The tumult of the first half of 2020 will continue for the remainder of the year, Pyxis Tankers said in its first-quarter earnings statement.
The Valentios Valentis-led product tanker owner said on Wednesday that rates have fallen in recent weeks as global economies gradually reopen after the Covid-19 spread globally and the oil prices collapsed, pushing ships into floating storage and higher earnings.
Pyxis owns five product tankers of MR size and smaller.
"As the global economies return to a 'new norm' while still managing the uncertain path of Covid-19, we expect the product tanker sector to continue to experience significant volatility for the balance of 2020," Valentis said in a statement.
Valentis expects stimulus efforts from world governments to accelerate the post-coronavirus economic recovery, plus short-term arbitrage as floating storage unwinds, with a small orderbook and ageing fleet further helping rates.
"Overall, we continue to be optimistic in the long term," he said.
The Baltic Clean Tanker Index started 2020 at 889 and dipped for most of the quarter, before rising back into the 800s at the end of March. The index then skyrocketed to 2190 by late April before coming back down to earth, hitting 523 on Wednesday.
For the first quarter of 2020, Pyxis posted a net loss of $1.2m, lower than the $2.3m posted for the same period last year. The performance came out to a $0.06 loss on a per share basis, roughly in line with analyst expectations of a $0.05 loss per share.
The company earned daily time-charter equivalent (TCE) rates of $11,917 per day, a year-on-year improvement from $10,631 per day.
The rise in rates pushed TCE revenues to $5m for the quarter from $4.7m, despite 33 fewer operating days.
In early trading on Wednesday, Pyxis shares were down $0.07, or 7.5%, to $0.92.
Its 52-week high is $1.80 and $1.19 for 2020.
Its current market capitalisation is about $20m.
