Shares in New York-listed Ardmore Shipping were down 5% in morning trading the day after the stock jumped 18% on rumours related to merger and acquisition activity.
Anyone hoping to find clues of possible interest in the Ardmore by a larger product tanker rival, Torm of Denmark, would have come away disappointed from a webinar with chief executive Jacob Meldgaard Wednesday.
In the session, hosted by Marine Money, Meldgaard spoke in generalities when asked about opportunities for fleet growth and consolidation, counselled patience and did not specifically mention the Irish company.
'We look at all opportunities that come our way. For now, we're happy with the position the company's got," Meldgaard said.
"We'd love to engage in opportunities that are accretive for our shareholders. [But] it's a bit too early to say there's something very specific to act on."
Ardmore's outsized gain on Tuesday was said to be fuelled by reports of a major investment from a large private equity player, which some assumed to be Torm's majority shareholder, Oaktree Capital Management of the US. There has been no publicly available filing to date.
Ardmore stock had traded more than four times the average daily volume, but was back near typical levels today.
One finance source consulted by TradeWinds this week said he'd be surprised by a Torm-Ardmore hookup but could not rule it out.
Difficulties in his view include the poor trading level of Torm's shares, making them less than appealing as an acquisition tool.
While the funding needed to pull off an all-cash deal for $200m market-cap Ardmore is not staggering in normal times, it is also not so easy in coronavirus days, he said.
Meldgaard noted during the online session that Torm, like virtually all tanker owners, has made a huge pile of money in the year's first half on a record market, but now faces down a period of destocking of oil inventories, including floating storage on vessels.
"We've been taking onboard all the cash and profits that we can and we can be a little patient as to what would be the best use of the profits," Meldgaard said.
"It's a fantastic time for Torm. I'm quite confident there will be something interesting coming out of this at a later stage this year."
With nothing further on the M&A front, Ardmore was one of the few tanker companies in red numbers today. Products peer Scorpio Tankers, for example, was up 4% in morning trading.
