Capital Product Partners has greatly improved its bottom line in the second quarter.
The Jerry Kalogiratos-led owner posted a $7.89m profit for the second quarter versus $4.02m during the same period last year.
Earnings per share came in at $0.44, beating Wall Street consensus of $0.43 and last year's figure of $0.08.
Total revenue slipped to $27.4m from $28.8m, mostly due to fewer ships in the fleet following the disposal of two vessels in October and April 2018.
This was offset by higher charter rates during the quarter compared with a year earlier.
Expenses fell to $15.3m from $20.1m, mainly as a result of the fewer ships.
More vessels in the works?
“We are pleased to see the partnership deliver solid common unit distribution coverage for yet another quarter," chief executive Kalogiratos said.
"We expect that the recently secured long-term charters to MSC [Mediterranean Shipping CO] for two of our container vessels will further underpin our common unit distributions.
“In addition, the partnership’s strong balance sheet and cash position give us the opportunity to expand our asset base in the short to medium-term with a view to growing our long-term distributable cash flow.”
Capital Product Partners' tanker fleet merged with Diamond S Shipping in March, creating the world's third-largest public product tanker owner and fifth-largest public tanker company by dwt, with 64 units valued at near $1.5bn.
'Not many moving parts'
Capital Product Partners' results were "largely in line" with expectations but should not cause much of a stir on Wall Street, Stifel analyst Ben Nolan said.
"Following the announcement of several new time charter contracts earlier this month, there were no further announcements and very few moving parts at the moment," he wrote in a note to clients.
"Consequently, we would not expect any major moves in the share price today as a result of 2Q numbers."
