A stronger dry cargo market helped Dag von Appen’s Ultrabulk bounce back into the black in 2018 and the Chilean shipowner is confident of a brighter 2019 for its overall Danish shipping business.
Ultrabulk banked a profit of $15.5m last year, flipping a loss of $2.4m in 2017, according to details released by the private company this week.
Per Lange, chief executive of Ultrabulk, told TradeWinds: “We are happy about the results and after a couple of meager years we are able to give the shareholders some return on their investment."
Activity levels were about the same as last year but with the market rising the top line moved past $1bn for the first time, Lange explained during an interview in Copenhagen today.
Ultrabulk expects the dry market to take a turn for the better in the coming months with forecasts for a positive result in 2019.
“We are still aiming for a profitable year,” Lange said. “There is no doubt about the fact there is more concerns going forward then we have seen in a long time.
“We see increased uncertainty due to the trade wars. Maybe the USA and China will settle somewhere, but we know he [Donald Trump] has a long list. That just increases the uncertainty.
"We also see increased protectionism in several places around the world. It’s not good for shipping and I don’t think it’s good for the world economy as uncertainty as a whole holds back investments."
'Not afraid of growth'
Last year saw Ultrabulk run an average fleet of 144 vessels, up by just one from the previous year.
Four ships were added to its core fleet of owned and long-term chartered ships, which is now just shy of 50 bulkers. Seven more will be added to the tally by the end of 2020.
“We are looking at more long-term contracts,” Lange said. “We are happy with the size of our operation as it is now, but we are not afraid of expanding.”
Ultragas cuts loss
LPG owner Ultragas also saw improved results but was unable to move back into the black.
It recorded a net loss of $7.2m in 2018, down from $21.5 million in 2017.
Chief executive Martin Fruergaard, said: “The gas shipping market was negatively affected during 2018 by reduced volumes of LPG being transported in especially the handy size segment combined with a relatively high delivery of new tonnage to the segment, resulting in an oversupply of handy size vessels.
"Demand for the transport of petrochemical gasses was relatively stable during 2018 which supported smaller gas carriers employed in the Unigas operation and to a lesser extent the handy-size vessels, however not enough to avoid periods with idle time - mainly during the third quarter 2018."
This left holding company Ultranav Denmark with a $2.5m profit in 2018, against a loss of $30m in the previous 12 months.
“Overall Ultranav Denmark expects to produce an improved result in 2019 compared to 2018,” it said.
