Seanergy Maritime Holdings has turned a profit for the first time since the company was rebooted in 2015.
The Stamatis Tsantanis-led owner of 16 capesize bulkers achieved the feat thanks to attaining higher spot rates in a strong dry bulk market.
New York-listed Seanergy reported a $600,000 profit for the first six months of 2021 versus a $16.9m loss for the first half of 2020.
The Athens-based owner's time-charter equivalent rate for this year's first half came in at $18,327 per day, a 162% improvement over the rate attained during the same period last year.
As a result, first-half revenue for 2021 totalled $50m compared with $23.1m for the same six months in 2020.
The six-month period to 30 June marked a significant turning point for Seanergy, being the "first profitable first-half since the company’s relaunch in 2015", chief executive Tsantanis said in a statement.
Seanergy relaunched after shedding $346m in debt and selling off its entire fleet.
As previously announced, Seanergy has bought six secondhand capesizes for $160m in total and sold one this year to take its fleet to 16 capesizes.
Seanergy also refinanced $104m in debt while paying down $69.7m in the first half.
The company also returned to profit in the second quarter, posting $2m in earnings versus an $11.3m deficit a year ago.
Revenue came in at $28.9m, improving 209% over the second quarter of 2020.
Seanergy's shares, which trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol SHIP, gained 4.8% to reach $1.09 per share in Thursday's first hour of trading in New York.
