News Release

LONDON, March 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL), a containership charter owner, announced today its unaudited results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2011.

Fourth Quarter and Year To Date Highlights

- Reported revenue of $39.7 million for the fourth quarter 2011, down from $40.0 million for the fourth quarter 2010 due mainly to 12 days offhire in the fourth quarter 2011 of which seven were for a planned drydocking. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $156.3 million compared to $158.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 due to 106 days offhire in 2011, of which 95 were for planned drydockings, compared to a total of three days unplanned offhire in 2010

- Reported net income of $10.9 million for the fourth quarter 2011, after a $4.0 million non-cash interest rate derivative mark-to-market gain. For the fourth quarter 2010 the reported net income was $1.2 million, after a $17.1 million impairment charge relating to purchase commitments on two vessels and $11.7 million non-cash mark-to-market gain. Excluding the mark-to-market items, normalized net income⁽¹⁾ was $6.8 million for the fourth quarter 2011 compared to $6.6 million for the fourth quarter 2010

- For the year ended December 31, 2011, net income was $9.1 million, after a $13.6 million non-cash impairment charge relating to the expiry of purchase options on two vessels and a $0.9 million non-cash mark-to-market loss. The net loss of $4.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 was after $17.1 million impairment charge and a mark-to-market loss of $15.3 million. Normalized net income for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $23.6 million compared to $28.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010

- Generated $26.6 million of EBITDA⁽¹⁾ for the fourth quarter 2011, up slightly on $26.4 million for the fourth quarter 2010. EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $103.7 million, compared to $108.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 due mainly to six planned drydockings in 2011 compared to none in 2010 and increased crew costs

- Repaid $15.3 million in debt during the fourth quarter of 2011; repaid $49.2 million in 2011 and $115.5 million since August 2009

- Agreed with lenders to waive, until November 30, 2012, the requirement under the credit facility to perform loan-to-value tests

Ian Webber, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship Lease, stated, "During 2011, we generated sizeable and stable cash flows while continuing to focus on improving our financial position. Our fleet of vessels performed as expected, maintaining high utilization and generating EBITDA of $103.7 million for the full year. We continued to strengthen our balance sheet for the long-term benefit of Global Ship Lease and its shareholders, repaying $49.2 million of debt in 2011 and $115.5 million since August 2009. As we progress through 2012, we remain well positioned as a result of our long-term fixed rate contracts. We have no purchase obligations and will continue to pay down debt."

Mr. Webber continued, "During the fourth quarter, we worked with our lenders and drew on the strength of our business model, which generates predictable and stable cash flows, to waive our loan-to-value test until November 30, 2012. This success insulates the Company and its shareholders from near-term volatility in asset values. Importantly, our long-term time charters which have an average remaining duration on a weighted basis of over eight years representing contracted revenue of $1.2 billion, remain unaffected by asset values and the loan-to-value ratio."

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA — UNAUDITED

(thousands of U.S. dollars)

(1) EBITDA and Normalized net income are non-US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) measures, as explained further in this press release, and are considered by Global Ship Lease to be useful measures of its performance. Reconciliations of such non-GAAP measures to the interim unaudited financial information are provided in this Earnings Release.

Revenue and Utilization

The 17 vessel fleet generated revenue from fixed rate long-term time charters of $39.7 million in the three months ended December 31, 2011, down $0.3 million on revenue of $40.0 million for the comparative period in 2010 due to 12 days offhire including seven for the planned drydocking of one vessel, which spanned the year end.  During the three months ended December 31, 2011, there were 1,564 ownership days, the same as the comparable period in 2010. The 12 days offhire in the three months ended December 31, 2011, gives a utilization of 99.2%.  In the comparable period of 2010, there was one day offhire, for utilization of 99.9%.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, revenue was $156.3 million, down $2.5 million on revenue of $158.8 million in the comparative period, mainly due to the effect of 106 days offhire including 95 days for planned drydockings.

The table below shows fleet utilization for the three months and years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 and for the year ended December 31, 2009.

The drydocking of six vessels had been completed by December 31, 2011. The drydocking of one further vessel commenced late December 2011 and was completed early January 2012. In 2012, six further vessels are scheduled to be drydocked. Two drydockings are scheduled for each of 2013 and 2014, and none in 2015.

