DHT Holdings (NYSE:DHT) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company's first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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The full earnings call is available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/2t2juoz5

Summary

DHT Holdings reported Q1 2026 revenues on a TCE basis of $157 million, with an adjusted EBITDA of $133 million and net income of $164.5 million, including gains from vessel sales.

The company completed the delivery of three new vessels and planned divestment of older ships, with significant time charter contracts secured to balance spot market exposure.

DHT Holdings maintains a strong balance sheet with $350 million in total liquidity and low financial leverage, supporting continued fleet growth and shareholder dividends.

The board approved a $0.64 per share dividend for Q1 2026, maintaining their policy of distributing 100% of ordinary net income.

The company highlighted strategic fleet positioning, capitalizing on spot market opportunities while securing long-term charters, and emphasized readiness for potential market shifts due to geopolitical tensions.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q1 2026 DHT Holdings Inc. Earnings Conference. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers' presentations there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session you will need to press star one and one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised to withdraw your question. Please press star one and one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, CFO Lila Halverson. Please go ahead.

Lila Halverson (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you. Good morning and good afternoon everyone. Welcome and thank you for joining DHT holdings first quarter 2026 earnings call. I am joined by DHT's President and CEO Svein Moxness. As usual we will go through financials and some highlights before we open up for your questions. The link to the slide deck can be found on our website dhttankers.com before we get started with today's call, I would like to make the following remarks. A replay of this conference call will be available on our website dhttankers.com until May 13th. In addition, our earnings press release will be available on our website and on the SEC EDGAR system as an exhibit to our Form 6K. As a reminder on this conference call we will discuss matters that are forward looking in nature. These forward looking statements are based on our current expectations about future events as detailed in our financial report. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations reflected in these forward looking statements. We are due to read our periodic report available on our website and on the SSEA EDGAR system including the risk factors in these reports. For more information regarding risks that we face. As usual, we will start the presentation with some financial highlights. In the first quarter of 2026 we achieved revenues on TCE basis of 157 million and adjusted EBITDA of 133 million. Net income came in at 164.5 million equal to $1.02 per share after adjusting for the 60 million gain on sale of DHT Europe and DHT China and a non cash fair value gain related to interest rate derivatives of 1.1 million. We had ordinary net income for the quarter of 103.4 million equal to 64 cents per share. Vessel operating expenses for the quarter were 19.1 million which included approximately 2 million in non recurring costs related to spares and consumables and GNA for the quarter was 5 million in terms of market performance, our vessels traded trading in the stock market earned an average of $91,700 per day while vessels on time shafters achieved $61,300 per day. The average combined TCE for the fleet in the quarter was $78,800 per day. We continue to maintain a very strong balance sheet supported by conservative leverage and robust liquidity. At the end of the first quarter total liquidity was 350 million consisting of 126 million in cash and 230 million available under our two revolving credit facilities. Following the repayment of 56 million in April under the Nordea revolving credit facility. Current availability under Route 2 RSS stands at 285.8 million. At quarter end, financial leverage was 16.8% based on market values for the fleet and net debt was 16.5 million per vessel which is well below estimated residual values. Looking at our cash flow, we began the quarter with 79 million in cash. From operations we generated 133 million in EBITDA. Debt repayment and cash interest totaled 20 million. Proceeds from sale of DHT Europe and DHT China amounted 201 million and 66 million was distributed to shareholders through a cash dividend. 2.8 million related to investments in vessels and 160 million was deployed towards investments in vessels under construction which included delivery of our first three new buildings. We also issued 91.5 million in long term debt. Changes in working capital and other Items amounted to 30 million and the quarter ended with 126 million in cash. With that I will turn the call over to Swank to go through the quarterly highlights.

Svein Moxness

Thank you Raja. We are very pleased with the well timed delivery of the first three or four new buildings in the Antelope class. The DHT Antelope delivered in January, the DHT Addax and DHT Gacelle in March. The fourth vessel, DHT Impala is expected to deliver this summer. This represents fleet renewal in conjunction with planned divestment of our three oldest ships built in 2007, two of which have been delivered. The last of the three, DHT Bahinia was sold for 51.5 million in the quarter and they expected to deliver in June July. We expect a capital gain of 34.2 million and cash proceeds of 50 and a half million from this last sale. Our planned increase of market exposure for the first half of this year had the objective not only to benefit from the spot market but also to balance this with selective new term employment. It has been a busy period with numerous contracts secured. First, the DHT Harrier built 2016 with their existing time charter due to expire, extended the contract for five years from January 26th at $47,500. It has two optional years priced at $49,000 and $50,000. We then secured three new one year time charters DHT Opal built 2012 for one year at 90,000 DHT Tiga built 2012 for one year at 94,000. DHT Redwood built 2011 for one year at 105,000. Further, one of our new buildings delivered into a five to seven year time charter with a key customer. Subsequent to the quarter end we secured two additional one year time charters for DHT Sunderbans built 2012 and DHT Amazon billed 2011 with average rate of $109,000 per day. As such, our five older ships are then out on one year time charter contracts averaging $101,000 per day. Back to you Laila.

