GSLGlobal Ship Lease, Inc.
Is the business good?
A genuinely good business: earnings fully cash-backed (1.2×) and margins widening.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash.
Positive operating leverage, operating profit is growing faster than sales, so margins widen as the business scales.
Margin-driven, fat margins on slower asset turns. ROE 23% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is GSL?
Global Ship Lease, Inc. earns 16% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so the business is worth more the bigger it gets.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 6.5 points above what the capital costs: growth creates value
- Operating margin
- 57%
Operating margin · Marine Shipping median 15% · fiscal year to FY2025
- Cash conversion
- 1.21×
Cash conversion · 1.14× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 37% |
| FY2021 | 53% |
| FY2022 | 55% |
| FY2023 | 51% |
| FY2024 | 53% |
| FY2025 | 57% |
Details›
- Operating marginfiscal year to FY2025
- 57%
- Net marginfiscal year to FY2025
- 54%
- Free cash flow margin
- 67%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $766M
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $514M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $416M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 16%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Customers and suppliers
Who buys from GSL and who it buys from, as the companies report it.
- Maersk30%
Share of revenue · FY2025 20-F
- Hapag-Lloyd21%
Share of revenue · FY2025 20-F
- CMA CGM18%
Share of revenue · FY2025 20-F
- MSC11%
Share of revenue · FY2025 20-F
- ZIMZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.8.8%
Share of revenue · FY2025 20-F
None disclosed.
A company has to disclose every customer behind 10% or more of its revenue. Each share comes from the latest annual report of the company that states it and shows on both companies’ pages; GSL’s own figures are from its FY2025 20-F. Smaller customers and suppliers go unreported.