Nordic American Tankers is trumpeting its best quarterly performance in nearly three years, with even better days in store.
The Herbjorn Hansson-led company posted a $5.6m profit for the first three months of 2019 a $25.3m improvement over the same period last year and its best, the company said, since the second quarter of 2016.
"The world economy is enjoying its strongest upswing since 2010," the company said. "What is good for the world economy and world trade is by nature positive for the crude oil tanker business."
The performance beat analyst expectations of $0.03 by three cents, while core operating profit of $34.1m beat consensus projections by over one fifth, according to analysts at Arctic Securities.
"All-in-all, NAT delivered a strong set of first quarter numbers," said Lars Bastian Ostereng.
Net voyage revenue shot up to $53.6m from $29.6m in the first quarter of 2018, while expenses declined from $40.7m to $35.3m.
In mid-February, Nordic American Tankers completed a five-year $306m refinancing deal with Dallas-based Beal Bank, before prepping a $40m at the market offering in March and raising $100m by scrapping old ships.
The company said it expects to see volatility in the tanker market ahead of the IMO emissions regulations set to kick in next year, necessitating refinery adjustments to produce lower-sulphur fuel.
"These adjustments will be positive for tanker demand and we expect 2019 to be a better year than 2018," it said. "With the majority of our fleet in the spot market, NAT is well positioned for an improving tanker market in the coming years."
