Performance Shipping’s second-quarter profit slipped back in a weaker tanker market.
The Nasdaq-listed shipowner, which has seven aframaxes, said fleet earnings were supported by increased tonne-mile demand and limited supply growth during the period, even if rates were not as strong as last year.
Net profit totalled $10.2m, down from $18.4m in the second quarter of last year.
Basic earnings per share nearly halved to $0.79.
Chief executive Andreas Michalopoulos said the company had benefited from longer-haul voyages during the period.
“During the second quarter of 2024, the tanker market remained solid, supported by the ongoing shift in trade patterns arising from the Russian oil trade and disruptions in the Red Sea,” he said.
“The increased ton-mile demand, in conjunction with limited supply growth, continues to sustain firm tanker charter rates.”
Net profit for the first six months totalled $21.6m, down from $34.1m in the first half of 2023.
The fleet earned an average time charter equivalent rate of $30,970 per day, down from $41,868 per day last year, when markets were stronger.
The company expects tanker markets to remain firm and will adopt a more balanced mix of short and medium-term time charter contracts and exposure to the spot market, Michalopoulos said.
One of its aframaxes is trading spot now, while the remaining six are operating under time charter contracts, one of which will expire in August.
The pool-traded vessel — the 105,071-dwt P Sophia (built 2009) — will give Performance exposure to the “promising” spot market into the seasonally strong last six months of the year, Michalopoulos added.
“As a result, we anticipate employing this vessel at even more lucrative rates, thus capitalising on the prevailing robust freight rate environment for aframax tankers,” he said.
Performance has four aframaxes on order in China, scheduled for delivery between the end of 2025 and the first half of 2026.
The newbuildings are three LNG-ready LR2 tankers and one LR1 chemical/product oil tanker.
The LR2s already have five-year contracts lined up with unnamed charterers, which Michalopoulos said would supplement Performance’s revenue backlog.
