Belgium’s Euronav has logged huge earnings in its first quarterly report since taking over the controlling Saverys family’s green shipowner CMB.Tech.
The New York and Brussels-listed tanker owner reported results from lower-carbon bulkers, boxships and offshore vessels for the first time in the first quarter.
Net profit was $495m, up from $175m a year ago, despite revenue shrinking to $240m from $340m as tanker rates dropped.
However, ship sales added $407.6m to the bottom line, up from $22.1m in the same period of 2023.
Delivering 13 VLCCs to John Fredriksen’s Frontline accounted for $372.7m of this.
Ebitda was $550.5m, from $258.5m last year.
Euronav is paying a dividend of $1.15 per share.
The average daily time-charter equivalent for spot VLCCs plunged to $41,700 from $51,400 a year ago.
Suezmaxes came in at $58,000 per day, versus $70,600 in 2023.
For the second quarter, the group has fixed 63% of VLCC days at $49,465 per day and 54% of suezmax capacity at $41,841.
Takeover results
For the first time, Euronav is reporting figures for the other ships in its fleet through the takeover of CMB.Tech, which owns 106 vessels.
The bulkers operated by the Bocimar unit averaged $23,924 per day, while Delphis’ container ships made $29,378.
Bochem’s chemical tankers managed $25,545 and Windcat’s crew transfer vessels made $2,889 per day.
The group now has 57 eco-ships under construction, with outstanding capital expenditure of $2.9bn.
Euronav said the crude tanker supply outlook remains supportive even after the recent increase in orders for VLCCs and suezmaxes.
For bulkers, demand is characterised by sustained growth in tonne-miles, with projections indicating a 2.1% increase in 2024 and 1.3% in 2025.
“Historically high earnings have been observed in Q1 2024 for capesizes, fuelled by increased activity in the Atlantic and rising Chinese imports,” Euronav said.
The company has fixed 55% of its ship days in the second quarter at $37,063 per day.
Container ships are expected to see a growth in tonne-miles of 5.5% this year, dropping to 0.9% in 2025, the company said.
Chemical tankers could see tonne-mile demand increase by 4.2% in 2024, it added.
