The quarter saw the launch of the Helios LPG Pool but today’s report did not bring any dividend payment as some analysts had anticipated.
New York-listed Dorian, which will run the buyback programme until December 2016, booked a profit of $13.7m in the three months to the end June 2015.
This marked a swing from the $3.67m in the fiscal first quarter of last year, thanks to fleet growth and a strong market.
Earnings per share hit the tape at $0.24, a penny ahead of what Wall Street had projected.
Prompt employment
John Hadjipateras, chief executive of the shipowner, said in a statement: “We have been able to find prompt employment out of the yard for our newbuildings, which highlights the underlying strength of the VLGC freight market.
“The current rate environment and our young fleet have allowed us to generate cash flow ahead of our expectations, and we believe that our board's authorization of a share buyback of up to $100m underscores the board's and management's commitment to increasing shareholder value."
Dorian now has 10 VLGCs on the water and 12 remaining under construction.
Pool making a splash
Revenue reached $20.33m in the three months to the end of June, of which three quarters came from its ships in the Helios LPG Pool.
In a pre-results note last week, Arctic Securities suggested the quarter would see Dorian introduce a dividend, aided by two major time charters signed since its previous quarterly report. “We continue to see dividend as an important trigger,” analyst Erik Nikolai Stavseth said.
"The company intends following the end of the calendar year in the delivery of the bulk of its newbuildings fleet to review its results and at that time determine if shareholder interest would best be served by special dividend or using funds to pursue strategic opportunities," Hadjipateras said.
BW Group is now a major shareholder in Dorian after it bought shares previously controlled by Scorpio Tankers.
