Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. – EXM – Pleased that Excel recorded an operating profitable 4th quarter

Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM), an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers and an international provider of worldwide seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, announced today its operating and financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2011.

Fourth Quarter and Twelve-Month 2011 Highlights & Recent Developments:

EXM Operating profitable fourth quarter and twelve-months ended December 31, 2011 with Adjusted EBITDA at $34.6 million $162.8 million and net cash provided from operating activities at $8.9 million and $104.3 million, respectively.

Agreement with all the lenders under the $1.4 billion syndicated credit facility on the amendment, for a period commencing on March 31, 2012 and ending on December 31, 2013, of the amortization schedule, the collateral value clause and certain of the financial covenants of the facility in order to defer principal repayments due over this period and align the facility with current charter market conditions and associated volatility in vessel market values; and Increased charter coverage to 100% of the available days of the Capesize vessels and to 61% of the available days of the entire fleet for the year ending December 31, 2012.

EXM Management Commentary:

Pavlos Kanellopoulos, Chief Financial Officer of EXM, stated, “Against a declining freight environment, we are pleased that Excel recorded an operating profitable 4th quarter while strengthening its balance sheet. The structural imbalance of the dry bulk market has continued to weigh on asset values and freight rates in 2012. In response to this, the Company has proactively reached a comprehensive agreement with its lenders under the $1.4 billion syndicated credit facility to defer up to $100 million of installments originally scheduled for payment over the next several quarters to 2016 and realign certain covenants through December 2013. In addition, we continue to enter into fixed rate time charters for our open vessels with solid counterparties, reaching a fleet – wide time charter coverage of 61% for 2012, which should enable us to increase our cash flow visibility. We believe that all these strategic actions create a satisfactory runway for the next 18 months and combined with our proven track record of operational excellence, position the Company to participate when economic conditions and the shipping markets eventually improve.”

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.