Golden Ocean Group

Earnings Release • Feb 28, 2024

GOGL - Fourth Quarter 2023 Results

GOGL - Fourth Quarter 2023 Results

Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ/OSE: GOGL) (the "Company" or "Golden Ocean"),

the world's largest listed owner of large size dry bulk vessels, today announced

its unaudited results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023.

Highlights

* Net income of $57.5 million and earnings per share of $0.29 (basic) for the

fourth quarter of 2023, compared with net income of $28.7 million and

earnings per share of $0.14 (basic) for the third quarter of 2023.

* Net income of $112.3 million and earnings per share of $0.56 (basic) for

full year 2023, compared with net income of $461.8 million and earnings per

share of $2.30 (basic) for full year 2022.

* Adjusted EBITDA of $123.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared

with $78.9 million for the third quarter of 2023.

* Adjusted net income of $64.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2023,

compared to $22.0 million for the third quarter of 2023.

* Reported TCE rates for Capesize and Panamax vessels of $25,176 per day and

$16,738 per day, respectively, and $21,958 per day for the entire fleet in

the fourth quarter of 2023.

* Completed a purchase and sale of a Supramax vessel, recording a gain of $5.8

million upon delivery of the vessel to its new owner.

* Entered into an agreement to sell one Panamax vessel for net consideration

of $15.8 million.

* Arranged financings in an aggregate amount of $625 million at highly

attractive terms. Upon completion, the Company will have fully funded its

remaining capex obligations and refinanced all of its debt maturities until

* Estimated TCE rates, inclusive of charter coverage calculated on a load-to-

discharge basis, are approximately:

* $25,000 per day for 74% of Capesize available days and $15,400 per day

for 84% of Panamax available days for the first quarter of 2024.

* $25,000 per day for 25% of Capesize available days and $14,200 per day

for 19% of Panamax available days for the second quarter of 2024.

* Announced a cash dividend of $0.30 per share for the fourth quarter of

2023, which is payable on or about March 25, 2024, to shareholders of record

on March 13, 2024. Shareholders holding the Company's shares through

Euronext VPS may receive this cash dividend later on or about March

27, 2024.

Lars-Christian Svensen, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"The Company's large, modern fleet has been predominantly exposed to the spot

market, resulting in strong performance in the fourth quarter of 2023 and thus

far in 2024. The market for large size dry bulk vessels continues to outperform

the broader freight market due to increasing tonne-mile demand for various key

commodities, including iron ore, coal, and bauxite. We have entered 2024 with

strong demand in Asia and a broad-based global economic recovery underway,

creating an overall healthy demand picture. Fleet growth, particularly in the

Capesize segment, remains at historically low levels, and the global fleet is

trading at historically high efficiency levels. The Company maintains a positive

outlook, and with no unfunded capex or near-term debt maturities, we are well

positioned to continue to return value to our shareholders through dividends.

Golden Ocean has now paid a dividend for 11 consecutive quarters, demonstrating

the Company's potential as well as the resilience of its performance in weaker

market conditions."

The Board of Directors

Golden Ocean Group Limited

Hamilton, Bermuda

February 28, 2024

Questions should be directed to:

Lars-Christian Svensen: Chief Executive Officer, Golden Ocean Management AS

+47 22 01 73 40

Peder Simonsen: Chief Financial Officer, Golden Ocean Management AS

+47 22 01 73 40

The full report is available in the link below.

Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this earnings report may constitute forward-looking

statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, or the PSLRA,

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 is taking advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the PSLRA and

is including this cautionary statement in connection therewith. This document

and any other written or oral statements made by the Company or on its behalf

may include forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's current

views with respect to future events and financial performance. This earnings

report includes assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions and beliefs

about future events. These statements are intended as "forward-looking

statements." The Company cautions that assumptions, expectations, projections,

intentions and beliefs about future events may and often do vary from actual

results and the differences can be material. When used in this document, the

words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan,"

"targets," "projects," "likely," "will," "would," "could" and similar

expressions or phrases may identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this report are based upon various

assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions,

including without limitation, management's examination of historical operating

trends, data contained in the Company's records and other data available from

third parties. Although the Company believes 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 the Company's control, the Company cannot assure you that

it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. As a

result, you are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements.