Lila Halverson (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you. In line with our capital allocation policy of paying out 100% of ordinary net income as quarterly cash dividends, the Board has approved a dividend of $0.64 per share for the first quarter of 2026. This marks our 65th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. The shares will trade ex dividend on May 21st and the dividend will be paid on May 28th to shareholders of record as of May 21st. Here we also present our estimated P&L and cash breakeven levels for the last 3/4 of 2026. Our P&L breakeven for the period is estimated at 29,700 per day while our cash breakeven is estimated at 23,400 per day which reflects all through cash cost. The difference between our P and L and cash breakeven is estimated at $6,300 per day for the last three quarters. This discretionary cash flow will remain within the company and be allocated for general corporate purposes. On this slide we present an update on bookings to date for the second quarter of 2026. We expect 997 times charter days covered for the second quarter at an average rate of $73,900 per day. This rate includes profit-sharing for the month of April and the base rate only for the months of May and June for contracts with profit sharing structures. We also anticipate 1025 spot days for the quarter of which 88% have already been booked at an average rate of $168,300 per day. The spot P and A breakeven for the quarter is estimated to be less than zero as the time chart earnings are expected to exceed forecasted costs. Turning to our 2026 dry dock schedule as shown on this slide, we have seven vessels scheduled for dry docking during 2026. DHT lion completed its second special survey and dry dock in the first quarter and this was completed on time and within expectations. Looking at the remainder of the program, four vessels, DHT Osprey, DHT Panther, DHT Puma and DHT Harrier are scheduled for their second special survey and dry dock. In addition, DHT Amazon and DHT Redwood are scheduled for their third special survey in drydock. Overall, the 2026 dry dock schedule is well planned, fully incorporated into our operating and capital expenditure outlook, and does not change our underlying view on fleet availability or cash flow generation. Importantly, this reflects our continued focus on maintaining a high quality fleet while preserving operational reliability and asset value over the long term. And then I'll turn the call back to Swain.

Svein Moxness

Thank you Lila we will now spend some time on what we see as the current market pillars, the future catalysts and our strategic positioning. We will here start with the current market pillars. The VCC market is, in our view, influenced by the following primary drivers. First, the basic supply demand fundamentals continue to support freight rates as evidenced during the second half of 2025 and the freight market strengthened without any special events taking place. Second, we experienced strategic fleet consolidation with the market structure having been strengthened by significant consolidation activity from a private aggregator during the first quarter of 2026. This is a historical first and the fleet demographics and fragmented ownership made this truly possible. We don't see this effort as a fly by night and expect it to positively influence our market going forward. Third, risk premiums driven by regional hostilities involving Iran have introduced significant risk premiums on certain trade routes resulting in substantial earnings differences between the various trading routes. This is not a fundamental driver but has alerted to the entire industry to how vulnerable it is to curveballs. Fourth, near term loss in crude oil available for transportation from the Middle East Gulf is a risk. We believe, however, that this could be compensated by reduced vessel productivity, 1 increased transportation distances as refiners source barrels from further away and 2 approximately 10% of the VCC fleet being tied up either with cargo and waiting to exit the Gulf or waiting to load from Saudi Arabia's Western export facility for the sake of good order. We have no ships inside the Gulf when the conflict broke out. We have no ships inside currently and our fleet is fully operational now. Let's discuss the future catalysts. We believe several Emerging trends warrant specific attention as they are expected to provide longer term tailwinds for the large tanker market and our operations Sanction Relief and Trade Normalization Assuming conflicts will be resolved, potential sanctions relief on Venezuelan and Iranian crude exports would likely shift volumes from the shadow fleet to compliant operators, thereby expanding the addressable market for our vessels fleet modernization and demolition. We anticipate that the shift toward compliant trade will deprive the aging non compliant shadow fleet of employment, likely accelerating the retirement of substandard tonnage and further tightening global vessel supply. These two themes in combination could shrink the working fleet by 10, maybe 15% of capacity, energy Security and Inventory replenishment A heightened focus on national energy security could trigger long term crude oil inventory building, supporting transportation demand beyond immediate consumption needs. This team will likely change customer behavior from just in time to just in case. And finally, what is DHT's strategic positioning consistent with the outlook presented in our previous reports, we observed that end users are increasingly seeking to secure vessel capacity in response to tightening market conditions. As Lila noted, we positioned our fleet for the first half of the year to cease on this development, capturing spot market rewards whilst selectively securing term employment to reduce volatility and enhance earnings visibility. The delivery of our four VLCC new buildings this year is proving well timed with one vessel already commencing a long term charter with the key customers. Our disciplined capital allocation policy remains a priority, ensuring that the positive market developments and our positioning will reward shareholders and through quarterly cash dividends equal to 100% of ordinary net income.

