Four-fold jump in 3rd-quarter profits for OMI

Four-fold jump in 3rd-quarter profits for OMI    Capitalizing on sharp increases in time charter rates for tankers, Stamford, Conn.-based OMI Corp. reported a four-fold increase in net income for the third quarter, to $10.8 million, from $2.7 million in the same quarter of 2002.
   The international tanker owner and operator also increased its revenue by 55 percent, to $72.2 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, from $46.7 million in the same quarter last year.
   Illustrating the recent boom of the tanker shipping market, OMI said that its time charter equivalent rates per day for Suezmax tankers rose to $19,145 in the latest quarter, 53 percent more than the $12,539 rate experienced in the third quarter of 2002. For the first nine months of this year, the average Suezmax rate amounted to $33,424, more than twice the $15,043 rate for the corresponding period of 2002.
   “We were satisfied with the results of the third quarter,” said Craig H. Stevenson, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of OMI. “Tanker markets were considerably stronger than the typical third quarter and our results remained satisfactory due to our mix of time charters and spot market business.”
   For the nine months ended Sept. 30, OMI’s net income soared to $61.9 million, from $4.9 million in the corresponding period of 2002.
   On Oct. 16, OMI agreed to sell a 1989 built single-hull product carrier, a transaction that will result in a loss of approximately $3.5 million.
   During the third quarter and since, OMI acquired two 2000 built Suezmaxes and ordered one additional product carrier, while selling three single-hull product carriers. Twenty eight of the company’s vessels are double hulled, with six more to be delivered beginning in March 2004.