ATHENS, Greece, May 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. (NASDAQ: IMPP; the “Company”), a ship-owning company providing petroleum products, crude oil and dry bulk seaborne transportation services, announced today its unaudited financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026.

OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Fleet operational utilization of 88.7% in Q1 26’ compared to 91.8% in Q4 25’ and 83.8% in Q1 25’.
• Approximately 59% of total fleet calendar days in Q1 26’ were dedicated to time charter activity while approximately 39% to spot activity.
• Delivery of the dry bulk carrier, Eco Crossfire, on April 3, 2026 which increased our fleet on the water to 21 vessels; the remaining four contracted dry bulk carriers and one tanker are scheduled to be delivered by end of Q3 26’ bringing our total fleet to 26 ships.
• In Q1 26’ Imperial Petroleum marked its second- best quarterly performance.
• Revenues of $61.7 million in Q1 26’ compared to $51.1 million in Q4 25’ and $32.1 million in Q1 25’, representing a 20.7% increase and a 92.2% increase, respectively.
• Impressive increase of our operating income to $26.5 million in Q1 26’, marking a $12.8 million or 93.4% increase compared to Q4 25’ and a $18.7 million or 239.7% increase compared to Q1 25’.
• Net income generation of $28.0 million in Q1 26’- the second best in our history- compared to $15.0 million in Q4 25’, and $11.3 million in Q1 25’, representing a 86.7% and 147.8% increase, respectively.
• Basic EPS of $0.60 in Q1 26’.
• EBITDA¹ of $34.4 million for Q1 26’.
• Continued enhancement of our liquidity through efficient vessel operations; cash and cash equivalents including time deposits of $212.6 million as of March 31, 2026 compared to $179.1 million as of December 31, 2025.
• Under the $10 million stock repurchase program, the Company has repurchased up to May 21, 2026 a total of 855,769 common shares for an aggregate amount of $3.8 million.
  
  

First Quarter 2026 Results:

• Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2026 amounted to $61.7 million, an increase of $29.6 million, or 92.2%, compared to revenues of $32.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, primarily due to the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet by 7.98, along with an increase in tanker rates, particularly for suezmax tankers following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict.
• Voyage expenses and vessels’ operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2026 were $12.8 million and $11.2 million, respectively, compared to $10.5 million and $7.1 million, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The $2.3 million increase in voyage expenses is mainly attributed to a 25.2% increase in the number of spot days and increased port expenses due to higher number of transits through the Suez Canal mainly for the suezmax tankers. The $4.1 million increase in vessels’ operating expenses is primarily due to the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet by 7.98.
• Drydocking costs for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 were $1.4 million and nil, respectively. During the three months ended March 31, 2026, our bulk carrier, Post Marvel, underwent drydocking whereas in the three months ended March 31, 2025, no vessel underwent drydocking.
• General and administrative costs for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 were $1.1 million and $1.2 million, respectively. This decrease is mainly attributed to the decrease in stock-based compensation costs.
• Depreciation for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 was $7.9 million and $5.0 million, respectively. The change is attributable to the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet.
• Management fees for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 were $0.8 million and $0.5 million, respectively. The change is attributable to the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet.
• Interest and finance costs for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 were $0.2 million and $0.6 million, respectively. The $0.2 million of costs for the three months ended March 31, 2026 relate mainly to accrued interest expense – related party in connection with the $19.16 million part of the acquisition price of our bulk carrier, Post Marvel, whereas the $0.6 million of costs for the three months ended March 31, 2025 related mainly to accrued interest expense – related party in connection with the $14.0 million and $24.0 million part of the acquisition prices of our bulk carriers, Neptulus and Clean Imperial, respectively, which completely settled in the second quarter of 2025. For accounting purposes, the outstanding balances payable on the vessels were required to be allocated between principal and imputed interest, despite the fact that no interest was contractually charged by the sellers. The total amount ultimately paid remains consistent with the originally agreed purchase prices.
• Interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 was $1.8 million and $2.2 million, respectively. The $0.4 million decrease is mainly attributed to a lower amount of funds placed under time deposits along with a decrease in time deposit rates.
• Foreign exchange (loss)/gain for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 was a loss of $0.3 million and a gain of $1.7 million, respectively. The $0.3 million foreign exchange loss for the three months ended March 31, 2026, is mainly attributed the weakening of the euro currency against the dollar at the end of the three months ended March 31, 2026 when compared to the respective currency values prevailing at the end of year 2025.
• As a result of the above, for the three months ended March 31, 2026, the Company reported net income of $28.0 million, compared to net income of $11.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Dividends paid on Series A Preferred Shares amounted to $0.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026. The weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding, basic, for the three months ended March 31, 2026 was 45.3 million. Earnings per share, basic and diluted, for the three months ended March 31, 2026 amounted to $0.60 and $0.57, respectively, compared to earnings per share, basic and diluted, of $0.32 and $0.30, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2025.
• Adjusted net income¹ was $28.6 million corresponding to an Adjusted EPS¹, basic of $0.61 for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to an Adjusted net income of $12.2 million corresponding to an Adjusted EPS, basic, of $0.34 for the same period of last year.
• EBITDA¹ for the three months ended March 31, 2026 amounted to $34.4 million, while Adjusted EBITDA¹ for the three months ended March 31, 2026 amounted to $34.9 million.
• An average of 19.88 vessels were owned by the Company during the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to 11.90 vessels for the same period of 2025.
  