OPERATOR

And with that we open up for questions. Operator thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, you will need to press Star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press Star one and one again. Our first question comes from the line of John Chapelle from Evercore. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

John Chapelle (Equity Analyst)

Thank you. Good morning or good afternoon. Svein Starting with that last slide in strategic options, quick two-parter obviously signed a lot of contracts at rates that no one could blame you for. Could you just help with the Gacelle rate? It's the one that wasn't disclosed in the press release and can help the transparency. And two, I know you like to keep some spot market market exposure. It keeps you in the conversation, helps understand flows even though the rates are still somewhat elevated and generating fantastic returns. Do you think for the most part you'd like to keep the remainder of the fleet in the spot market so you stay in the information flow?

Svein Moxness

Thank you John. As for your first question on the rate on Gacelle, that is the explicit agreement with the customer not to disclose the rate. So we are not at liberty. I apologize for that. Secondly, for this year we are now sort of closing in on 50% cover on time charter. Keep in mind that two of those ships have base rate with profit sharing elements on top with no ceilings. So they are partly taking part in the spot market when it comes to adding term business. We are quite content for now and we might really sit this year later on, but as of this moment we are very satisfied with the general positioning

John Chapelle (Equity Analyst)

of the company and the opportunities we see ahead. Okay, great. And then for a follow up, just kind of understanding the operational challenges and opportunities since your last conference call. Obviously we are seeing these headline rates that are eye watering, but they are very inconsistent depending on where the source is. When we see a headline rate, do we assume that that's something that DHT can achieve or do we have to take into account maybe some theoretical elements of that? Is there more waiting time or ballast time as you're moving the fleet around to areas that are maybe safer for the crew? And also taking into account bunker fuels. Just trying to understand when we see a number, is that a number that you can really get or is there a lot of different elements in it that maybe it's not quite the headline rate?

Svein Moxness

Yep. So the most referred to index and route has been what is called TD3C which is cargo loaded in Saudi Arabia and discharged in China. Obviously that route has not really been operational in general terms of the market, with some exceptions obviously as the many ship owners were not entertaining to enter the Persian Gulf. So it has been produced derivative pricing on two other low ports in the region, one being Yamdu, which is in the Red Sea, the western low ports of Saudi Arabia and secondly Fujairah which is outside of the Strait of Hormuz, which is in the UAE. So those pricings have been below the TD3c but certainly related to that as there's many similarities to the trade. But I think it's fair to say that there's a limited number of ships that have captured what the TD3C index has referred in the market. That's just the nature of how the game has been played the last few weeks. So on our part we managed to keep our fleet efficient without any operational disruptions. We have not taken on any excessive ballast or cost or expenditure to keep our fleet going. We're trying to, as good as we can, to be sort of ahead of the game. A bit. We've done a fair amount of business from the Atlantic where we also have a big COA with export of oil from the Atlantic basin to Asia. So that's where occupied also a few ships. So on our part we haven't really been impaired on our earnings, if I can say it that way.

John Chapelle (Equity Analyst)

Okay, that's a great update.

OPERATOR

Thanks, Vine. Thank you. We'll now move on to our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Sharif El Maghrabi from btig. Please go ahead. Your line.

Sharif El Maghrabi

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions, starting with the fleet, your fleet. The sale of your oldest vessels lines up pretty nicely with the delivery of new builds this year. So looking ahead, I'm curious how you're thinking about continued fleet growth. Seems like there's a fair amount of on the water opportunities, but maybe that tonnage skews older.

Svein Moxness

We are very happy with the fleet that we have. There are no ships in our fleet that are planned for divestments. We have a balance sheet that is sort of able to entertain fleet growth. So we're always on the lookout for opportunities. Right now that's been very hard to find, frankly. I wouldn't say because there's been, you know, other competing buyers for ships, but the competition has been a very healthy freight market. So, you know, potential sellers have opted to retain their ships in their operation to earn money simply. But as I said, we would like to continue to build the dsg. So at some point, hopefully there will be opportunities for us to invest in additional ships for the fleet.

Sharif El Maghrabi

Got it, thanks. And then second question.