In addition to these important factors and matters discussed elsewhere herein,

important factors that, in the Company's view, could cause actual results to

differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements,

include among other things: general market trends in the dry bulk industry,

which is cyclical and volatile, including fluctuations in charter hire rates and

vessel values; a decrease in the market value of the Company's vessels; changes

in supply and demand in the dry bulk shipping industry, including the market for

the Company's vessels and the number of newbuildings under construction; delays

or defaults in the construction of the Company's newbuildings could increase the

Company's expenses and diminish the Company's net income and cash flows; an

oversupply of dry bulk vessels, which may depress charter rates and

profitability; the Company's future operating or financial results; the

Company's continued borrowing availability under the Company's debt agreements

and compliance with the covenants contained therein; the Company's ability to

procure or have access to financing, the Company's liquidity and the adequacy of

cash flows for the Company's operations; the failure of the Company's contract

counterparties to meet their obligations, including changes in credit risk with

respect to the Company's counterparties on contracts; the loss of a large

customer or significant business relationship; the strength of world economies;

the volatility of prevailing spot market and charter-hire charter rates, which

may negatively affect the Company's earnings; the Company's ability to

successfully employ the Company's dry bulk vessels and replace the Company's

operating leases on favorable terms, or at all; changes in the Company's

operating expenses and voyage costs, including bunker prices, fuel prices

(including increased costs for low sulfur fuel), drydocking, crewing and

insurance costs; the adequacy of the Company's insurance to cover the Company's

losses, including in the case of a vessel collision; vessel breakdowns and

instances of offhire; the Company's ability to fund future capital expenditures

and investments in the construction, acquisition and refurbishment of the

Company's vessels (including the amount and nature thereof and the timing of

completion of vessels under construction, the delivery and commencement of

operation dates, expected downtime and lost revenue); risks associated with any

future vessel construction or the purchase of second-hand vessels; effects of

new products and new technology in the Company's industry, including the

potential for technological innovation to reduce the value of the Company's

vessels and charter income derived therefrom; the impact of an interruption or

failure of the Company's information technology and communications systems,

including the impact of cyber-attacks, upon the Company's ability to operate;

potential liability from safety, environmental, governmental and other

requirements and potential significant additional expenditures (by the Company

and the Company's customers) related to complying with such regulations; changes

in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities

and the impact of government inquiries and investigations; the arrest of the

Company's vessels by maritime claimants; government requisition of the Company's

vessels during a period of war or emergency; the Company's compliance with

complex laws, regulations, including environmental laws and regulations and the

U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977; potential difference in interests

between or among certain members of the Board of Directors, executive officers,

senior management and shareholders; the Company's ability to attract, retain and

motivate key employees; work stoppages or other labor disruptions by the

Company's employees or the employees of other companies in related industries;

potential exposure or loss from investment in derivative instruments; stability

of Europe and the Euro or the inability of countries to refinance their debts;

the central bank policies intended to combat overall inflation and rising

interest rates and foreign exchange rates; fluctuations in currencies; acts of

piracy on ocean-going vessels, public health threats, terrorist attacks and

international hostilities and political instability; potential physical

disruption of shipping routes due to accidents, climate-related (acute and

chronic), political instability, terrorist attacks, piracy, international

sanctions or international hostilities, including the ongoing developments in

the Ukraine region; general domestic and international political and

geopolitical conditions or events, including any further changes in U.S. trade

policy that could trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries; the

developments in the Middle East, including the armed conflict in Israel and the

Gaza Strip; the impact of adverse weather and natural disasters; the impact of

increasing scrutiny and changing expectations from investors, lenders and other

market participants with respect to the Company's Environmental, Social and

Governance policies; changes in seaborne and other transportation; the length

and severity of epidemics and pandemics; fluctuations in the contributions of

the Company's joint ventures to the Company's profits and losses; the potential

for shareholders to not be able to bring a suit against us or enforce a

judgement obtained against us in the United States; the Company's treatment as a

"passive foreign investment company" by U.S. tax authorities; being required to

pay taxes on U.S. source income; the Company's operations being subject to

economic substance requirements; the volatility of the stock price for the

Company's common shares, from which investors could incur substantial losses,

and the future sale of the Company's common shares, which could cause the market

price of the Company's common shares to decline; and other important factors

described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the U.S.

Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's most recently filed

Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The Company cautions readers of this report not to place undue reliance on these

forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. Except to the

extent required by applicable law or regulation, the Company undertakes no

obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements

to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect

the occurrence of unanticipated events. These forward-looking statements are not

guarantees of the Company's future performance, and actual results and future

developments may vary materially from those projected in the forward-looking

statements.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section

5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.