Global Ship Lease (GSL) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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DATE

Mon, Nov. 9, 2026

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Chief Executive Officer – Thomas A. Lister
• Executive Chairman – Georgios Youroukos
• Chief Financial Officer – Tassos Psaropoulos

TAKEAWAYS

• Contracted Revenue — $3.4 billion as of Sept. 30, 2026, representing forward cover over an average of 3.5 years.
• Newbuilding Program — 17 vessels ordered in total, with 15 ships already secured by multiyear charters and debt financing.
• Anticipated EBITDA — $1 billion expected from the initial charters of 15 newbuildings, covering approximately 75% of their $1.33 billion contract price.
• Annualized Dividend — $2.75 per common share, following a 25% increase in the quarterly supplemental dividend.
• Syndicated Loan Facility — $1 billion seven-year facility priced at SOFR plus 1.5% to support the newbuild program.
• Cash Position — $636 million at quarter end, including $141 million in restricted cash and dry powder for capital expenditures.
• Revenue Day Coverage — 100% of revenue days covered for the remainder of 2026, 98% for 2027, and 74% for 2028.
• Gain on Vessel Sales — $33 million expected from the opportunistic sale of four aging ships at the end of their existing charters.
• Cost of Debt — 4.86% as of Sept. 30, 2026, a reduction from over 7.56% at the end of 2018.
• Margin Over SOFR — 2.26%, representing a reduction of over 400 basis points since 2018.
• Daily Breakeven Rate — $9,500 per ship, reflecting a decrease from over $12,000 per ship eight years ago.
• Net Fleet Leverage — 0.3x on an adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDA basis, down from 8.4x in 2018.
• Red Sea Trade Volume — 20% of global containerized trade passed through the region prior to recent disruptions.
• Capacity Absorption — 10% of effective global containership capacity was estimated to be absorbed by rerouting vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.
• Segment Order Book Ratio — 27% to 28% for the midsize and smaller segments, compared to 62% for ships over 10,000 TEU.
• Net Fleet Growth Projection — 3% estimated growth for the sub-10,000 TEU fleet through 2030 if all ships 25 years or older are scrapped.
• Newbuilding Option Exercise — $163 million for two ultra-high reefer wide beam ships scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2029.

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RISKS

• Lister stated, “the situation remains unsettled, highly dynamic, and with clear implications for the long term,” regarding the impact of the Iran conflict on containerized trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Lister noted that “risks are reviewed on a per-vessel, per-transit basis” for Red Sea and Suez Canal passages due to the ongoing security situation.

SUMMARY

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (GSL +4.18%) reported a strategy focused on fleet renewal and balance sheet optimization during the third quarter. Management stated that the company increased its forward revenue visibility and raised the annualized dividend for common shareholders. The company is currently executing an order for newbuilding vessels, most of which are supported by multiyear charters and a new syndicated loan facility. Management indicated that these investments are intended to replace aging vessels in the midsize and smaller container ship segments where supply remains constrained.

• Youroukos noted that “liner operators are building slack into a system that was previously oriented towards leaningness, efficiency and capacity optimization,” which has increased demand for smaller vessels.
• Lister observed that “growth in demand for containerized transport has far outstripped investment in shoreside infrastructure,” contributing to persistent port congestion.
• George Youroukos noted that ships opening in 2027 are “considered prompt” in the current high-demand market, allowing for favorable forward fixing.
• Youroukos stated the company chose to enter the newbuild market when it “softened for a bit” to acquire a multipurpose ship design intended to replace older Panamax vessels.
• Management reported that the initial charters for the newbuilds represent “around 25% of the ships’ useful lives,” leaving significant long-term earnings potential for the company.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• Adjusted EBITDA: A non-GAAP measure of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, adjusted for specific non-recurring or non-cash items.
• Liner Operator: A company that operates ships on regular, scheduled routes between specific ports.
• Panamax: A class of container ships sized to fit through the original locks of the Panama Canal.
• Reefer: A refrigerated shipping container used for the transportation of temperature-sensitive cargo.
• SOFR: Secured Overnight Financing Rate, a benchmark interest rate for dollar-denominated loans.
• TEU: Twenty-foot equivalent unit, a standard measure of container ship capacity.
• Wide-beam: A vessel design with a broader width than traditional ships, providing increased stability and cargo capacity.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Global Ship Lease Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Thomas Lister, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship Lease. Please go ahead.

Thomas A. Lister: Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Global Ship Lease Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. You can find the slides that accompany today’s presentation on our website at www.globalshiplease.com. As usual, Slides 2 and 3 remind you that today’s call may include forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and assumptions and are, by their nature, inherently uncertain and outside of the company’s control. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to many factors, including those described in the safe harbor section of the slide presentation.

We would also like to direct your attention to the Risk Factors section of our most recent annual report on our 2025 Form 20-F, which was filed in March of 2026. You can find the form on our website or on the SEC’s. All of our statements are qualified by these and other disclosures in our reports filed with the SEC. We do not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. The reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to which we will refer during this call to the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP usually refer to the earnings release that we issued this morning, which is also available on our website.

I’m joined as usual today by our Executive Chairman, George Youroukos, and by our Chief Financial Officer, Tassos Psaropoulos. George will begin the call with high-level commentary on GSL and our industry, and then Tassos and I will take you through our recent activity, quarte

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