Svein Moxness

You talked about the risk premium from the war in Iran. Obviously, hopefully that ends sooner rather than later, but whenever it does, how quickly could we see activity return to the Gulf? And more specifically, obviously, charters want you to go back as soon as possible. But what are some of the puts and takes there that you have to consider? Things like mariner risk or insurance coverage, stuff like that. I think we need to see high level of credibility to solution to the conflict and that we can expect whatever agreements that will be put in place will have a, you know, that can last. Because in all fairness, the news flow,

Sharif El Maghrabi

you know, over these last few weeks have been rather volatile with, you know, good news, bad news, almost trading each other every second day. So we can also react, I think, to good news one day and assume we can all sort of enter in the second day and the market sort of goes back to normal. And I don't think we would be alone in considering a situation like that. So credibility to sort of a solution has to be in place. And I think that that will take a bit longer than just a few more days. Right. So I think the key action we need to see now, of course, is that all these ships that are trapped inside the Gulf that they can exit safely. That will take a while. We believe There are some 57 VSCs inside the Gulf with cargo that is waiting to exit. Plus there are a lot of other ship types, not only tankers, but also inside that are waiting to resume operations. So I guess a lot of this has to be unwind if you like, for demonstrate that the passage through the strait is safe. Got it. Thanks for taking my questions.

OPERATOR

Thank you. We'll now move on to our next question. And our next question comes from the line of Omar Nokhta from Clarksons. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Omar Nokhta

Thank you. Hi Vine. Good afternoon. Hi Lila. Maybe just to follow up a little bit on the discussion points of Hormuz and risk premiums, are you able to talk a little bit about how from your perspective the risk premium across the different routes for getting inside Hormuz, since that's not really transacting, but outside of that, you mentioned Yambu Fujairah. Can you just talk a bit about how that risk premium has developed as this crisis has gone on and then also your willingness to transact in those areas.

Svein Moxness

Firstly, to entertain trades inside the Strait of Ormus was a non starter for us. We think it was a very easy decision. We have 25 on average on our employees on board these ships and to expose them to traits like this is not something we are willing to discuss. So secondly, I think initially Yambu Fujairah also had at least some academic risks to these areas. As people have gotten a bit more comfortable with these areas, those freights have sort of moved, you know, differently from where sort of the Persian Gulf freight potentially could be.

Omar Nokhta

So it's now closing in to be sort of more aligned with what Atlantic trades are offering. So now, or as of now, there's not really a big delta between these. It could be some positional issues and stuff like that. But I see there's some more normalization in pricing those two routes, ifu, Gyro and Yonder, compared to the rest of the markets. Okay, thank you. And how do you think, I guess about in a reopening scenario and let's say things go back to normal, which clearly, seemingly that seems difficult to anticipate. But just how do you think about the permanence of these new routes or at Least you know, these routes have gotten a bit more active. Do you think these are here to stay? And what do you kind of think about how that affects this market long term? Yanbu in the Red Sea has the capacity to, you know, on sort of super efficient operation, about 4 million barrels a day. So they can load two of these a day. That is not the new trade. That terminal has been there for many years and been serving certain markets, maybe not to its full capacity though. So I think whether that route is keeping that capacity or whether some of that cargo shifted back to the Gulf doesn't really impact the general efficiency of the market because it's a very similar type of duration for those voyages. When it comes to Fujairah. I think in the near term it's a bit hard to say. But what we would be curious to see how UAE's exit from OPEC will sort of unfold. I think they have had ambitions for quite some time to increase their quotas and as they now become free from opec they will of course also be free to decide how much they will produce. And you know, whether that will go out of Fagira only or also from the ports inside. We don't know yet exactly the ratios and how that will play out. But I think we should expect it to be more cargo in the water in general and maybe that will have a downward pressure on oil price but which will stimulate our business in general. Thank you. Got it. That makes sense. Thank you. Fine.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Thank you. We'll now move on to our next question. The next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Scott from Scott Asset Management. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Svein Moxness

Good morning. I have a question about the couple of ships that are on long term charter with profit sharing. I've always thought that the 5050 break for profit sharing was a very fair division of kind of risk and reward for the long term chartering market. But it requires some estimate of what that profit sharing is. How do you get to the profit sharing number? Is it often the Baltic index? Thank you for asking. So we don't disclose the details of

Jeffrey Scott

these contracts but the profit sharing mechanism is calculated on our ship's particular specification for fuel consumption and efficiency over that and it is the index based profit or calculation. So one charter has only one index at the sort of as the pricing base and the other one has a mix. So but none of these contracts are frustrated in any way by, you know, the quality changes we have seen recently. And we also noted that there's somebody now trying to pursue Baltic illegally. Whether that is, you know, whether that case has probability of going one or the other way, I don't know. But again, you know, the basis, which is the price mechanism in our charters are operational and we get paid by our customer. And there's no frustration in these systems. There's no conflict in that conversation. No. Okay.

OPERATOR

Thank you very much. Thank you. There are no further questions at this time, so I'll hand the call back to Svein for closing remarks.

Svein Moxness

Thank you very much to all for being interested in DHT and wishing you all a good day ahead. Thank you.

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