Vessel Operating Expenses

Vessel operating expenses, which include costs of crew, lubricating oil, spares and insurance, were $11.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2011. The average cost per ownership day was $7,333 up $11 or 0.2% on $7,322 for the rolling four quarters ended September 30, 2011. Increased lubricating oil costs from unit cost increases in the three months ended December 31, 2011 have been offset by savings elsewhere and a benefit during the quarter from exchange rate movements on the portion of crew costs denominated in euros. The fourth quarter 2011 average daily cost was up $55 or 0.8% from the average daily cost of $7,278 for the comparative period in 2010 due to higher lubricating oil and crew costs offset by a reduction in the cost of supplies which were unusually high in the comparative period due to the phasing of purchases.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, vessel operating expenses were $45.5 million or an average of $7,336 per day compared to $42.1 million in the comparative period or $6,780 per day. The increase of $556 per day, or 8.2%, is mostly for increased crew wages, including an adverse effect from exchange rate movements, increased lubricating oil costs and for costs associated with drydockings that cannot be capitalized.

Depreciation

Depreciation of $10.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2011 was the same as in the comparative period in 2010 as there were no changes to the fleet.

Depreciation for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $40.1 million, the same as in the comparative period.

General and Administrative Costs

General and administrative costs incurred were $1.8 million in the three months ended December 31, 2011, compared to $2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to reduced legal and professional fees.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, general and administrative costs were $7.4 million compared to $8.3 million for 2010. The reduction is due to a fall in the charge for stock based compensation which was $0.6 million in 2011 and $1.0 million in 2010 and for lower legal and professional fees.

Impairment charge

In November 2010, the Company signed agreements with the sellers of two 4,250 TEU newbuildings to (i) terminate the Company's obligations under contracts entered into in September 2008 to purchase the vessels on their delivery to the sellers by the builder, which was anticipated to be at the end of 2010 and (ii) grant the Company options to purchase the vessels on the first anniversary of their delivery by the builder to the sellers. Under US GAAP, an impairment charge totalling $17.1 million was recognized in the three months ended December 31, 2010 comprised of $15.5 million released deposits not including interest earned, $1.3 million interest capitalized thereon and $0.3 million other predelivery capital expenditure.

The purchase of these vessels was always predicated on achieving a strong return for shareholders by acquiring the vessels, which had time charters attached, at an attractive price and with financing on favorable terms. As the Company considered it unlikely that it would be able to obtain committed finance on acceptable terms before the expiry of the options on September 16, 2011 for one vessel and October 4, 2011 for the other, intangible assets totaling $13.6 million relating to these options were written off in the second quarter 2011. Both purchase options were allowed to expire.

Other operating income

Other operating income in the three months ended December 31, 2011 was $0.1 million, compared to $0.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 period.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, other operating income was $0.3 million, compared to $0.4 million for the prior year. 

EBITDA

As a result of the above, EBITDA was $26.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2011 up slightly from $26.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2010.

EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $103.7 million compared to $108.9 million in 2010. The reduction of $5.2 million, or 4.8%, is mainly due to loss of revenue during drydockings, increased crew costs from wage increases and costs associated with the drydockings.

Interest Expense

Interest expense, excluding the effect of interest rate derivatives which do not qualify for hedge accounting, for the three months ended December 31, 2011 was $5.1 million.  The Company's borrowings under its credit facility averaged $499.0 million during the three months ended December 31, 2011. There were $48.0 million preferred shares throughout the period giving total average borrowings through the three months ended December 31, 2011 of $547.0 million. Interest expense in the comparative period in 2010 was $6.0 million on average borrowings, including the preferred shares, of $595.6 million.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, interest expense, excluding the effect of interest rate derivatives which do not qualify for hedge accounting, was $20.6 million. The Company's borrowings under its credit facility averaged $562.8 million during 2011, including $48.0 million preferred shares throughout the period. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $23.8 million based on average borrowings in that year, including the preferred shares, of $615.7 million.

Interest income for the three months and years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 was not material.

Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company hedges its interest rate exposure by entering into derivatives that swap floating rate debt for fixed rate debt to provide long-term stability and predictability to cash flows. As these hedges do not qualify for hedge accounting under US GAAP, the outstanding hedges are marked to market at each period end with any change in the fair value being booked to the income and expenditure account. The Company's derivative hedging instruments gave a realized loss of $4.8 million in the three months ended December 31, 2011 for settlements of swaps in the period, as current LIBOR rates are lower than the average fixed rates. Further, there was a $4.0 million unrealized gain for revaluation of the balance sheet position given current LIBOR and movements in the forward curve for interest rates. This compares to a realized loss of $4.3 million in the three months ended December 31, 2010 and an unrealized gain of $11.7 million. 

For the year ended December 31, 2011, the realized loss from hedges was $19.4 million and the unrealized loss was $0.9 million. This compares to a realized loss in the year ended December 31, 2010 of $16.7 million and an unrealized loss of $15.3 million.

At December 31, 2011, interest rate derivatives totaled $580.0 million against floating rate debt of $531.6 million, including the preferred shares. As a consequence, the Company is over hedged which arises from accelerated amortization of the credit facility debt and not incurring additional floating rate debt anticipated to be drawn in connection with the originally intended purchases of the two 4,250 TEU vessels at the end of 2010. $253.0 million of the interest rate derivatives at a fixed rate of 3.40% expire mid March 2013. The total mark-to-market unrealized loss recognized as a liability on the balance sheet at December 31, 2011 was $45.3 million.

Unrealized mark-to-market adjustments have no impact on operating performance or cash generation in the period reported.

Taxation

Taxation for the three months ended December 31, 2011 was a $0.2 million credit compared to a $0.6 million credit in the fourth quarter of 2010.  The credit results from movements in the balance for deferred tax.

Taxation for the year ended December 31, 2011 was a $0.1 million charge, the same as 2010. 

Net Income/Loss

Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2011 was $10.9 million after $4.0 million non-cash interest rate derivative mark-to-market gain. For the three months ended December 31, 2010 net income was $1.2 million, after $17.1 million non-cash impairment charge and $11.7 million non-cash interest rate derivative mark-to-market gain. Normalized net income, excluding the effect of the non-cash interest rate derivative mark-to-market gains and impairment charge, was $6.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2011 and $6.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2010. 

Net income was $9.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 after the non-cash impairment charge of $13.6 million and a $0.9 million non-cash interest rate derivative mark-to-market loss. For the year ended December 31, 2010, net loss was $4.0 million after a $17.1 million non-cash impairment charge and a $15.3 million non-cash interest rate derivative mark-to-market loss. Normalized net income was $23.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 and $28.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. 

Credit Facility

The container shipping industry is currently experiencing a significant cyclical downturn. As a consequence, there has been a decline in charter free market values of containerships commencing July 2011. While the Company's stable business model largely insulates it from volatility in the freight and charter markets, a covenant in the credit facility with respect to the Leverage Ratio, which is the ratio of outstanding drawings under the credit facility and the aggregate charter free market value of the secured vessels, causes the Company to be sensitive to significant declines in vessel values. Under the terms of the credit facility, the Leverage Ratio cannot exceed 75%. The Leverage Ratio has little impact on the Company's operating performance as cash flows are largely predictable under its business model.

In anticipation of the scheduled test of the Leverage Ratio as at November 30, 2011 when the Company expected that the Leverage Ratio would be between 75% and 90%, the Company agreed with its lenders to waive the requirement to perform the Leverage Ratio test until November 30, 2012.  Under the terms of the waiver, the fixed interest margin to be paid over LIBOR increased to 3.50%, prepayments became based on cash flow rather than a fixed amount of $10 million per quarter, and dividends on common shares cannot be paid.

In the three months ended December 31, 2011, a total of $15.3 million of debt was prepaid leaving a balance outstanding of $483.6 million.

Dividend

Global Ship Lease is not currently able to pay a dividend on common shares.

Fleet

The following table provides information, as at December 31, 2011, about the on-the-water fleet of 17 vessels chartered to CMA CGM.

