Global Ship Lease Reports Results for the Third Quarter of 2025

Forward contract cover locked in for 100% of 2025, 96% of 2026, and 74% of 2027.

Maximizing strategic optionality while also returning capital to shareholders.

Annualized dividend to increase to $2.50 per Class A Common Share.

ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE: GSL) (the “Company”, “Global Ship Lease” or “GSL”), an owner of containerships, announced today its unaudited results for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2025.

Third Quarter of 2025 and Year to Date Highlights and Other Recent Developments

George Youroukos, our Executive Chairman, stated: “Throughout 2025, the immense complexity and instability of the geopolitical situation and the heightened uncertainty around trade policy have stood in stark contrast to the consistency and strength of the mid-sized and smaller containership charter market. In this environment, our commitment to maximizing optionality in both our fleet and our balance sheet has continued to serve GSL well, both in terms of growing our quarterly earnings and in our ability to secure additional forward charter coverage at attractive rates for the multi-year period ahead. A growing number of external factors and disruptions is progressively fragmenting and reducing the efficiency of the global containership supply chain and, as a consequence, increasing the number of ships required to move a given quantity of cargo. Diffusion of intermediate and final manufacturing out from China and across Southeast Asia; companies in large consumer economies diversifying the sourcing and geographic origins of goods to manage supply chain risk; China developing and diversifying its end-markets; sudden trade policy changes disrupting or diverting trade flows – all of these factors are driving the liners to seek additional, flexible tonnage to meet the practical needs of their existing business. While routing, timing, and deployments are all in flux, the reality is that containerized trade continues to grow. With idle capacity in the global fleet almost non-existent, we continue to negotiate and sign attractively priced charters off forward positions. 2025 is fully covered, 2026 is approaching full coverage, and our open positions in 2027 are reducing fast. Driven by those newly signed charters that have brought our revenue backlog to nearly $2 billion over an average of 2.5 years, we have decided to once again increase our supplemental quarterly dividend. We are raising it by a further $0.40 per common share on an annualized basis, an uplift of 19%, which will push our overall dividend up to $2.50 per common share, annualized. By way of the supplemental dividend, we have now up-sized our overall dividend three times since 2Q 2024, by an aggregate annualized total of $1.00 per common share, an increase of 67%. We remain both vigilant and disciplined in our assessment of fleet renewal opportunities and believe that we are well positioned to act decisively when the right opportunities present themselves.”

Thomas Lister, our Chief Executive Officer, stated: “Surveying the current landscape of global containerized trade and an unprecedented array of unpredictable factors of potential relevance to our business, our conviction in a strategy of maximizing optionality has only grown stronger. We are continuing to de-lever our fortress balance sheet and achieve extraordinarily low breakeven costs despite an inflationary environment; to sign attractive charters that add to our cashflow and our multi-year backlog; and to combine prudence and agility in our opportunistic fleet renewal, while demonstrating our commitment to return capital to our shareholders. We acknowledge that the unknowns in the market are diverse and potentially material. However, with 2.5 years of fixed-rate charter coverage and financial leverage of 0.5x, we are confident that our disciplined, dynamic approach puts us in an excellent position to manage risks and capitalize on opportunities going forward.”

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA – UNAUDITED

(thousands of U.S. dollars)

(1) Operating Revenues are net of address commissions which represent a discount provided directly to a charterer based on a fixed percentage of the agreed upon charter rate and also includes the amortization of intangible liabilities, the effect of the straight lining of time charter modifications and the compensation from charterers for drydock and for other capitalized expenses for vessel upgrades or retrofits. Brokerage commissions are included in “Time charter and voyage expenses” (see below).

(2) Net Income available to common shareholders.

(3) Adjusted EBITDA, Normalized Net Income, and Normalized Earnings per Share are non-U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”) financial measures, as explained further in this press release, and are considered by Global Ship Lease to be useful measures of its performance. For reconciliations of these non-U.S. GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, please see “Reconciliation of Non-U.S. GAAP Financial Measures” below.

