Thank you for standing by, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Synergy Maritime Holdings Corp. conference call on the third quarter and nine months ended September 30th, 2026 financial results. We have with us Mr. Stamatios Tsantanis, Chairman and CEO, and Mr. Stavros Gyftakis, Chief Financial Officer of Synergy Maritime Holdings Corp. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a question and answer session, at which time if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 1 on your telephone keypad. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. If you joined using device audio, click the raise hand button on your screen. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 1 again or click the lower hand button. Please be advised that this conference call is being recorded today, Thursday, November the 12th, 2026. The archived webcast of the conference call will soon be made available on the Synergy website, www.synergymaritime.com. To listen to the archived audio file, visit the Synergy website following the webcast and presentation section under the Investor Relations page. Many of the remarks today contain forward-looking statements based on current expectations. Actual results may differ materially from the results projected from those forward-looking statements. Stamatios Tsantanis, Theodora Mitropetrou Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone. Synergy delivered another highly profitable quarter, and our nine-month net income reached a record $61.9 million. In the third quarter, our fleet earned approximately $34.5 thousand on a time-charted equivalent basis, up 46% year-over-year, and adjusted EBITDA was $40.8 million. For the first nine months, adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $110.5 million, and adjusted earnings per share rose to $3.21, up from $0.60 last year. These results show the earnings power of our pure play capesize platform. They also allow us to increase shareholder returns and renew our fleet at the same time from a position of strength. Our Board of Directors has raised the quarterly cash dividend by 14% to 40 cents per share, which is double the first quarter level. This is our 20th consecutive quarterly dividend, five years without interruption, through good and bad market conditions. Cumulative cash dividends now reach about $3.59 per share and including buybacks we have returned approximately $117 million to our shareholders. Now to fleet investments, which have been our main focus since our last call. Since our second quarter results, we have added four more high-quality Cape Sizer Newcastle MAX vessels for a total of about $264 million. A modern 2019 built Japanese Cape Sizer, the Midnight Ship, joining our fleet in January 2027, a scrubber-fitted Newcastle MAX new building at Hengley for delivery in the first quarter of 2029, a scrubber-fitted cape-sized new building at the first-class Japanese shipyard for delivery in the second half of 2029, and a 2014-built Japanese Newcastle MAX for delivery in the second half of 2029. Our fleet investment program now stands at 12, Cape Size and Newcastle Max vessels consisting of nine new buildings and three modern Japanese-built second-hand vessels. That is about $855 million of investment and 2.3 million deadweight tons of new capacity, growing our fleet's current capacity by more than 50% over the next few years. We expect the contribution of the new acquisitions to our NAV EBITDA and cash flow to be very, very significant. Stavros further down will take you through the funding of this CAPEX. Our first Cape size new building at Hengli is now expected in January 2027, in a couple of months from now, about four months ahead of schedule, together with a midnight ship, that means Two modern Cape sizes will join our fleet at the start of next year, adding to our earnings from early 2027. At the same time, we continue to sell older vessels at the right time. We have agreed to sell the 2009-built Friendship, our oldest vessel to United Maritime, for $33 million with delivery in January of 2027. The deal was negotiated and approved by a special committee of independent directors. Delivery is expected in the first quarter of 2027, as I just said, generating approximately $20 million of net liquidity and a book gain of about $12 million. And Synergy will continue to manage the vessel while at United Maritime. Regarding the employment of the new ships, four out of the six vessels joining our fleet by the end of 2028, we have secured or we are close to securing multi-year charters with first-class charters. The structure is the same each time. A flow rate above the vessel's cash break-even from day one plus profit sharing above a certain set level. That means that downside protection from delivery is secured and upside when the market is strong will also benefit our shareholders. On the commercial side, our index-linked charters give us direct exposure to a strong market and our conversions options let us lock in rates when the market makes sense. For the fourth quarter, we have fixed about 86% of our operating days at close to $33,000 per day on a time chart equivalent basis. Based on the current FFA curve, we expect a fourth quarter time chart equivalent at about $33,300 per day. That puts 2026 on track to be a record profitable year for Synergy. We have also started to lock in good rates for 2027. We have converted four vessels so far to fixed rates, and that excludes the new buildings, at an average of about $35,000 a day, while the rest of the fleet keeps its index linked exposure. We might also consider some additional fixtures in the near future. Finally, our existing charters continue to be renewed with the chain charters, a clear sign of demand for our well-maintained and fuel-efficient vessels. With that, I will now pass the call to Stavros for the financial review, and I will come back to this call to discuss the market fundamentals. Stavros, please go ahead.

