Performance Shipping delivered a quarterly profit that exceeded its revenue, a feat made possible by a profitable deal to sell its oldest aframax tanker.
The New York-listed shipowner reported a nearly $25m profit for the fourth quarter, an improvement from the $23.8m earned a year earlier when an asset sale also buoyed the bottom line.
The company, which owns aframax crude tankers and LR2 product carriers of the same size, reported $23.8m in the period, a slump from $27.9m a year earlier.
But the company’s income statement also included a $15.7m gain from vessel sales, up from $9.54m in the fourth quarter of 2022.
As TradeWinds has reported, Performance sold the 115,900-dwt P Kikuma (built 2007) for $39.3m in November.
The deal came after Athens-headquartered Performance ordered a trio of LNG-fuelled newbuildings.
“Our decision to acquire these identical ‘sister’ vessels, along with the recent sale of our oldest aframax tanker, the M/T P Kikuma, reflects our confidence in sustainable market fundamentals,” chief executive Andreas Michalopoulos said in the earnings statement.
Diluted earnings per share came out to $0.63, below the $0.69 of the only analyst that covers Performance in Yahoo Finance data.
For the full year, Performance delivered a net income of $69.4m, up from $36.3m in 2022, while revenue jumped to $109m from $75.2m.
“Our impressive revenue generation of approximately $109m during the last fiscal year is indicative of our ability to capitalise on the firm freight rate environment through the efficient operation of our fleet,” Michalopoulos said.
“We believe that the solid tanker market environment will be sustainable through 2024, prompting our continued focus on a fleet deployment strategy that emphasises balanced exposure to short to medium-term time charter contracts, and the spot market.”
Performance currently has seven ships on the water, with five on time charters and two operating in pools.
