Gain on Disposal of Vessels
Gain on disposal of vessels amounted to $3.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and was attributable to the sale of Captain Nicholas ML. There was no gain on disposal of vessels for the three months ended March 31, 2023.
Fiscal Year 2023 Results Summary
Our net income amounted to $172.4 million, or $4.29 per share, for the year ended March 31, 2023, compared to net income of $71.9 million, or $1.78 per share, for the year ended March 31, 2022.
Our adjusted net income amounted to $169.7 million, or $4.22 per share, for the year ended March 31, 2023, compared to adjusted net income of $53.6 million, or $1.33 per share, for the year ended March 31, 2022. We have adjusted our net income for the year ended March 31, 2023 for an unrealized gain on derivative instruments of $2.8 million. We have adjusted our net income for the year ended March 31, 2022 for an unrealized gain on derivatives of $11.1 and gain on disposal vessels of $7.3 million. Please refer to the reconciliation of net income to adjusted net income, which appears later in this press release.
The favorable change of $116.1 million in adjusted net income for the year ended March 31, 2023 compared to the year ended March 31, 2022 is primarily attributable to increases in revenues of $115.5 million and interest income of $3.5 million and decreases of $3.0 million in depreciation and amortization, $2.7 million in vessel operating expenses, $0.7 million in voyage expenses, and a favorable change of $7.3 million in realized gain/(loss) on derivatives. These were partially offset by increases of $10.7 million in interest and finance costs, $6.9 million in charter hire expenses from our chartered-in VLGCs, and $1.9 million in general and administrative costs.
The TCE rate for our fleet was $50,462 for the year ended March 31, 2023, a 45.6% increase from the $34,669 TCE rate from the prior year, as further described in “Revenues” below. Please see footnote 7 to the table in “Financial Information” below for other information related to how we calculate TCE. Total fleet utilization (including the utilization of our vessels deployed in the Helios Pool) increased slightly from 94.9% in the year ended March 31, 2022 to 95.0% in the year ended March 31, 2023.
Vessel operating expenses per day increased to $9,793 in the year ended March 31, 2023 from $9,538 in the prior year. Please see “Vessel Operating Expenses” below for more information.
Revenues
Revenues, which represent net pool revenues—related party, time charters and other revenues, net, were $389.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2023, an increase of $115.5 million, or 42.1%, from $274.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2022. The increase is primarily attributable to increased average TCE rates and a slight increase in fleet utilization. Average TCE rates of $50,462 for the year ended March 31, 2023 increased $15,793 from $34,669 for the year ended March 31, 2022, primarily due to higher spot rates partially offset by higher bunker prices. The Baltic Exchange Liquid Petroleum Gas Index, an index published daily by the Baltic Exchange for the spot market rate for the benchmark Ras Tanura-Chiba route (expressed as U.S. dollars per metric ton), averaged $87.009 during the year ended March 31, 2023 compared to an average of $52.689 for the year ended March 31, 2022. The average price of very low sulfur fuel oil (expressed as U.S. dollars per metric ton) from Singapore and Fujairah increased from $609 during the year ended March 31, 2022, to $773 during the year ended March 31, 2023.Our fleet utilization increased from 94.9% during the year ended March 31, 2022 to 95.0% during the year ended March 31, 2023.
Charter Hire Expenses
Charter hire expenses for the vessels chartered in from third parties were $23.2 million for the year ended March 31, 2023 compared to $16.3 million for the year ended March 31, 2022. The increase of $6.9 million, or 42.6%, was mainly caused by an increase in time chartered-in days from 579 for the year ended March 31, 2022 to 791 for the year ended March 31, 2023 and an increase in average time charter in expense per day from $28,093 for the year ended March 31, 2022 to $29,323 per day for the year ended March 31, 2023.