Thank you, Stamatis, and welcome to everyone joining today's call. I will focus on our financial results before turning to our liquidity leverage and the funding profile of the Fleet Investment Program. For the third quarter, net revenues increased to $57.5 million from $47 million in the prior year period, while net income more than doubled to $26 million from $12.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $40.8 million from $28.9 million and adjusted earnings per share was $1.25 compared with $0.67 in the third quarter of 2025. For the first nine months, net revenue increased by 43% to $155.2 million, while net income rose to a record $61.9 million and adjusted net income reached $69 million. Adjusted EPS was $3.21 compared with $0.60 in the prior year period. Importantly, operating cash flow reached approximately 82.2 million, providing substantial internally generated capital to support both shareholder distributions and fleet investments. Turning now to the balance sheet, we ended the third quarter with close to 168 million of cash and restricted cash and total debt outstanding of 419 million, including our 100 million euro unsecured bond. Net loan-to-value ratio, including the outstanding bond principal and after deducting cash reserves as at the end of the quarter, stood at 28%, leaving us with financial flexibility as we continue to deploy capital. At quarter end, we had invested $109 million in our fleet renewal program, and today this figure has increased to approximately $127 million, or 15% of the program's capex. So far, most of the payments towards the shipyards or previous owners of the vessels have come from the company's own funds. Let me now put the remaining investment commitments into context, which I repeat are staggered through 2029. So in 2027, we expect to pay approximately 354 million with approximately 177 million already covered by secured financing. and this without having concluded on the vessel specific financing of two vessels. These are the 2019 built midnight ship which will be delivered to us within the first quarter of 2027 and the Japanese new building Cape size scheduled for delivery in July 2027. We have seen strong interest from existing and new lenders in financing these ships and estimate the debt capacity at approximately 100 million. Now beyond 2027, approximately 75 million is payable in 2028 and 298 million in 2029. So we believe we are very well positioned to execute these remaining investment commitments while maintaining a moderate leverage profile. The funding base is diversified. We have already paid approximately 127 million towards the program, primarily from own resources. We have committed bilateral financing arrangements for five vessels. We have the proceeds of our 100 million euro unsecured bond, and we entered the quarter with approximately 168 million of liquidity. These sources are complemented by operating cash flow and proceeds from selected disposals as the renewal program progresses. Importantly, we believe this remaining amount can be financed at moderate leverage levels, allowing us to complete our fleet renewal program while preserving balance sheet strength and financial flexibility. As Stamatis mentioned earlier, the multi-year employment secured or being finalized for the first wave of new building deliveries also strengthens the financial profile of the program. The contractual flow rates are expected to cover the vessel's cash break-evens from commencement, providing visibility around operating cash generation and debt service, while the market-linked components preserve upside. From a financing perspective, this materially reduces the cash flow risk associated with the initial delivery phase. So, the key financial message is pretty straightforward. We entered the next phase of the investment program with substantial liquidity, strong operating cash generation, diversified funding sources, and a staggered payment profile. Based on our current assumption, we expect to execute the program while maintaining prudent leverage and continuing to preserve capacity for shareholder distributions. That concludes my financial review. I will now turn the call back to Stamatis for a discussion of the Cape Size Market outlook and broader industry fundamentals. Stamatis, please go ahead.

Thank you, Stavros. 2026 has been a very strong year for the Cape Size Market so far, and it supports our pure play focus. Year-to-date, the Baltic Cape Size Index, the BCI, for 180,000 deadweight vessels has averaged at about $33,500 a day. The third quarter averaged about $41,400 a day and the index peaked at about $50,000 a day in early September, its highest level since 2021. Ton-mile demand keeps growing and accelerating from 3.7% in 2024 to 5.5% in 2026. But the main reason for the strong market is the low vessel supply. For three years in a row, the effective fleet growth has been below the ton mile demand growth, and this year it is below 1.6%. If we add more dry docking days, congestion, and other inefficiencies, effective fleet growth this year is actually below 1%. On the supply, the Cape Size Auto Book stands at about 400 vessels, and that includes, of course, options, Newcastle Maxis, and bigger ships altogether. against a fleet of about 2,000 vessels altogether. At the same time, about 190 vessels are already 20 years or older and another 830 ships, about 40% of today's fleet, will reach 20 years of age in the coming years. In addition, we expect a large part of the fleet to struggle to meet efficiency, environmental and charter requirements in the near future. In the near term, about 99 new buildings, again Cape Size, Newcastle Max and all that, are due in 2027, or more than 4% nominal fleet growth. But only 28 of them are due in the first half of the year, which is about the same as the first half of 2026. So we see a positive supply picture for the next several years. The market needs only modest demand growth to stay very strong. On demand, growing long-haul iron ore and bauxite exports from the Atlantic have been a key driver for cape sizes. At the same time, lower Indonesian cold exports, mostly carried on smaller ships, have moved more cold cargoes into cape sizes. Looking ahead, the Simandou iron ore project in West Africa is ramping up faster than expected, which supports cape size demand for years to come. In China, domestic iron ore output is down about 5% year over year. Despite a small uptick in October, the trend is clear. Less local iron ore and more high-quality imports from Brazil, West Africa and Australia. We expect this to continue as long as ample seaborne supply keeps iron ore prices below what most Chinese mines need to make money. Bauxite exports from West Africa are up about 21% from an already increased previous year, and bauxite was the biggest case size demand driver for the first and third quarters. With the rainy season ending, we expect strong volumes again in the fourth quarter. Growth may slow from the very fast pace of the past three years, but China's alumina refineries keep using more imported bauxite. So these long haul cargos remain a very solid support. And because the West Africa rainy season runs opposite to Brazil, first quarter exports are now stronger than the past. Over the longer term, global demand for aluminum and steel keeps growing, driven by exports of finished goods, logistics networks, next generation telecoms, data centers, and electric vehicles, and of course, increased energy needs. The Cape-sized market may see some volatility in 2027, especially given the uncertainty around Chinese commodity demand. But the structural drivers of ton-mile growth remain in place, and we remain very positive on the long-term outlook. We believe our long-term charters of the new buildings are indexing the exposure and our proven hedging program sets us very well ahead for the years to come. To conclude, 2026 so far has shown the earnings power and cash generation of Synergy's fully focused platform. We expect to enter 2027 with strong liquidity, our first new vessels about to deliver more earnings visibility and a proven commitment to shareholder returns. Our focus now is simple. Deliver the program we have built and turn it into a long-term value per share. With that, I will now turn the call over to the operator for any questions you may have. Operator, please take the call. Thank you.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star 1 and 1 on your telephone, or if you've joined via device audio, click the raise hand button and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 and 1 again or click the lower hand button. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Thank you. Our first question today comes from Liam Burke from B Reilly Securities. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Stamatios, Stavros. Hi, Liam. Good morning. Good morning, Liam. Stamatios, the rates, Cape Size rates backed off from the peak, but settled in at a floor at about $30,000 a day before coming, bouncing back up again. That's a pretty high floor. Does that surprise you that the rates settled in that, you know, the higher lows? And how does that bode for the, you know, for the 2027th?

No, not really. I mean, it didn't surprise us. We were hoping and we were expecting to see a rally until the end of the year. Some other companies reporting yesterday, they also said that they expect Q1 of 27 to be really strong. We're very comfortable for the next 12 to 18 months altogether, not only because the actual ton-mile demand will remain healthy, but also the supply of ships remains very, very well disciplined and contained. would not really anticipate that. You will see volatility. The volatility usually arises from certain short-term positional congestion matters, such as North China typhoons and mostly weather-related issues. So that will continue to happen. There will be a lot of tonnage unwinding and congesting from time to time. But if you ask me whether the FFA represents a good picture for 2027, I will say that yes, a bit more conservative than we expect. But I think that around 32 to 35,000, it's a good estimate for 2027, even though we expect to see the market much higher.

