Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) reported a third-quarter loss amid a drop in voyage revenues.
But chief executive Nikolas Tsakos said the strong fourth quarter rebound in rates is a cause for optimism in the tanker market.
The company reported a net loss of $1.96m for the third quarter, compared to a $36m profit in the year earlier period. The loss per share was $0.02, which was shy of estimates for a $0.01 per share loss.
Voyage revenue was $109.2m for the quarter, compared to $141.7m in the year earlier quarter.
The New York-listed company said the tanker market weakened from the second quarter onward due to a combination of more newbuilding deliveries, lower refinery production, and reduced cargo liftings from Nigeria and Libya.
It also said revenue was impacted by the repositioning and dry-docking of the LNG carrier 147,000-cbm Neo Energy (built 2007), which has been fixed to China's CNOOC for use as floating storage.
The market should hopefully be firmer next year as tanker deliveries are expected to decrease by the second half of 2017. Meanwhile, the resumption of crude oil cargoes from Libya and Nigeria should also benefit tanker rates.
“Following our long term strategy of responsible growth on the back of solid employment, 2017 will be the springboard year that will boost the fleet’s profitability and elevate TEN’s valuation to levels that reflect the true value of our company,” Tsakos said.
