Hoegh Autoliners pushed its dividend to the max in a quarter where rates hit a new high.
The Oslo-listed car carrier owner reported a $133m profit for the second quarter on Thursday and announced it would pay a $0.35 per share dividend, totalling $67m or approximately 50% of its net adjusted profit.
The company has a policy of paying between 30% and 50% of profit to shareholders.
It said the net rate rose to $75 per cbm — a new high level.
“Our strong result is coming from a combination of good cargo support from our contract customers and good cargo opportunities in the spot market,” chief executive Andreas Enger said.
“All our sailings are full in all trades and despite delays and congestion in some ports, we were able to operate our network efficiently through the quarter.”
The $133m profit represented a significant jump from the $53.1m reported for the second quarter of 2022.
The bottom line was boosted not only by a rise in revenue — $355m versus $318m in the same period last year — but lower bunker and voyage expenses.
For the quarter, the company said global light vehicle sales jumped 13% year over year and 5% from the first quarter as most regions, save Australia and some parts of Latin America, shift away from supply chain disruptions.
It said Chinese exports remained strong, with volumes to Europe jumping 126% year over year, while South Korean vehicle shipments rise 50% to the US and 25% to Europe over the same period.
Both regions saw exports jump over 1m units in the quarter.
Total Chinese construction equipment sales rose 44% from the second quarter of 2022.
The company said it saw net rates hit $77.70 per cmb in July, the second highest on record.
“Financially, we expect Q3 to be another strong quarter for Hoegh Autoliners,” it said.
