Group.

Tate Sullivan

For my first question. Please, for the 4Q impairment of $2.8 million, was that related to Tasos and then reversed in the current quarter?

Anastasios Aslidis

No. On Tasos, we recorded a capital gain. We will report a gain on sale, Aristides mentioned a number around $2 million. That was on another vessel, the Santa Cruz, that was the last one that we bought. We bought one of the last ones that we bought, that was bought on a higher point in the cycle, and our test indicated we should incur in terms.

Tate Sullivan

Okay, thank you. And can you talk about the new build negotiations with any of your organizations? Have you worked with a specific shipyard before? And did their newbuild price decrease in the last couple of months? Or how did the price negotiations work?

Aristides Pittas

Well, we haven't built anything at that shipyard in the past, but we did a lot of research and talk to a lot of shipyards before we finally concluded with these guys. We got a lot of information from other owners that we know that have also all the ships at those shipyards maybe the last few years and have had a good cooperation and are seeing quality results.
So this obviously played the major impact in us selecting that shipyard. Having said that, okay, it was a tough negotiation as always on price and as on the equipment that will be put on board and all that stuff. I feel we got a good price. Today, prices may be slightly softening, but not with the deliveries in 2027. We're talking about deliveries in 2028 these days, mostly. So I think prices are probably around the same levels that we secured.

Tate Sullivan

Okay. But for later delivery. Okay. And then the specs on the new build you mentioned. So eco, I imagine that described means with scrubbers. Did you consider,

Aristides Pittas

No, it does not mean with scrubbers. Eco does not mean with scrubbers. It means the most modern electronic engine, practically and the lower consumption that these ships have relevant even to the previous eco vessels. So the vessels are very economic in their fuel consumption.

Tate Sullivan

And then did that shipyard or did you consider shipyards with dual LNG engines? Or is that not realistic for dry bulk right now?

Aristides Pittas

We did look at that, and we did consider that, and it is quite more expensive to provide for LNG, especially the LNG tanks that are needed. And we don't think that LNG will be a long-term solution. We want to have the most modern up-to-date and economic ships with today's technology.

Tate Sullivan

Okay. Thank you very much.

Aristides Pittas

Thank you.

Operator

(Operator instructions)
Mark Reichman, Noble Capital Markets.

Mark Reichman

On Page 8 of your presentation, one can see the difference between the spot and the 1-year TC rates. So at what point would you begin locking in 1-year charters? And what might you expect the average to be for the last three quarters of the year?

Aristides Pittas

Very difficult to make projections, right, about what the average will be for the next three quarters of the year, extremely difficult. I will not risk it. However, Tasos showed that our breakeven levels are around $11,500 per day. If we go up to time charters for the more modern ships of $15,000, $16,000 a day, we might consider it for one or two of our ships.
Otherwise, we will probably continue to play the spot market. The spot market is improving, the traditional lull over the first two months, we've experienced it and we are hoping that we will see a further improvement in rates within the next two, three months.

Mark Reichman

So it sounds like you're pretty confident the spot rates are going to continue their trajectory that there's not there's more upside than there is downside. In other words, you don't you perceive you think it's still beneficial to keep those positions open with the hope that the rates keep going up versus ending up with lower and lower spot rates?

Aristides Pittas

Correct. Correct. Downside, there is downside risk, obviously, but it is not huge. But upside, you never know how high it can go. So balancing risk reward, we are keeping our ammunition right now and waiting to see how the market develops within the next three months.

Mark Reichman

Okay. And then the second question is really for Tasos. Looking at Page 17 and your breakeven, but I was just wondering if you might just elaborate a little bit on the vessel expense expectations for 2025 relative to 2024, given that you'll have lower or fewer dry dock days and also, you've got the sale of the M/V Tasos?

Anastasios Aslidis

I think the chart I put on Slide 17 reflects the removal of the sale of Tasos and the scheduled dry dockings. On the OpEx side, we haven't finalized our budgets for 2025, but as a preliminary budget, we are using a 3% increase over the budget of last year. I think we the year ended just below last year's budget for the operating expenses. And we are budgeting conservatively 3% over last year's budget. I think all the details of the various components you saw on the bottom part of Slide 17.

Mark Reichman

Okay. And then the last question is just I know it's a ways away, the two vessels that will be delivered in 2027. Just how do you kind of think about financing that? I mean I know you've talked about debt and equity. Will it be weighted towards debt or the equity portion? Will that be cash generated internally? Or just how are you kind of thinking about that currently?

Anastasios Aslidis

There would definitely be we have a good part of it financed with debt. I think judging from our previous financings, 55% to 60% of that was financed by debt. We might write a little higher percentage in this case. The equity portion, we have obviously paid the first deposit of 10%, and we have to make another three of such instalments before the delivery of the vessels, so another $22 million that we would need to pay to the yard in 2026 and 2027 before the vessels are delivered.
So we haven't really finalized our plans how to finance that. We have hopefully, will generate that organically, but at the present market, it would be tough, but hopefully, the market will improve. I'll say that we can look for alternative ways to finance the equity portion.

Aristides Pittas

Thank you very much.

Anastasios Aslidis

Thank you, Mike. Thanks for indeed.

