Western Bulk has had an exceptionally good start to the year, benefiting from it’s strategic initiatives and agile approach to market volatility. This has lead to significant outperformance of expectations indicated in April and net profit after tax for the first half year is expected to end in the range of USD 37 to 40 million. This will be the best first half year result in the company’s 40 year history.
Since April the Supramax market has been hoovering around 27.000 to 30.000 USD/day with somewhat lower market volatility than the previous quarters as expected. However, the volatility in market rates between various geographic regions has stayed high and offered several trading opportunities.
Historically the market has been higher in the second half of the year, offering increased opportunities on the back of seasonality. This impact is expected to be limited this year due to lower economic growth and uncertainty related to Chinese demand, as well as increased protectionism with countries like India imposing export restrictions to curb inflation. As a consequence, the company anticipates somewhat lower results in the second half of 2022 compared to the first half of the year.
Dividend for Q2 will be announced 15th of August together with the First Half Year Report for 2022 and will be paid in the beginning of September.
