SFL Corporation Ltd., a maritime and offshore asset owning and chartering company, engages in the ownership, operation, and chartering out of vessels ...
SFL Corporation Ltd. is an international maritime asset owner whose business model is centered on acquiring, owning, financing, and chartering vessels and offshore-related assets to established industrial and shipping customers. Rather than relying primarily on short-term spot-market exposure, SFL generally seeks medium- and long-term charter arrangements that provide contracted revenue ...SFL Corporation Ltd. is an international maritime asset owner whose business model is centered on acquiring, owning, financing, and chartering vessels and offshore-related assets to established industrial and shipping customers. Rather than relying primarily on short-term spot-market exposure, SFL generally seeks medium- and long-term charter arrangements that provide contracted revenue visibility. This approach makes the company resemble a maritime leasing and asset-finance platform as much as a traditional ship operator. SFL was incorporated in 2003, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2004, and changed its name from Ship Finance International Limited to SFL Corporation Ltd. in September 2019. Its headquarters are in Hamilton, Bermuda.
The company has developed from an earlier concentration in tanker ownership into a diversified fleet platform. The supplied company description reports that, as of December 31, 2025, SFL owned 17 tankers, two dry bulk carriers, 21 container vessels, seven car carriers, and two drilling rigs. These assets support transportation of crude oil and refined petroleum products, dry bulk commodities, containerized cargo, automobiles, and offshore energy-related activities. SFL’s customers and counterparties operate across major maritime markets, while the company’s operational footprint includes Bermuda, Canada, Cyprus, Liberia, Namibia, Norway, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the Marshall Islands.
SFL’s principal “products” are transportation capacity and offshore asset availability delivered through charter contracts. Revenue is generated from charter hire, while vessel management, crewing, maintenance, insurance, dry-docking, fuel arrangements, and technical compliance may be handled by SFL, customers, or third-party managers depending on the contract. The company’s cost base is therefore driven less by conventional manufacturing bill-of-materials expenses and more by vessel acquisition prices, debt financing, interest expense, depreciation, ship management, repairs, dry-docking, insurance, regulatory compliance, and periodic capital expenditures. New vessels and major upgrades can require substantial upfront investment, although long-term charters can help align asset costs with contracted cash flows.
Financially, the supplied trailing-twelve-month data shows approximately $1.61 billion in market capitalization and approximately $3.98 billion in enterprise value. Reported metrics include revenue per share of about $5.34, operating cash flow per share of about $1.85, free cash flow per share of about $1.41, and a dividend per share of approximately $0.82. The indicated dividend yield is approximately 6.8%, although dividends and market values can change. The data also indicates significant leverage, with debt-to-assets of approximately 70.4% and debt-to-equity of approximately 2.59, reflecting the capital-intensive nature of vessel ownership. SFL has historically emphasized regular quarterly dividends and disciplined financing, refinancing, and asset deployment.
CEO Ole Bjarte Hjertaker leads the company. Other named executives include CFO Aksel C. Olesen, COO Trym Otto Sjølie, and Chief Treasurer André Reppen. With a reported 24 full-time employees, SFL operates with a small corporate workforce relative to the size and value of its fleet, relying on specialized external managers, contractors, ship crews, lenders, and commercial counterparties. Its key strategic priorities are maintaining high-quality charter coverage, diversifying vessel types and customers, securing cost-effective financing, preserving liquidity, managing leverage, renewing and expanding its fleet selectively, and sustaining shareholder distributions while meeting environmental and maritime regulatory requirements.
YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength.
QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes.
RevenueThe total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three).
$719.8M
-19.3%
+15.1%
Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day.
$-26.4M
-120.2%
+29.6%
Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials.
+58.1%
+67.5%
+19.6%
Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on).
+19.0%
-44.8%
+26.4%
Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales.
-3.7%
-125.1%
+12.6%
Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock.
$219.7M
+179.9%
+170.5%
FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine.
+30.5%
+199.0%
+135.1%
Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe.
267.1%
+6.1%
-11.2%
Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking.
0.36x
-4.4%
+19.8%
Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground.
Operator: Welcome to SFL's first quarter 26 conference call.
Espen Nilsen Gjosund: My name is Espen Nilsen Gjosund, and I am Vice President of Investor Relations in SFL. Our CEO, Ole Bjarte Hjertaker, will start the call with an overview of the first quarter highlights then our Chief Operating Officer, Trym Otto Sjølie will comment on vessel performance matters, followed by our CFO, Aksel C. Olesen, who will take us through the financials. The conference call will be concluded by opening up for questions, and I will explain the procedure to do so prior to the Q and A session. Before we begin our presentation, would like to note that this conference call will contain forward looking statements within the meaning of The U. S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 2000. Words such as expects, anticipates, intends, estimates, or similar expressions are intended to identify these forward looking statements. Please note that forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These statements are based on our current plans and expectations, and not inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future activities and results of operations to be materially different from those set forth in the forward looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, conditions in the shipping, offshore, and credit markets. You should therefore not place undue reliance on these forward looking statements. Please refer to our filings within the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of risks and uncertainty which may have a direct bearing on results and our financial condition. Then I will leave the word over to our CEO, Ole Bjarte Hjertaker, with the highlights of the first quarter.
Ole Bjarte Hjertaker: Thank you, Espen. We are pleased to announce our 89th consecutive dividend and we have firmly positioned SFL as a maritime infrastructure company with a diversified high quality fleet. For the first quarter, we reported revenues of $174 million and an EBITDA equivalent cash flow of $108 million Over the past 12 months, EBITDA amounts to $443 million reflecting the continued strength and stability of our operations. Net income in the quarter was $26 million or $0.20 per share, and dividend has been increased to $0.22 per share this quarter. In aggregate, we have now returned $3 billion or more than $30 per share in dividends since 2004. And we have a robust charter backlog of $3.7 billion with a very strong counterparty profile, where more than 2-thirds of the backlog is to customers with investment grade credit rating. In the quarter, we announced a new contract for the ultra deepwater environment drilling rig Hercules, which would be employed in Canada from 2027. The third part of the contract is 400 days and represents a backlog increase of approximately $170 million There are also shorter options, in addition to that, which could extend the …
