ATHENS, Greece, May 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Performance Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ: PSHG), (the “Company”), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of vessels, today announced that it expects basic earnings per share for the quarter ending March 31, 2020, to be within a range of $0.01 to $0.03 per share. The Company also announced that as of March 31, 2020 and April 30, 2020, cash and cash equivalents amounted to $14.2 million and $27.5 million, respectively. The Company considers highly liquid investments such as time deposits and certificates of deposit with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents are primarily held in U.S. dollars. Long-term debt outstanding under the Company’s facility with Nordea as of March 31, 2020 amounted to $56.7 million.
The Company stated that it is providing guidance for the first quarter of 2020 due to the unprecedented circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has not determined whether to provide such guidance for future periods.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2020, the Company purchased an aggregate of 452,768 shares of its common stock under its previously announced share buyback program at an average price per share of $0.81.
As of April 30, 2020, the Company had 50,520,385 shares of common stock issued and outstanding.
About the Company
Performance Shipping Inc. is a global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of vessels. The Company’s current fleet of vessels is employed primarily on spot charters with leading charterers.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.
The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "anticipate," "intends," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.
In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for our vessels, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.
Website: www.pshipping.com