Euroseas's earnings returned to black for the second quarter on higher revenue driven by a higher number of active vessels and improved charter rates.
The Aristides Pittas-led company, which in May spun off its drybulk segment into Eurodry, reported $1.8m in profit versus a $1.2m loss during the same period last year.
Net revenues almost doubled to $9.7m from $5.3m as a result of a higher ship count and higher rates compared to a year ago.
The average number of vessels went up to 11.95 from 8.12 during the same time frame in 2017, while TCE rates jumped to $10,028 per day from $7,428.
Following the 30 May spinoff of Eurodry and its six drybulk vessels, Euroseas became a pure boxship player and the only listed company focused on feeder containerships.
“In the second quarter of 2018, we achieved a significant milestone in executing our strategy by completing the spin-off of six of our drybulk vessels into EuroDry Ltd., a shipping company also listed on NASDAQ," chief executive Pittas said.
"We are pleased to see that our shareholders benefited by having the market value of their combined EuroDry Ltd. and Euroseas holdings increase by more than 40% as a result of the spin-off."
He said expected further global economic growth and low orderbook levels indicate that charter feedership charter rates will improve into 2019, if US-induced trade wars do not spike.
Accordingly, Euroseas has been fixing available ships for three to 12 months at a profit while aiming to stagger renewal periods for further participation in a strengthening market, he said.
“We remain focused at growing Euroseas to a significant publicly listed consolidating platform for the feeder containership sector," he said.
