For the first six months of this year, the adjusted result was a negative $5 mill.
In its three operating groups, tankers showed a negative $3 mill, compared with minus $8 mill for 2Q18.
The heavier losses came in the company’s dry operator and dry owner segments which recorded minus $6 mill and minus $2 mill for 2Q19, compared to plus $8 mill and plus $3 mill for the same period of 2018, respectively.
NORDEN described the tanker market as declining global oil demand growth and seasonal weak tanker spot market. However, the company forecast a forward market firming ahead of IMO 2020 regulations.
In tankers, the company reported earnings at 3% above the 12 month timecharter benchmark, equalling extra average daily earnings of $399 per vessel.
For the full year guidance, NORDEN said there were rising expectations for the tanker sector result, but lower expectations for the dry operator result.
Expectations for the adjusted result for the year were maintained at between $25 mill and $60 mill.
“Dry Operator entered the second quarter on the wrong foot, but managed to quickly adjust its position to still generate a positive trading margin. However, this was not enough to prevent a loss in this business unit. