London’s Baltic Exchange has revealed a drop in annual earnings due to the profitable leasehold sale of its headquarters in the preceding year.
For the year ended 30 June 2023, accounts filed to Companies House show net profit was £441,000 ($562,000), down from £2.05m a year earlier.
The main business is selling membership, with performance viewed as “satisfactory”.
And the operating profit grew to £383,000 versus £253,000 a year earlier.
In the preceding year, the Baltic booked an exceptional gain of £1.95m arising from the sale in November 2021 of a long leasehold of its headquarters, while retaining the freehold and land.
Revenue to 30 June rose to £6.8m from £6.4m, while staff costs increased to £3.7m against £3.2m.
The exchange employed 26 people, down from 27 in the previous year.
The accounts were signed off by chief executive Mark Jackson.
“The company continues to look for new products and sources of revenue to help expand and diversify its present offering,” the results statement said.
Dividends paid out totalled £7.2m for the year, down from £12m the year before.
In November 2022, the Baltic received a £5m dividend from its subsidiary Baltic Exchange Information Services, followed by £1.3m in October.
In June 2023, the exchange paid £2.4m to parent SGX Baltic Investments, controlled by Singapore stock exchange group SGX, then £3.3m in October.
The Baltic Exchange is a membership organisation for the maritime industry, as well as a freight market information provider for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts.
