Larger VLCC fleet boosts Bahri’s Q1 profit

Net profit for the quarter ended 31 March 2016 was registered at SAR611.99m ($163.21m), a jump of 53.6% from SAR398.41m in the same period of 2015.

Bahri said the rise in profit was mainly due to high operating revenues “as a result of buying and receiving several VLCCs”, as well as increased average time charter equivalent rate in the crude oil transportation spot market.

The earnings were also boosted by the decrease in average ship running expenses and reduced bunker bills.

Bahri currently has a fleet of 36 VLCCs, up from 31 ships in the fourth quarter of 2015.