Tonnage provider MPC Container Ships (MPCC) has raised its earnings expectations for the financial year by $20m.
The new figure comes after the Oslo-listed company logged another strong quarter and confirmed the sale of another sub-panamax-sized container ship.
The leading small container ship owner forecasts Ebitda in the region of $470m to $490m in 2022, up from earlier projections of between $450m to 470m.
Revenues are expected to rise by a similar degree between $570m and $585m.
“Our segment of the container market is robust at elevated levels, although periods and rates have decreased slightly over the quarter,” said MPCC chief executive Constantin Baack.
“Nevertheless, rates are still a multiple of pre-pandemic levels.
“As available tonnage is extremely limited, we expect time charter rates to remain solid for the forthcoming quarters,” he added.
The upgrade comes as the Hamburg-based company revealed strong quarterly results, despite the easing of charter rates in recent months.
Net profit soared to $90.1m in the second quarter, up from $12m in the same period last year.
Total operating revenues rose to $151.7m, up 120% on the figure last year.
The performance was lifted by a doubling of average time charter rates. Rates rose to $28,071 per day, up from $13,437 per day
Revenues tallied $151.7m, up from $68.8m. Ebitda rose to $111.8, compared with $31.9m
AS Serafina sold
The Hamburg-based company also confirmed the sale last month of another sub-panamax vessel from its fleet of 65 container vessels.
The 1,713-teu AS Serafina (built 2010) has been sold for $34m and will be delivered to its new owner later this month.
Subject to the successful handover of the vessel, an additional event-driven distribution of $0.04 per share will be paid alongside the recurring dividend.
Recurring dividends for the second quarter are set at $0.15 per share.
“Based on our strong earnings prospects and Ebitda backlog, MPCC has the potential to pay out significant dividends and at the same time operate with an industry-low financial leverage, providing the financial flexibility to selectively capture attractive growth opportunities as they arise,” Baack said.
Besides profiting from vessel sales, MPCC has also been active in the newbuilding segment for the first time.
In July, the company ordered two 1,300-teu vessels to serve a 15-year contract of affreightment deal with Norwegian chemical group Elkem.
This is MPCC’s second newbuilding deal, having spent $144.4m in March on two wide-beam 5,500-teu container ships to be built in South Korea for charter to Israel's Zim.
All four newbuilds are scheduled for delivery in 2024.
