The rout in freight markets did not hold back results for bulker owner Belships during the third quarter. The Oslo-listed company, which has 31 supramax and ultramax vessels, saw improved bottom-line growth compared to the previous three months and is paying out another dividend to shareholders. Belships recorded $49.8m in net profit for the third quarter, up from $35.2m in the same period last year. The Norwegian firm said the positive net result was “mainly driven by fleet expansion and the book gain from the sale of Belpareil of $10m”. Operating expenses have also fallen significantly compared to last year, which Belships said was due to lower Covid-19-related crewing expenses and vessel takeover costs.

Belships has declared a dividend of NOK 0.75 per share for the three-month period, the same as for the second quarter. The net result came despite a 25% year-on-year fall in net freight revenue for the whole fleet, which was $151.1m during the third quarter. Belships vessels earned a gross time-charter equivalent (TCE) rate of $24,155 per day on average, much the same as they did during the second quarter. The Baltic Supramax Index (BSI) averaged $19,728 gross per day in the third quarter. Belships’ in-house commercial platform Lighthouse Navigation continued to deliver solid results, but weaker freight markets could have an impact. The operator generated Ebitda of $10.1m for the third quarter, but this figure includes provisions for potential loss-making contracts of $4.6m based on the forward freight market at the end of the quarter. Belships’ overall Ebitda for the period was $56.4m, including the contribution from Lighthouse.

Looking ahead, Belships has fixed 90% of its available ship days during the fourth quarter at an average gross rate of $22,900 per day. Its daily cash breakeven for 2023 is approximately $10,900 per vessel. It said that 64% of its ship days in the next four quarters are fixed at $22,300 per day.

Belships has been active in fixing vessels on period contracts and chartered out a further three ultramaxes in October. The China-built Belpareil (built 2015), which was one of the oldest in the Belships fleet, was sold in May for around $29.5m to a Norwegian KS company. The buyer has since been named as Atle Bergshaven’s Bergshav Management. Meanwhile, Belships’ fleet has grown to 31 vessels with the delivery of the 64,000-dwt Belyamato this month from Imabari Shipyard in Japan.

Shortly after Belships announced its third-quarter results on Thursday, CEO Lars Christian Skarsgard acquired 25,000 shares in the firm at a price of NOK 14.38 per share through his company AS Torinitamar. Skarsgard subsequently owns 19,900 shares in his own name; 775,000 shares through AS Torinitamar and 5m options.

Belships shares were trading at NOK 14.70 as of 10:30am in Oslo on Thursday, down by 2.65% since the market opened.