Operating Revenues and Utilization

Operating revenues derived from fixed-rate, mainly long-term, time-charters were $192.7 million in the third quarter of 2025, up $18.6 million (or 10.7%) on operating revenues of $174.1 million in the prior year period. The period-on-period increase in operating revenues was principally due to (i) the net effect of higher rates on charter renewals, (ii) the addition of the four Newly Acquired Vessels offset by the sale of Tasman, Keta and Akiteta in the first quarter of 2025 and (iii) a non-cash $4.1 million positive effect from straight lining time charter modifications and a non-cash $1.8 million increase in the amortization of intangible liabilities arising from below-market charters attached to certain vessel additions. There were 263 days of offhire and idle time in the third quarter of 2025, of which 137 were for scheduled drydockings, compared to 362 days of offhire and idle time in the prior year period, of which 333 were for scheduled drydockings. Utilization for the third quarter of 2025 was 95.9% compared to utilization of 94.2% in the prior year period.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, operating revenues were $575.5 million, up $46.9 million (or 8.9%) on operating revenues of $528.6 million in the comparative period, mainly due to (i) the net effect of higher rates on charter renewals (ii) the addition of the four Newly Acquired Vessels offset by the sale of Tasman, Keta and Akiteta in the first quarter of 2025 and (iii) a non-cash $5.6 million positive effect from straight lining time charter modifications and a non-cash $5.4 million increase in the amortization of intangible liabilities arising from below-market charters attached to certain vessel additions offset by an increase in off hire days. There were 851 days of offhire and idle time in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 of which 612 were for scheduled drydockings, compared to 619 days of offhire and idle time in the prior year of which 519 were for scheduled drydockings. Utilization for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 was 95.5% compared to utilization of 96.7% in the prior year period.

Our revenue origin by country, using the respective head office location of each of our charterers as a proxy for origin, for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, was as follows:

The table below shows unaudited fleet utilization data for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, and for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021.

As of September 30, 2025, three regulatory drydockings were in progress and three further regulatory drydockings are anticipated.

Vessel Operating Expenses

Vessel operating expenses, which are primarily the costs of crew, lubricating oil, repairs, maintenance, insurance and technical management fees, were up 11.8% to $52.1 million for the third quarter of 2025, compared to $46.6 million in the prior year period. The increase of $5.5 million was mainly due to (i) the addition of the four Newly Acquired Vessels offset by the sale of Tasman, Keta and Akiteta in the first quarter of 2025, (ii) an increase in stores, spares and maintenance expenses for planned main engine maintenance and overhaul of diesel generators as well as main engine annual spares delivery due to timing of planned schedule, and (iii) the impact of inflation on fees and expenses, including management fees. The average cost per ownership day in the quarter was $8,199, compared to $7,447 for the prior year period, up $752 per day, or 10.1%.

For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025, vessel operating expenses were $152.6 million, or an average of $8,017 per day, compared to $141.6 million in the comparative period, or $7,601 per day, an increase of $416 per ownership day, or 5.5%. The increase of $11.0 million was mainly due to (i) the addition of the four Newly Acquired Vessels offset by the sale of Tasman, Keta and Akiteta in the first quarter of 2025, (ii) an increase in crew expenses following our decision to increase the number of seafarers on board to improve the vessels’ conditions, (iii) an increase in stores, spares and maintenance expenses for planned main engine maintenance and overhaul of diesel generators as well as main engine annual spares delivery due to timing of planned schedule, and (iv) the impact of inflation on fees and expenses, including management fees.

Time Charter and Voyage Expenses

Time charter and voyage expenses comprise mainly commissions paid to ship brokers, the cost of bunker fuel for owner’s account when a ship is off-hire or idle, and miscellaneous owner’s costs associated with a ship’s voyage. Time charter and voyage expenses were $7.0 million for the third quarter of 2025, compared to $6.4 million in the prior year period due to (i) an increase in voyage administration costs and operational requests from charterers and (ii) an increase in commissions on charter renewals at higher rates, offset by decreases in bunkering expenses due to lower off hire days.

For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025, time charter and voyage expenses were $18.6 million, or an average of $975 per day, compared to $17.1 million in the comparative period, or $915 per day, an increase of $60 per ownership day, or 6.6% mainly due to increased commissions on charter renewals at higher rates and increase in bunkering expenses due to higher off hire days.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization for the third quarter of 2025 was $30.7 million, compared to $25.0 million in the prior year period. The increase was mainly due to the 12 drydockings completed after September 30, 2024 and the addition of the four Newly Acquired Vessels in December 2024 offset by the sale of Tasman, Keta and Akiteta in the first quarter of 2025.

