GRINDROD Shipping Holdings, the Singapore dry-bulk shipping operator with a secondary JSE listing, has declared a $0.47 (R7.41) per share first-quarter dividend for the six months to March 31, 2022.
Revenue from continuing operations came to $110.3 million and gross profit was $40.7m. Profit came to $29m, or $1.55 per ordinary share.
The period end cash and bank balances amounted to $106.5m, with restricted cash $6.6m.
The company is benefiting from healthy demand for minor bulk commodities, cargo spillover from tight container shipping markets, the smallest new-build order book in decades, and congestion in shipping markets that has led to a tight supply/demand balance and strong freight rates.
On April 14, the company entered into a contract to sell the 2016-built medium-range product tanker Matuku for $30m. In anticipation of the sale, the company exercised a purchase option for Matuku at a cost of $25.4m following expiration of the charter under which the vessel operated.
On May 10, the purchase option on the 2015-built supramax bulk carrier IVS Pinehurst was exercised for $18m.
“After a transformational year in 2021 for Grindrod Shipping in which we enjoyed record financial results for the full year overall, the company has enjoyed a historically strong start to 2022. It was the strongest first quarter for charter rates for our ship types in over a decade,” said interim chief executive Stephen Griffiths.
BUSINESS REPORT