Market tailwinds may be blowing Braemar to record earnings, but chief executive James Gundy says there was nothing lucky about his decision to focus on core shipbroking and finance operations.

The London-listed group will log at least £20m ($24.5m) in underlying operating profit for the year to 28 February, with most shipping sectors buoyant.

Braemar has sold off engineering and logistics businesses over recent years to target its traditional business.

Gundy told TradeWinds: “It’s a simplified business model, which is proving totally correct.

“I’ve been in the [CEO] chair now for just over two years. It’s been a lot of hard work — there were a lot of things to unwind and reshape.”

But he has never wavered from that original vision.

“Yes, all the markets have gone in our favour and we’ve taken advantage of that — that’s what you’re supposed to do,” he said.

“There’s always a bit of luck when markets turn in your favour, and I’ll take that every day of the week. But the fact is the focus on shipbroking wasn’t luck, that was pure belief that that was the right way forward.”

But there will be no complacency: “You can feel good for a day and then it’s back on it again.”

The CEO told TradeWinds that derisking the business and enhancing growth in existing and new areas has not been easy, but knocking the company into shape has made it easier to attract talent.

More growth to pursue

“It’s exciting because you can look at the business and say there’s a lot more growth to be done,” he said.

Gundy is still a believer in consolidation in the broking sphere, and he said he is not the only one.

In December, Braemar bought US broker Southport Maritime and added the tanker team from Spain’s Medco.

These operations have already started off well, Gundy said. “It’s not just about feeding in businesses, it’s making sure they complement each other.”

Chief financial officer Nick Stone said it is important to recognise that there has been a lot of investment in the past six months, and without that, profit would have been even higher.

“We’re putting the investment into future growth. Fortunately, we have got very strong cash flows,” he said.

Stone pointed out that debt was £20m three years ago and now the company has net cash of £6.9m.

Braemar’s share price was up by as much as 7% in London following the trading update on Wednesday.