Braemar chief executive James Gundy is pleased with the vote of confidence in his shop by Swiss dry cargo broker Lightship.
The Geneva-based company bought 1m shares in London-listed Braemar on 29 December.
“We are happy to see that another broker recognises the value in Braemar,” Gundy told TradeWinds.
Lightship said the investment was a simple case of the company believing in shipping for the foreseeable future and looking to put more money into the sector.
CEO Sune Fladberg told TradeWinds that Braemar’s valuation was very attractive. Gundy said the move was also an interesting way for Lightship to increase its exposure to a more diverse shipping space, adding: “We too see more upside in the markets moving forward.”
Lightship’s slice of 3.04% was worth £2.94m ($3.73m) at the time of TradeWinds’ report on Monday, based on a trading price of £2.94 in London.
The stock has since risen to £3.04, up from £2.77 at the start of 2024, so Lightship is already in the money.
Braemar has a market capitalisation of £98.45m.
Lightship has carried out “various” other direct financial investments, Fladberg said. Braemar made a positive return to the London Stock Exchange in November after a four-and-a-half-month suspension.
It applied for a trading halt on 3 July after missing a financial reporting deadline as it examined legacy broking deals.
Net earnings in the year to 28 February 2023 dropped to £4.6m from £13.9m the year before, mainly as a result of a goodwill impairment of £9.1m arising from the takeover of financial service Naves, plus a £2m provision for the investigation.
Profit for the six months to 31 August dropped to £1.6m from £8.6m in 2022.
