Sovcomflot announces rising profits

Moscow: Russia-based energy shipper Sovcomflot has seen a 6.8% increase in net profits to $103.2m for the first half of 2007, from $96.7m seen the year before. In the first half of this year the company saw two landmarks as it became the biggest carrier of crude oil from the Port of Primorsk and time-charter equivalent (TCE) revenues surged by 29.2% to $263.4m as compared to $203.9m in 2006.

Sovcomflot president and ceo, Sergey Frank, said, "We had an exceptional first half of the year.  After record-breaking year 2006, Sovcomflot fleet demonstrated good performance in 2007 and achieved historically highest TCE.  The management has been pursuing a number of new initiatives in Russia aimed at further building shareholders value".  

The group has announced that it plans to "concentrate on specialized markets with strong focus on Russian energy shipping and Russian marine energy services."
 
Sovcomflot currently operates a fleet of 56 vessels and has a further 18 ships of the tanker and gas carrier variety on order, all of which will be delivered by 2010.  [06/08/07]