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Fifteen years ago we used that same headline for a year during which actual performance lagged the perception that shipping values would soon soar. For our 2009 Annual Ranking of the world’s most important public shipping companies, much the same could be said in many camps. Returns to shareholders, while not the frothy sort, as seen in 2007, were nonetheless good despite difficult operating results.
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As our model churned out this year’s rankings of publicly traded companies, something was clearly amiss. We looked at the top 10 finishers and could not find a tanker company. In the main, the top 10 finishers were dry bulk companies although there were included companies, which are peripherally involved in oil movement, but none simple tanker companies. As our daughter was recently studying the Constitution, the XVIII Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified January 16, 1919, crossed our mind:
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Last year, we wrote on these pages that 2008 was a year when profitability for shipping companies held up better than returns to shareholders. This was primarily due to the fact that the global financial and shipping crisis did not become fully evident until September of 2008, giving most shipping companies close to three quarters of strong financial results in 2008. The dramatic fall in share prices and cuts in dividends did not occur until the fourth quarter of 2008. As the financial markets are forward looking and financial results are backward looking, this was not entirely surprising.
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One would like to say that it is all about the markets. One year dry is up; the next it is tankers. And, in fact, that is frequently the case. In 2007 the dry sector dominated as it did again in 2009. In 2008, the results were a mix, but with a heavy preponderance of tanker companies at the top of the performance list. But is performance simply a function of your market focus?
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Shipping is somewhat of a bi-polar industry. On the one hand, we are probably the most global of all industries for which world trade is very dependent upon. Furthermore, history has shown that disruptions to the maritime industry (e.g., Suez Canal closings, Katrina in U.S. Gulf, etc.) can wreak havoc in the global economies. On the other hand, despite the higher profile of the shipping industry in recent years, many people in the industry still have somewhat of an inferiority complex that we are just a small and mature industry.
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In the Unites States today, recent college graduates have never faced a more difficult job environment. The government and universities are closely tracking their prospects as a window onto the state of the broader economic conditions. But shipping’s classes of 06, 07 and 08 have fared much better.
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We keep our methodology as consistent as possible from year to year so that it is possible to create a time series of data, or to just compare one year’s winner to another. Even with this in mind, though, it is important to update the methodologies and improve them over time. We constantly examine our financial ratios in order to better measure companies’ performance. The measures developed for the 2004 Rankings remain unchanged and are likely to remain so, giving us now six years of completely consistent comparison.
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At-a-glance financial profile of all 100 companies we ranked.
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An easy way to find your company or a potential client.
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Relied upon by owners, financiers, ship managers, brokers, lawyers and accountants for the past 20 years, Marine Money bridges the gap between ship owners and the shipping finance community. It provides in-depth analysis of the last deals, including structures, pricing and financing techniques used, as well as details on the lenders, principals and investors involved. Our staff is in the market every day gathering information on everything from single ship transactions to capital markets possibilities on behalf of our readers.
The magazine also features the ′Blue Pages′, a quick reference guide to most major ship finance transactions that are pending or have been completed in the last 12 months, including pricing, term, tenor, and structure. The “Blue Pages” also include a concise and accurate guide for those keeping abreast of syndicated and bilateral loans, partnerships, public and private debt and equity, securitizations, and/or mergers and acquisitions.