Conference Call and Webcast

Global Ship Lease will hold a conference call to discuss the Company's results for the three months ended December 31, 2011 today, Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. There are two ways to access the conference call:

(1) Dial-in:  : (866) 966-9439 or (631) 510-7498; Passcode: 55763695 

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

If you are unable to participate at this time, a replay of the call will be available through Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at (866) 247-4222 or (631) 510-7499. Enter the code 55763695 to access the audio replay. The webcast will also be archived on the Company's website: http://www.globalshiplease.com.

Annual Report on Form 20F

Global Ship Lease, Inc has filed its Annual Report for 2010 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 . 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, care of Global Ship Lease Services Limited, Portland House, Stag Place, London SW1E 5RS or by telephoning +44 (0) 207 869 8806.

About Global Ship Lease

Global Ship Lease is a containership charter owner. Incorporated in the Marshall Islands, Global Ship Lease commenced operations in December 2007 with a business of owning and chartering out containerships under long-term, fixed rate charters to top tier container liner companies. 

Global Ship Lease owns 17 vessels with a total capacity of 66,349 TEU with an average age, weighted by TEU capacity, at December 31, 2011 of 7.8 years. All of the current vessels are fixed on long-term charters to CMA CGM with an average remaining term of 7.1 years, or 8.3 years on a weighted basis.

Reconciliation of Non-U.S. GAAP Financial Measures

A. EBITDA

EBITDA represents Net income (loss) before interest income and expense including amortization of deferred finance costs, realized and unrealized gain (loss) on derivatives, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and impairment charges. EBITDA is a non-US GAAP quantitative measure used to assist in the assessment of the Company's ability to generate cash from its operations.  We believe that the presentation of 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. EBITDA is not defined in US GAAP and should not be considered to be an alternate to Net income (loss) or any other financial metric required by such accounting principles.

EBITDA - UNAUDITED

(thousands of U.S. dollars)

B. Normalized net income

Normalized net income represents Net income (loss) adjusted for the unrealized gain (loss) on derivatives, the accelerated write off of a portion of deferred financing costs and impairment charges. Normalized net income is a non-GAAP quantitative measure which we believe will assist investors and analysts who often adjust reported net income for non-operating items such as change in fair value of derivatives to eliminate the effect of non cash non-operating items that do not affect operating performance or cash generated. Normalized net income is not defined in US GAAP and should not be considered to be an alternate to Net income (loss) or any other financial metric required by such accounting principles.

NORMALIZED NET INCOME -   UNAUDITED

(thousands of U.S. dollars)

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," "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:

• future operating or financial results;
• expectations regarding the future growth of the container shipping industry, including the rates of annual demand and supply growth;
• the financial condition of CMA CGM, our sole charterer and only source of operating revenue, and its ability to pay charterhire in accordance with the charters;
• Global Ship Lease's financial condition and liquidity, including its ability to obtain additional waivers which might be necessary under the existing credit facility or obtain additional financing to fund capital expenditures, vessel acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
• Global Ship Lease's ability to meet its financial covenants and repay its credit facility;
• Global Ship Lease's expectations relating to dividend payments and forecasts of its ability to make such payments including the availability of cash and the impact of constraints under its credit facility;
• future acquisitions, business strategy and expected capital spending;
• operating expenses, availability of crew, number of off-hire days, drydocking and survey requirements and insurance costs;
• general market conditions and shipping industry trends, including charter rates and factors affecting supply and demand;
• assumptions regarding interest rates and inflation;
• changes in the rate of growth of global and various regional economies;
• risks incidental to vessel operation, including piracy, discharge of pollutants and vessel accidents and damage including total or constructive total loss;
• estimated future capital expenditures needed to preserve its capital base;
• Global Ship Lease's expectations about the availability of ships to purchase, the time that it may take to construct new ships, or the useful lives of its ships;
• Global Ship Lease's continued ability to enter into or renew long-term, fixed-rate charters;
• the continued performance of existing long-term, fixed-rate time charters;
• Global Ship Lease's ability to capitalize on its management's and board of directors' relationships and reputations in the containership industry to its advantage;
• changes in governmental and classification societies' rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities;
• expectations about the availability of insurance on commercially reasonable terms;
• unanticipated changes in laws and regulations including taxation;
• potential liability from future litigation.

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.

CONTACT: Investor and Media Contacts:

         The IGB Group

         David Burke

         646-673-9701