Global Ship Lease’s Net Income Up

UK-based containership charter owner Global Ship Lease saw its net income rise to USD 7.3 million for the second quarter 2017 from USD 5.6 million reported in the same period a year earlier.

During the quarter, the company’s revenue stood at USD 40.2 million, slightly down from USD 41.3 million seen in the second quarter of 2016, while its operating income increased to USD 18.5 million from USD 17.9 million.

“During the second quarter of 2017, we remained focused on generating strong cashflows from stable, fixed-rate contracts with industry-leading counterparties. The value and consistency of this core strategy was once again evident in our financial results for the quarter,” Ian Webber, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship Lease, said.

For the six months ended June 30, 2017, Global Ship Lease reported a net income of USD 14.1 million, up from USD 11 million reached in the first six months of 2016. The company’s revenue for the period dropped to USD 79.9 million from USD 83.9 million, while its operating income was at USD 36.9 million, representing a slight increase from USD 36.3 million reported in the first half of 2016.

Webber informed that the company expects “continued firming in the charter market over time, driven by discipline in the placement of new orders, an orderbook heavily skewed towards the largest vessels, elevated scrapping consisting almost entirely of the mid-sized and smaller vessel classes where we focus, and better than expected demand growth.”

“We remain encouraged by the upward movement of the spot charter market throughout 2017 and believe that this should benefit those of our vessels due to become open later this year and early next,” Webber added.