Depreciation and amortization for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 was $90.8 million, compared to $73.8 million in the comparative period, mainly due to the factors noted above plus the acquisition of the four Newly Acquired Vessels in December 2024 offset by the sale of Tasman, Keta and Akiteta in the first quarter of 2025.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses were $3.7 million in the third quarter of 2025, compared to $3.9 million in the comparative period.

General and administrative expenses were $12.4 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025, compared to $13.0 million in the comparative period. The movement was mainly due to the decrease in payroll expenses following the retirement of our former Chief Executive Officer effective March 31, 2024 plus a reduction in the non-cash charge for stock-based compensation expense.

Gain on sale of vessels

Tasman (5,900 TEU, built 2000), Akiteta (2,200 TEU, built 2002), and Keta (2,200 TEU, built 2003) were sold for an aggregate gain of $28.3 million in the first quarter of 2025.

Adjusted EBITDA 1

Adjusted EBITDA was $130.2 million for the third quarter of 2025, up from $123.3 million for the prior year period, with the net increase being mainly due to increased revenue from charter renewals at higher rates and the addition of the four Newly Acquired Vessels.

Adjusted EBITDA for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 was $396.7 million, compared to $371.1 million for the comparative period, an increase of $25.6 million or 6.9% mainly due to increased revenue from charter renewals at higher rates.

Interest Expense and Interest Income

Debt as at September 30, 2025 totaled $731.6 million, after inclusion of the four Newly Acquired Vessels, comprising $330.0 million of secured bank debt collateralized by vessels, $192.5 million of 2027 Secured Notes collateralized by vessels, and $209.1 million under sale and leaseback financing transactions. As of September 30, 2025, 17 of our vessels were unencumbered.

Debt as at September 30, 2024 totaled $688.0 million, comprising $397.6 million of secured bank debt collateralized by vessels, $245.0 million of 2027 Secured Notes collateralized by vessels, and $45.4 million under sale and leaseback financing transactions. As of September 30, 2024, 16 vessels were unencumbered.

Interest and other finance expenses for the third quarter of 2025 were $9.5 million, down from $12.5 million for the prior year period. The decrease was due to (i) the non-cash write off of deferred financing costs of $2.7 million on the full repayments of six of our credit facilities and two of our sale and leaseback agreements, and (ii) a prepayment fee of $0.7 million on the full repayment of the sale and leaseback agreement with CMBFL back in 2024, offset by the fact that our additional floating debt was not covered by the caps since our interest rate caps hedge 76% of our floating rate debt. In March 2025, we entered into a loan agreement with UBS for $85.0 million, to refinance certain of our existing loans. The new loan is priced at SOFR + 2.15% and has a maturity of three years. During March of 2025, we fully repaid the outstanding balance of ESUN Credit Facility amounting to $5.9 million. During April of 2025, we fully repaid the outstanding balance of the Macquarie Credit Facility amounting to $17.5 million and the outstanding balance of the HCOB-CACIB Credit Facility amounting to $46.8 million.

Interest and other finance expenses for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 were $30.0 million, down from $32.8 million for the prior year period. The decrease was due to the factors mentioned above offset by (i) a prepayment fee of $0.2 million following the full repayment of Macquarie Credit Facility and (iii) the non-cash write off of deferred financing costs of $0.6 million on the full repayments of the Macquarie Credit Facility and the HCOB-CACIB Credit Facility in 2025.

Interest income for the third quarter of 2025 was $5.4 million, up from $4.7 million for the prior year period mainly due to higher invested amounts.

Interest income for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 was $13.3 million, up from $12.5 million in the comparative period.

Other income, net

Other income, net was $1.0 million in the third quarter of 2025, the same as in the comparative period.

Other income, net was $5.0 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025, compared to $3.2 million for the comparative period.

