Ardmore Sails to Profitable Full Year

Cork-based ship owner and operator Ardmore Shipping has posted a third successive profitable quarter and its first profitable full year.

The company reported EBITDA of USD 8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2014, an increase of USD 6.5 million from USD 1.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2013.

Ardmore’s reported EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2014, reached USD 22.7 million, a jump of USD 13.2 million from USD 9.5 million for the same period in 2013.

The company reported a net profit of USD 1.7 million for the full year of 2014, as compared to a net loss of USD 3.8 million in 2013.

“ Ardmore continues to maximize earnings through its versatile employment strategy, currently taking advantage of the very strong charter market by deploying more ships in the spot market. Our spot MR product tankers earned USD 18,413 per day in the fourth quarter, and are presently averaging approximately USD 18,800 for voyages in progress,” Anthony Gurnee, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, said.

Ardmore has taken delivery of the Ardmore Cherokee, a 25,215 deadweight tonne Eco-design chemical tanker constructed at Fukuoka Dockyard in Japan at the beginning of January, 2015.

The shipping company has nine more newbuildings scheduled to deliver in 2015, which are expected to increase revenue generating capacity by approximately 70% year on year.

“As we look ahead further into 2015, the product tanker market shows signs of continued strength catalyzed by lower oil prices and supported by robust ongoing demand growth driven by refinery expansions and rising global product exports. We look forward to taking full advantage of these strong market conditions in order to continue building earnings momentum,” Gurnee added.