Castor Maritime concluded its first year as a Nasdaq-listed in the black for itself and shareholders as its stock saw healthy gains Wednesday morning.
The Petros Pangiotidis-led owner of three bulkers posted a $530,000 profit for the fourth quarter, up from $280,000 in earnings for the same period last year.
Castor Maritime's shares, which also trade on the Norwegian OTC, jumped 47% to $1.43 by midday Wednesday.
Revenue rose to $2.84m from $1.11m, thanks to last year's additions of 75,311-dwt Magic Sun (built 2001) and 76,602-dwt Magic Moon (built 2005) to the fleet.
Those two ships increased Castor Maritime's available days to 249 from 92 during the fourth quarter, according to the Cyprus-based company.
"We are pleased to report a profitable fourth quarter of 2019, closing our first year as a Nadsaq-listed company on a positive note," chief executive Pangiotidis said in a statement.
Insulated
"Despite the current market and rate volatility, our strategy of employing our vessels on medium term charters has insulated us from the currently weaker market and has allowed us to remain profitable and cash-flow positive."
Magic Sun is fixed to Oldendorff Carriers through September at the latest at $12,000 per day. Magic Moon is on charter to United Shipping Lines through September 2020.
The company's third ship, 76,543-dwt Magic P (built 2004) is on scheduled dry-dock as of Wednesday.
Bringing Magic Sun and Magic Moon into the fleet also boosted Castor Maritime's topline for 2019.
Revenue rose 36.4% from 2018 to $6m as a result of those two vessels but profit fell to $1.09m from $1.51m, primarily due to vessel operating costs going up to $2.8m from $1.56m.