Operator

(Operator instructions)
Poe Fratt, Alliance Global Partners.

Poe Fratt

Tasos, can you just go over the new build payments? It sounds like you're not going to have any newbuild payments in 2025. Can you quantify how much of the new build costs will land in 2026 and then 2027?

Anastasios Aslidis

I think in 2026, we will have to pay $14.4 million, 2 times, 10% per vessel and another 10%, that is another $7.2 million in 2027 as a predelivery payment. And then finally, the final 60%, I guess, will be paid with the delivery of the vessels. I think Aristides mentioned the second and the third quarter of 2027.

Poe Fratt

Great. That's really helpful. And then just to clarify, it doesn't make sense to put scrubbers on new builds at this point in time, correct?

Aristides Pittas

This is not something which is certain, but some owners are putting on scrubbers on the smaller vessels. Some are not. Whilst I think that the verdict is out there for the very big vessels that have high consumptions that you should put the scrubber on, for Ultramax vessels that consume so little, I'm not sure that it is worth it. I also have some reservations against the whole concept of scrubbers and how much they are and if at all, they are polluting the sea.
But no, we are not putting them on, it all depends, of course, on how the price differential between heavy fuel oil and the low sulfur fuel oil develops. Right now, it is quite low. So there is no huge advantage of having the scrubber. It might become even lower. So then there is definitely no advantage of having a scrubber. It might pick up again and you might recover the investment of the scrubber in a small period of time. It's a different kind of investment, really.

Poe Fratt

Understood. And then Aristides, I think you mentioned that if asset values soften, you potentially might look at making acquisitions. Is how much how can you give us an idea of sort of the current activity in the S&P market? Are you seeing a lot more potential transactions or asset values close to where you might pull the trigger on acquisitions? Can you just give us a flavor for your current assessment of the S&P market?

Aristides Pittas

I can tell you that prices have been dropping ever since October, November last year until the beginning of February, they were they had corrected, I would say, on the 10-year-old ships that we traditionally are looking at. They had dropped by about 15%. We thought that if they were to drop by about 30% from those highs, they could become an interesting proposition.
And a couple of deals were done last two weeks. In fact, we bid on one of those ships. But the prices, rather than continuing their softening, were elevated for these vessels. So they rose a little bit again. And now with the charter market improving, I don't think that we will see imminently lower prices. So we would like to see prices drop by another 15% to consider buying something. I think I couldn't have been more clear.

Poe Fratt

That's great (multiple speakers) sorry, Tasos?

Anastasios Aslidis

But we're always on the look for interesting transactions. We keep, my group is busy evaluating deals all the time, although they don't pass the threshold yet.

Poe Fratt

And then Tasos, how current is that NAV that you talked about in the mid-40s? Does that fully incorporate the 15% drop in asset values? Or is that 15% sort of a lagging or I'm sorry, is that $45 sort of a lagging is there a lag between which you see the softness hit the NAV?

Anastasios Aslidis

It's already, I mean, if I recall on the top of my head, that our previous end September valuation was around $250 million, if I'm not mistaken, million. So we by the year-end, the market had dropped by essentially 15%. Maybe by the mid of January, late January, it might have dropped a little bit more, but it sounds like it's rebounded a bit more recently. So I mean, it's in the ballpark. It is to be more accurate, for the end of the year, the number I quoted you in the presentation, but if we were to recalculate it pro forma today's values, it should be not far for me.

Poe Fratt

Okay. And I know, Aristides, you're hesitant to put out your crystal ball on what the rest of the year is going to look like from a TCE standpoint. But can you many other companies talk about what they booked in the quarter so far, a percentage that's already booked for the quarter and a rate that's associated with those bookings. Do you have a similar metric available for us? Sort of where do we stand at this point in the quarter as far as the first quarter?

Aristides Pittas

I think Tasos can tell you after the call, where we are based on our existing charters. Because now we're at the end of February, so obviously, I would think 80% of what we're going to make is already booked. So there is we have an idea about it. But I don't have it on hand.

Anastasios Aslidis

On Slide 4, you get a flavor of the charters we concluded recently, and we really covered the quarter to date pretty much. And I think on average, I can ballpark, eyeball them to be below $10,000, the average.

Poe Fratt

Okay. That's great. But improving, firming up. And so the second quarter potentially would be look a little bit better than the first quarter?

Anastasios Aslidis

Hopefully, March would be a little bit better. The vessels with that the contract rollover in March will be better. And I would definitely say more certainly, Q2 will be a little bit better because it's also a seasonally better quarter.

Aristides Pittas

But also already, I mean, the last fixture we did, I think, was the Yannis Pittas, which was fixed for $12,000, which is higher than the levels we were seeing even one month ago.

Poe Fratt

Really helpful. Thank you.

Aristides Pittas

Thank you.

Operator

We reached end of our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back over for any further or closing comments

Aristides Pittas

Thank you all for listening in today. We'll be back to you at the beginning of, what is it, middle of May.

Anastasios Aslidis

Middle of May. Latter part of --

Aristides Pittas

Yes. With the Q1 results.

Anastasios Aslidis

Hopefully, it will be better if the market helps us.

Aristides Pittas

Exactly.

Anastasios Aslidis

Thank you all again.

Operator

Thank you. That concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.