Goldenport H1 profit jumps 49% to US$32m

Goldenport Holdings Inc, the first Greek shipowner to list shares on the London Stock Exchange, said first-half profit climbed 49 per cent on higher demand for commodity carriers.
Net income increased to US$32.3 million, or 46 cents a share, from US$21.7 million a year earlier, Marshall Islands- based Goldenport said in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service on Tuesday. Sales climbed to US$57.5 million from US$39.8 million.
Profit was bolstered by Goldenport refusing to lease out its ships on long-term charters in order to exploit record daily, or spot, hire rates. Rivals including Navios Maritime Holdings Inc have locked in hire rates for the next several years.
'These results are a little better than we expected,' Gert Zonneveld, an analyst at Panmure Gordon UK Ltd in London who recommends investors buy the shares, said on Tuesday. 'The company has only been on the market for a year but it seems to be delivering on its strategy.'
Goldenport stock has gained 56 per cent in 12 months, compared with a 14 per cent advance in the 11-member FTSE All- Share Industrial Transportation Index.