The improvement in time charter equivalent (TCE) rates helped Danish shipowner Nordic Shipholding return to profit in the first quarter of this year.
For the three months ended March 31, 2019, the company generated a profit after tax of USD 0.4 million, compared to a loss of USD 0.9 million suffered in the corresponding period a year earlier.
During the quarter, daily TCE rate for the six vessels was approximately 23% higher than the average TCE rate in Q4 2018.
TCE earnings rose 20.4% to USD 7.1 million in Q1 2019 as TCE earnings for the vessels in the three pools were higher compared to the same period last year.
During the financial period, cash flow generated from operations was USD 0.7 million, mainly contributed by earnings from the three pools.
In April, Nordic Shipholding informed that the planned sale of its MR1 chemical/product tanker Nordic Ruth failed. However, the company now said it “will continue to market the 19-year old vessel for sale” . Until Nordic Ruth is sold, it will remain deployed in the UPT Handy Pool.
For the rest of 2019, the remaining vessels will continue to be commercially deployed on a pool basis.
“With a considerably improved balance sheet structure, the company is in a more favorable position to pursue growth and potential consolidation opportunities that are accretive to the company,” Nordic Shipholding said.
Nordic Shipholding currently owns six product tanker vessels, five Handysize tankers and one LR1.