Fair value adjustment on derivatives

In December 2021, we entered into a USD 1-month LIBOR interest rate cap of 0.75% through the fourth quarter of 2026 on $484.1 million of floating rate debt, which reduces over time in line with anticipated debt amortization and represented approximately half of the outstanding floating rate debt. In February 2022, we entered into two additional USD 1-month LIBOR interest rate caps of 0.75% through the fourth quarter of 2026 on the remaining balance of $507.9 million of floating rate debt. As a result of the discontinuation of LIBOR, on July 1, 2023, our interest rate caps automatically transited to 1 month Compounded SOFR at a net rate of 0.64%. A negative fair value adjustment of $1.1 million for the third quarter of 2025 was recorded through the statement of income. The negative fair value adjustment for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 was $3.9 million.

Earnings Allocated to Preferred Shares

Our Series B Preferred Shares carry a coupon of 8.75%, the cost of which for the third quarter of 2025 was $2.4 million, the same as in the prior year period.

The cost for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 was $7.2 million, the same as for the comparative period.

Net Income Available to Common Shareholders

Net income available to common shareholders for the third quarter of 2025 was $92.6 million. Net income available to common shareholders for the prior year period was $78.8 million.

Earnings per share for the third quarter of 2025 was $2.59, an increase of 16.7% from the earnings per share for the prior year period, which was $2.22.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, net income available to common shareholders was $306.7 million. Net income available to common shareholders for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was $253.9 million.

Earnings per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 was $8.60, an increase of 19.4% from the earnings per share for the comparative period, which was $7.20.

Normalized net income 1 for the third quarter of 2025 was $93.8 million. Normalized net income for the prior year period was $86.6 million. Normalized earnings per share 1 for the third quarter of 2025 was $2.62, an increase of 6.9% from Normalized earnings per share for the prior year period, which was $2.45.

Normalized net income 1 for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 was $283.2 million. Normalized net income for the prior year period was $262.3 million. Normalized earnings per share 1 for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2025 was $7.94, an increase of 6.7% from Normalized earnings per share for the prior year period, which was $7.44.

1 Adjusted EBITDA, Normalized net income, and Normalized earnings per share are non-U.S. GAAP financial measures, as explained further in this press release, and are considered by Global Ship Lease to be useful measures of its performance. For reconciliations of these non-U.S. GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, please see “Reconciliation of Non-U.S. GAAP Financial Measures” below.

Fleet

As of September 30, 2025, there were 69 containerships in the fleet, detailed in the table below:

Conference Call and Webcast

Global Ship Lease will hold a conference call to discuss the Company's results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 today, Monday, November 10, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. There are two ways to access the conference call:

(1) Dial-in: (646) 307-1963 or (800) 715-9871; Event ID: 9222938

Please dial in at least 10 minutes prior to 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time to ensure a prompt start to the call.

(2) Live Internet webcast and slide presentation: http://www.globalshiplease.com

The webcast will also be archived on the Company’s website: http://www.globalshiplease.com.

Annual Report on Form 20-F

The Company’s Annual Report for 2024 was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 18, 2025. A copy of the report can be found under the Investor Relations section (Annual Reports) of the Company’s website at http://www.globalshiplease.com or on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Shareholders may request a hard copy of the audited financial statements free of charge by contacting the Company at info@globalshiplease.com or by writing to Global Ship Lease, Inc, c/o GSL Enterprises Ltd., 9 Irodou Attikou Street, Kifisia, Athens, 14561.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease is a leading independent owner of containerships with a diversified fleet of mid-sized and smaller containerships. Incorporated in the Marshall Islands, Global Ship Lease commenced operations in December 2007 with a business of owning and chartering out containerships under fixed-rate charters to top tier container liner companies. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2008.

Our fleet of 69 vessels as of September 30, 2025 had an average age weighted by TEU capacity of 18.0 years. 39 ships are wide-beam Post-Panamax.

As of September 30, 2025, the average remaining term of the Company’s charters, to the mid-point of redelivery, including options under the Company’s control and other than if a redelivery notice has been received, was 2.5 years on a TEU-weighted basis. Contracted revenue on the same basis was $1.92 billion. Contracted revenue was $2.40 billion, including options under charterers’ control and with latest redelivery date, representing a weighted average remaining term of 3.1 years.

