Germany’s Ernst Russ Group is building its container ship fleet again following a number of disposals in hot markets.
The Hamburg-based tonnage provider said “advantage was taken” of the positive environment to sell the 803-teu Music (built 2007) in the second quarter.
TradeWinds has cited brokers as saying this vessel became the second in the fleet of Tailwind Shipping Lines, the start-up shipowning division of giant supermarket group Lidl.
VesselsValue assesses the ship as worth $11m.
Ernst Russ sold two other feeder vessels in the first quarter and said “good gains” were made on these disposals.
Meanwhile, it has been busy bringing new ships in.
Ernst Russ said it has bought the 1,036-teu feeder unit Conmar Avenue (built 2012), owned by Conmar Shipping of Germany.
The boxship is valued at $23m.
And the 917-teu, $16m-rated Motivation D (built 2006) has been acquired and renamed Faith.
The previous owner is listed as Germany’s Drevin Reederei.
Ernst Russ said the deals were carried out “in continuation of our business strategy and will contribute positively to revenue and earnings in the future”.
It hailed a “positive overall performance” in the first quarter.
Net profit was up at €9.1m ($9.6m), from €300,000 in the same period of 2021.
Revenue grew €18.5m, or 109% year on year, to reach €35.4m.
The company said the result came despite global political issues and the resulting economic consequences.
“Due to favourable trends in the shipping markets and investments made in expanding its fleet, the group can look back on the fifth consecutive quarter of revenue and earnings growth,” it added.
The value of ship assets fell €15.3m to €194.9m due to the first-quarter sales.
The share price reached a high of €7.50 on 28 March and closed the quarter at €7.25.
“Our corporate aim is to continue increasing the value of the share and boost investment in Ernst Russ,” the owner said.
The group manages a fleet of 28 fully consolidated vessels, focusing on units of up to 6,000 teu, but there is also a handysize bulker.
In December, it took majority ownership in 12 container ships and built an indirect 55% interest in its feeder portfolio, which consists of 11 vessels of 800 teu and a 1,800-teu ship.
