Matson's earnings have surged almost 2,200% off a high-speed transpacific boxship service between the US and China.
The Matt Cox-led owner of 13 small containerships and a car carrier posted an $87.2m profit for the first quarter, up from $3.8m a year ago.
The Jones Act-focused shipowner's earnings per share came in at $1.99, beating analyst consensus of $1.63 and blowing away year-ago EPS of $0.09.
Revenue improved 39% to $712m, primarily due to Matson's CLX and CLX+ China services pushing a 219% leap in box volume from the first quarter of 2020.
"Matson is off to a strong start to 2021 with continued solid performance in both ocean transportation and logistics," chief executive Cox said in a statement.
"Within ocean transportation, our China service continued to see significant demand for its CLX and CLX+ expedited ocean services as volume for e-commerce and other high demand goods remained elevated, which resulted in very strong pre- and post-Lunar New Year volumes.
"Our financial performance in the China service was the primary driver of the increase in consolidated operating income year-over-year."
He said New York-listed Matson expects the China services to remain lucrative as a result of Covid-19-related supply-chain disruptions.
"Currently, significant supply chain congestion continues, particularly at the California ports, and these conditions will most likely persist through the second quarter and into the traditional peak season," he said.
"We also expect demand in the transpacific trade lane to remain favourable as elevated consumption trends, including heightened e-commerce activity, are expected to continue beyond the second quarter."
