Knightsbridge Tankers Ltd News

According to a report from Reuters, Knightsbridge Tankers Ltd reported a 16% drop in quarterly profit as ship-oversupply hurt sales. Capesizes barely covered their running costs during the first quarter. Demand was hit by the flooding in Australia and the tsunami in Japan.   (Source: Reuters)

Knightsbridge Tankers Ltd. shares are rising along with the broader market after an analyst said a new time charter will allow the company to weather a tough tanker market this year.  Analysts said the time charter the company signed should support the company through declining tanker rates this year and next. The five-year contract is for a new vessel to be delivered in 2009. Source:  AP

The cyclical nature of the tanker market continues its trend upward, a development which has Lazard & Freres & Co. stamping both Nordic American Tankers (ASE: NAT) and Knightsbridge Tankers Ltd. In a pair of separate corporate profiles released June 29, Lazard & Freres’ James L. In accordance with this information, Winchester has raised VLCCF’s 2000 dividend estimate to $2.32 from $2.29, a dividend which implies of yield of 11.9%. There are a myriad of factors driving the current VLCC surge, chief among them increased oil production and a lack of qualified tonnage. Oil production was boosted by a 708,000 bpd rise in OPEC quota, agreed June 21 to help keep oil pricing in the desired $22-$28 range.

Knightsbridge Tankers Ltd. reported a 14 percent decline in first-quarter profit as revenue fell and operating costs rose. The Bermuda-based company reported quarterly net income of $14.2m, or 83 cents per share, compared with $17.1m, or $1 per share, in last year's first quarter. Operating revenue fell to $27.2m from $29.4m. Analysts were expecting a profit of 87 cents per share. Prices for very large crude carriers continued downward early in the quarter, the company said, following a downward trend that began in November. The industry enjoyed a pricing spike in late January and early February, but rates then eased through the rest of the quarter, the company said. The company's total operating expenses grew to $11.8m from $11.4m in last year's first quarter.