By Roshan Fernandez
Shares of Imperial Petroleum rose after notching a first-quarter profit in what the company's chief executive described as an "eventful but softish market."
Shares of the shipping company for petroleum products rose 12% to $2.77 during Friday's trading, though the stock is down about 8% year to date.
The Athens, Greece-based company reported a first-quarter profit of $11.3 million, or 30 cents a share, compared with $16.7 million, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier.
"We had quite a soft performance during the first couple of months of the year, but we took advantage of the market upside during the month of March," Chief Executive Harry Vafias said on an earnings call.
Vafias said by the second quarter, Imperial Petroleum will have expanded its fleet to 19 total vessels with the delivery of six drybulk vessels.
"Our goal of growing fast and transforming a small company to medium sized was achieved," he said.
He felt confident that the quality of the company's non-Chinese fleet will pay off. During the company's earnings call, he cited U.S. port fees on Chinese-built vessels during the quarter as potential reasoning for why that diversification was important.
Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings in the first quarter were 34 cents.
Revenue fell to $32.1 million from $41.2 million primarily due primarily to a decrease in spot market tanker rates, the company said.
Write to Roshan Fernandez at roshan.fernandez@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 23, 2025 14:39 ET (18:39 GMT)
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