Jinhui Shipping & Transportation shares shot up in Oslo this morning after the company paid its first dividend in a decade.
The bulker owner owner announced this morning it would distribute $0.023 per share to investors on the back of a second quarter profit of $2.8m. Jinhui’s new payout represents a yield of 7.3%.
The bulker owner suspended its dividend in the fourth quarter of 2008 and faced a period of criticism from shareholders for retaining executive bonuses while not returning capital to investors.
After coming back into profit in the third quarter last year the company has been selling older assets as part of a fleet renewal process and continued a focus on strengthening its balance sheet.
It has now joined peers including Scorpio Bulkers and Golden Ocean in restoring a dividend given the rising dry cargo market.
Prior to the financial crisis Jinhui operated a fixed annual dividend payment. However, when the bull market ended the company decided to preserve liquidity.
Its last annual report said the dividend policy was being regularly assessed based on the company’s financial position and the market conditions.
Shares in Jinhui hit a high of NOK 9.45 ($1.13) each in Oslo this morning and were trading at NOK 9.17 each at the time of writing, up 8.39%.
The shares are up 13.63% in the past month, according to the Oslo Stock Exchange.