Great. And the other thing I thought was unusual is usually the sale and purchase market for Cape size assets would be more active. It doesn't look like there are a lot of transactions out there, even though rates are high, which should pull up assets and stimulate the secondhand market.

Yeah, well, the answer here is twofold. First of all, the new buildings. I mean, people would love to have more new buildings being ordered for 27, 28, 29 like we have, but it's impossible because the actual slots at the yards have been fully tied up and there's no availability. So We are amongst the few lucky companies that have secured a very good order book for the next three years, and that's great. Now, the older tonnage here, you have a big spread between bid and ask. Sellers are asking crazy high prices, and buyers are willing to pay, but not the crazy premiums that people anticipate. So that's why, I mean, if you see, let's say, a 16-, 17-year-old ship asking at... Theodora Mitropetrou Thank you, and nice to hear from you. Thank you.

Thank you. Next question today is from Mark Reichman from Noble Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for taking our questions. The first question I wanted to start with is just kind of some visibility on the number of ships operating over the next several quarters. So you have 18 vessels operating today. You've got the four new bills that will be delivered in 2027. So if we take like 18 vessels, plus you're going to have two in the first quarter of 2027, minus one, which is the friendship. I was just kind of wondering if you could just kind of walk us through your expectation for the number of ships operating today. over the course of the fourth quarter through the four quarters of 2027. And can we safely assume that you'll divest maybe two more vessels that haven't been announced, you know, when we're considering our 2027 estimates?

Well, that's actually a great estimate, yes. I mean, first of all, the plan, like you described, is very accurate. We expect to have two ships coming in in January and one ship to leave the fleet also in January. Now, as we see, you know, the additional deliveries coming in later in 2027, we might sell one or two of the eldest ships back. So I would say 20 vessel end of the year and as an average for 2027, 19 for average of 2027 and 20 at year end of 2027 appears to be right.

Okay. And then in terms of these new builds, you know, when we think about our 2027 estimates, you know, I don't know that you can really provide any visibility on 2027 average fleet TCE, but what about the daily vessel operating expenses? Would you expect to have these new builds to have a positive impact on that? Just kind of your thoughts on, you know, with this change in the mix in the fleet, you know, are there any Theodora Mitropetrou

will see a decrease on the operating expenses because we have sustained a very significant vessel dry dock the past few years on our fleet and we don't have any dry docks in 2027, very few we have. Plus the new buildings will normalize at much lower levels than the older ones. So overall, if you ask me as a prediction, and again that's a very wild estimate, I believe that the overall expenses on an OPEX basis Stavros Gyftakis, Stamatios Tsantanis, Theodora Mitropetrou

Did you say that in 2027 you expect very few dry dock days or off-hire days?

We have four altogether. We're in discussions with the charters as to when the ships will be available to go to the dry dock. So I cannot give you an exact quarter allocation of the off-hire days, but happy to discuss that offline with our CFO in the next few days and he will give you the exact guidance that we give everybody.

Okay, but would our current estimate of 125 days in 2027, would you say that's in the ballpark, or do you want to just hold off?

A bit less, Mark, a bit less, like 100 days would be more accurate. I mean, four ships, 25 days per ship, that's a bit more accurate.

Okay, and then just the last question, Stavros, you did a great job in terms of talking about the capital commitments and the payments in 2027, 2028, and 2029. and I was just kind of curious, what percentage of the remaining commitments do you expect to finance with debt versus internally generated cash flow?

I'll answer, and I will answer directly to your questions, but before saying that, because, I mean, there's always a question mark when companies, I mean, commence these big or seemingly aggressive capital programs. The most important thing for you and for everyone listening in this call is is to note that we have already paid in equity 15% of the CAPEX. So even if we wanted to do all the remaining CAPEX on debt, these financing solutions are available in this market. So if we wanted to go 85% leverage on the CAPEX, basically the program is already funded. But we will not do that. We will go more conservatively. So you can assume that around 65% to 70% of the remaining CAPEX commitments will be funded through debt and the rest from our current cash reserves, vessel sales, and funds generated through operations. And we feel very comfortable that we can cover this in the mix that I described.

Okay. Well, that's very helpful, and thank you so much.