Reconciliation of Non-U.S. GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our financial information presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we use certain “non-GAAP financial measures” as such term is defined in Regulation G promulgated by the SEC. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company’s operating performance, financial position or cash flows that excludes or includes amounts that are included in, or excluded from, the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We believe that the presentation of these measures provides investors with greater transparency and supplemental data relating to our financial condition and results of operations, and therefore a more complete understanding of factors affecting our business and financial performance than U.S. GAAP measures alone. In addition, we believe that the presentation of these matters is useful to investors for period-to-period comparison of results as the items may reflect certain unique and/or non-operating items or items outside of our control.

We believe that the presentation of the following non-U.S. GAAP financial measures is useful to investors because they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry.

A. Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA represents net income available to common shareholders before interest income and expense, earnings allocated to preferred shares, depreciation and amortization of drydocking net costs, gains or losses on the sale of vessels, amortization of intangible liabilities, charges for share based compensation, fair value adjustment on derivative assets, income tax, and the effect of the straight lining of time charter modifications. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-U.S. GAAP quantitative measure used to assist in the assessment of our ability to generate cash from our operations. We believe that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry. Adjusted EBITDA is not defined in U.S. GAAP and should not be considered to be an alternative to net income or any other financial metric required by such accounting principles. Our use of Adjusted EBITDA may vary from the use of similarly titled measures by others in our industry.

Adjusted EBITDA is presented herein both on a historic basis and on a forward-looking basis in certain instances. We do not provide a reconciliation of such forward looking non-U.S. GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure due to the inherent difficulty in accurately forecasting and quantifying certain amounts necessary for such reconciliation, and we are not able to provide such reconciliation of such forward-looking non-U.S. GAAP financial measure without unreasonable effort and expense.

ADJUSTED EBITDA - UNAUDITED

(thousands of U.S. dollars)

B. Normalized net income

Normalized net income represents net income available to common shareholders after adjusting for certain non-recurring items. Normalized net income is a non-U.S. GAAP quantitative measure which we believe will assist investors and analysts who often adjust reported net income for items that do not affect operating performance or operating cash generated. Normalized net income is not defined in U.S. GAAP and should not be considered to be an alternate to net income or any other financial metric required by such accounting principles. Our use of Normalized net income may vary from the use of similarly titled measures by others in our industry.

NORMALIZED NET INCOME – UNAUDITED

(thousands of U.S. dollars)

C. Normalized Earnings per Share

Normalized Earnings per Share represents Earnings per Share after adjusting for certain non-recurring items. Normalized Earnings per Share is a non-U.S. GAAP quantitative measure which we believe will assist investors and analysts who often adjust reported Earnings per Share for items that do not affect operating performance or operating cash generated. Normalized Earnings per Share is not defined in U.S. GAAP and should not be considered to be an alternate to Earnings per Share as reported or any other financial metric required by such accounting principles. Our use of Normalized Earnings per Share may vary from the use of similarly titled measures by others in our industry.

NORMALIZED EARNINGS PER SHARE – UNAUDITED

Dividend Policy

The declaration and payment of dividends will be subject at all times to the discretion of the Company’s Board of Directors. The timing and amount of dividends, if any, will depend on the Company’s earnings, financial condition, cash flow, capital requirements, growth opportunities, restrictions in its loan agreements and financing arrangements, the provisions of Marshall Islands law affecting the payment of dividends, and other factors. For further information on the Company’s dividend policy, please see its most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F.

Safe Harbor Statement

This communication contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide Global Ship Lease's current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements include statements about Global Ship Lease's expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "ongoing", "plan", "potential", "predict", “should”, "project", "will" or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that may be incorrect, and Global Ship Lease cannot assure you that these projections included in these forward-looking statements will come to pass. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.

The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Global Ship Lease's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements for many reasons specifically as described in Global Ship Lease's filings with the SEC. Accordingly, you should not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this communication. Global Ship Lease undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this communication or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should, however, review the factors and risks Global Ship Lease describes in the reports it will file from time to time with the SEC after the date of this communication.

Investor and Media Contacts:

IGB Group

Bryan Degnan

646-673-9701

or

Leon Berman

212-477-8438