Hoegh Autoliners’ customers are ready to commit.
The Oslo-listed car carrier owner said the average duration for its contracts had jumped to 4.8 years in the opening half of 2023, versus just under 2 years for the second half of 2022.
During the company’s first-quarter earnings webcast, chief executive Andreas Enger called it a “breakthrough” in dialogue with customers and “promising” as 35 contracts are coming open next year and 42 in 2025.
He would not get into financial details, however.
“It varies in directions. We are entering contracts at levels that are well above our current rates,” he said. “The rate environment is strong.”
For the quarter, Hoegh Autoliners’ profit jumped to $117m, up from $36m year over year and just under the fourth quarter’s $118m.
Revenue rose to $354m from $266m year over year and slightly lower than the $356m brought in last quarter.
Volumes out of the Atlantic rose year over year, from 1.5m cbm to 1.7m cbm, while volumes originating in Asia fell to 1.6m cbm from 1.7m cbm.
Rates earned on those cargoes rose, however, with the company earning $74.40 per cbm, a 30% rise from the $57.10 per cbm logged in the first quarter of 2022 and a 9% jump sequentially.
Enger suggested the drop in volume was due to port congestion in Australia, where efforts to decontaminate cargoes for invasive bugs and seeds have been reported.
He said delays have the company’s ships waiting a week before they can call at ports.
“I think the main reason for a somewhat softer volume is that we’re still seeing a market with heavy disruptions in many trades. Our trade to Australia and Oceania, which is one of our biggest ones, [is being impacted],” Enger said.
But the chief executive credited the trading team in finding new opportunities for its fleet, even as one of its ships was out of service for the quarter.
He said ships were even turning up in Oslo, which is not typically part of Hoegh Autoliners trade pattern.
“That is what is producing a very good quarter, even with a lot of lost time,” Enger said.