Very welcome. Have a great day.

Thank you. Take the next question. This is from Kate Sullivan from Maxim Group. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you. And a lot of activity post the quarter with the acquisitions and the additional new builds. And first on the new build delivery timing for January, and you said four months ahead of schedule. I'm interested in what caused that, deficiencies at the shipyard or other considerations?

Well, I mean, yes. First of all, good morning, Tate. The answer is the Hengli shipyard in China has been performing better than we had anticipated and expected. And, of course, giving the ship four or five months earlier, that means additional revenues for the company of a new building vessel. So that's good news. So it's just operational efficiencies, operating efficiencies of Hengli shipyard that has been so far performing way better than anticipated.

And then with that January delivery, and you had previously announced the contract at a premium to the BCI 180 index and forward rates on that index, about $38,000. Have you quantified the significant premium that you get on the new ships at all, Stavros or Stamatios?

$125,000, I think. If I remember well, it's $125,000. But again, this is a contract which is a little bit... You know, it has a floor, it has a ceiling, and then it has profit sharing on top of that. So, you know, no matter what happens, the company will earn a base rate that is above the break-even of the vessel. And then there's a floor up until $28,000, $29,000, and then $50,000, $50,000 above that on 125% premium to the BCI. So overall, we're very, very happy with this kind of fixture. It's a very fair representation of the ship. It's going to be the first untested vessel that we take from Hengli. But so far from what we hear from other companies, the description and representation of the speed and consumption appears to be very accurate at 125 of the BCI.

Thank you. And then my last question. Do you have, I mean, you went from seven, if I was counting, seven new builds when you announced the second quarter to 12 now. Were some of those related to exercise and options on existing new build agreements, I assume?

Well, the new buildings are actually nine and we have three second-hand ships. So some of the second-hand ships are actually coming together with the new buildings. So two of the second-hand ships who have agreed to acquire and take delivery in 29, they are packet deals together with the new buildings. And that's why they have such a low price compared to their actual value today. The only new vessel that we agreed to acquire recently is the one that we're taking delivery in January, which is the Midnight Ship, and that is a 2019-built Japanese vessel, and that's the only vessel that we agreed to acquire relatively recently, a couple of months ago. So overall 12 ships at $855 million as a contract price, assuming that this carries maybe $100 million of a premium If you adjust it for market values, I think it's a terrific spot for the company.

Great to see and thank you for all the comments about the spending cadence in 27, 28, 29. So thank you. I think I'm all set. Have a good day.

Thank you. Have a great day.

Thank you. And I'll take the next question. This is from Christopher Bathskier from Arctic Securities. Please go ahead.

Hello guys, thank you for thanking my question. So, if we look into Q1 now, we have the paper market at around $30,000 per day, which is historically very strong. But just have a look on your fleet overview now. All of your vessels, except for one, have FFA conversion options. So, how do you see sort of the Theodora Mitropetrou is the main driver behind www.theodorasmitropetrou.com

about having a strong Q1. We totally agree with that. And overall, we believe that not so much bauxite but also the Simandou project will continue to ramp up and deliver some very, very healthy volumes for the remainder of 27. Already in 26, it has exceeded the expectations of exports by the founders of the Simandou project. So we anticipate that 2027 will also be very strong from volumes of iron ore going out. Bauxite, you know, whether that's 20 millions up or down, you know, I don't think it's going to make a material difference. But overall, we also see that bauxite exports will continue to be very strong for 2027.

Okay, and for the remainder of the year on both sides, do you see any downside here with export restrictions from Guinea, or do you see that playing out?

Well, you know, right now we are in the beginning of, well, the 12th of November, so whatever is allocated for the end of the year has been allocated. All the ships going towards the west have pretty much certain orders, whether to go to Simandou, whether to go to Nwadibu, whether to go to the north part of America or Brazil. So pretty much the orders are out there, and you have very clear visibility as to how many ships are ballasting towards the west. I do not really anticipate any material changes because it's pretty much priced in whatever the volumes for the remainder of the year will happen. And we know all the ships have instructions so far.

Thank you very much. Have a good day.

Very welcome. Have a great afternoon.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating and you may now disconnect. Speakers, please stand by.