Historically low bulker rates pushed Pacific Basin into the red in the first half of 2016 but the owner has an eye on growth given depressed asset prices.
PacBasin pointed to its stronger cash position of $406m following a rights issue and the sale of its towage business leaving it well placed to ride out the down-cycle and expand its fleet.
Hong Kong-listed PacBasin logged a loss of $49.8m in the six months to the close of June, compared with a $5.8m profit at the same stage of 2015.
“The first half of 2016 saw extraordinarily weak dry bulk market conditions,” chief executive Mats Berglund said.
“While we were loss-making over this challenging period, our handysize and supramax earnings outperformed spot market rates by 56% and 29% respectively and we generated a positive operating cash flow.”
A $143m rights issue has created what Berglund calls an advantageous position.
“The new capital enhances not only our ability to navigate the protracted challenging environment, but also our ability to attract cargo and to assess and potentially purchase secondhand vessels at low prices,” he said.
PacBasin has 212 bulkers in its fleet, of which it owns 87. It also has 12 owned and five chartered newbuildings in the works.