  

¹ EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS are non-GAAP measures. Refer to the reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable financial measure in accordance with GAAP set forth later in this release. Reconciliations of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income are set forth below.

Fleet Employment Table

As of May 22, 2026, the profile and deployment of our fleet is the following:

CEO Harry Vafias Commented

We are extremely pleased with our first quarter 2026 results. With a net income of $28 million, corresponding to a basic EPS of $0.60 per share, we generated the second-best quarterly profitability in the Company’s history. Geopolitical tensions persist, creating turbulence across global markets and the shipping industry in particular. The ongoing Middle East conflict has driven tanker market rates to peak levels, while dry bulk market rates have also firmed.

In this environment, we successfully capitalized upon our sizeable fleet. Our expansion strategy continues to deliver strong results, and we believe that our active share repurchase program will help our share price better reflect the Company’s true underlying value — a fleet of 21 vessels on the water with 5 more to be delivered shortly, ample liquidity in excess of $220 million, a consistently profitable track record, and a completely debt-free balance sheet.

Conference Call details:

On May 22, 2026 at 10:00 am ET, the company’s management will host a conference call to discuss the results and the company’s operations and outlook.

Online Registration:
Conference call participants should pre-register using the below link to receive the dial-in numbers and a personal PIN, which are required to access the conference call.

https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI022e66c574874022b745c61aed82e1a1

Slides and audio webcast:

There will also be a live and then archived webcast of the conference call, through the IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. website (www.ImperialPetro.com). Participants to the live webcast should register on the website approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the webcast.

About IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC.

IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. is a ship-owning company providing petroleum products, crude oil and drybulk seaborne transportation services. The Company owns a total of twenty-one vessels on the water - seven M.R. product tankers, two suezmax tankers, four handysize drybulk carriers, five supramax drybulk carriers, two kamsarmax drybulk vessels and a post panamax drybulk carrier - with a total capacity of approximately 1,324,000 deadweight tons (dwt) and has contracted to acquire an additional four handysize drybulk carriers and a product tanker of 190,400 dwt aggregate capacity. Following these deliveries, the Company’s fleet will count a total of 26 vessels with an aggregate capacity of about 1.5 million dwt. IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC.’s shares of common stock and 8.75% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market and trade under the symbols “IMPP” and “IMPPP,” respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance and may 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 forward-looking statements in this release 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 our records and other data available from third parties. Although IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. 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 our control, IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, geopolitical conditions, including any trade disruptions resulting from tariffs and other protectionist measures imposed by the United States or other countries, general market conditions, including changes in charter hire rates and vessel values, charter counterparty performance, changes in demand that may affect attitudes of time charterers to scheduled and unscheduled drydockings, changes in IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC’s operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, ability to obtain financing and comply with covenants in our financing arrangements, actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, domestic and international political conditions, the conflict in Ukraine and related sanctions, the conflicts in the Middle East, potential disruption of shipping routes due to ongoing attacks by Houthis in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden or accidents and political events or acts by terrorists.

Risks and uncertainties are further described in reports filed by IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fleet List and Fleet Deployment
For information on our fleet and further information:
Visit our website at www.ImperialPetro.com

Company Contact:
Fenia Sakellaris
IMPERIAL PETROLEUM INC.
E-mail: info@ImperialPetro.com

Fleet Data:
The following key indicators highlight the Company’s operating performance during the three month periods ended March 31, 2025 and 2026.

1) Average number of vessels is the number of owned vessels that constituted our fleet for the relevant period, as measured by the sum of the number of days each vessel was a part of our fleet during the period divided by the number of calendar days in that period.
2) Total calendar days for fleet are the total days the vessels we operated were in our possession for the relevant period including off-hire days associated with major repairs, drydockings or special or intermediate surveys.
3) Total voyage days for fleet reflect the total days the vessels we operated were in our possession for the relevant period net of off-hire days associated with major repairs, drydockings or special or intermediate surveys.
4) Fleet utilization is the percentage of time that our vessels were available for revenue generating voyage days and is determined by dividing voyage days by fleet calendar days for the relevant period.
5) Total charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels operated on time or bareboat charters for the relevant period.
6) Total spot market charter days for fleet are the number of voyage days the vessels operated on spot market charters for the relevant period.
7) Fleet operational utilization is the percentage of time that our vessels generated revenue and is determined by dividing voyage days excluding idle days by fleet calendar days for the relevant period.

Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS:

Adjusted net income represents net income before share based compensation. EBITDA represents net income before interest and finance costs, interest income and depreciation. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income before interest and finance costs, interest income, depreciation and share based compensation.

Adjusted EPS represents Adjusted net income divided by the weighted average number of shares. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are not recognized measurements under U.S. GAAP. Our calculation of EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS may not be comparable to that reported by other companies in shipping or other industries. In evaluating Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted net income and Adjusted EPS, you should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation.

EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are included herein because they are a basis, upon which we and our investors assess our financial performance. They allow us to present our performance from period to period on a comparable basis and provide investors with a means of better evaluating and understanding our operating performance. Management also uses these non-GAAP financial measures in making financial, operating and planning decisions and in evaluating our performance.

Imperial Petroleum Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Income
(Expressed in United States Dollars, except for number of shares)

Imperial Petroleum Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Expressed in United States Dollars)

Imperial Petroleum Inc.
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Expressed in United States Dollars