Norden’s money-spinning dry cargo business has helped the Danish owner-operator book its best quarterly result since 2015, following a loss-making start to the year. The Copenhagen-listed company also thinks it is on track to deliver its best annual figures in 11 years, which it said could fall between $140m and $220m.

The firm recorded net profit of $31.8m for the second quarter, up from $29m in the same period a year ago. The result marks a turnaround from the loss of $14.9m during the first three months of 2021, due to slumping product tanker markets. Earnings for Norden’s product tankers remained at negative levels during the second quarter, but this was more than offset by revenue from the company’s dry cargo activities.

Chief executive Jan Rindbo said things are going so well that Norden is upsizing its projections for its annual result by an extra $20m. “We have built a very strong dry cargo position during the first half year, which we will benefit from during the rest of the year, where we expect significantly stronger results,” he said.

“With recent increases in forward freight rates, this further adds to our strong outlook for dry cargo, and we therefore increase our guidance for the full-year adjusted result to between $140m [and] $220m.” Its previous estimate, made at the end of June, was between $140m and $200m.

Norden has also seen the market value of its owned and leased ships rise by $258m during the second quarter, thanks to the strength of dry markets.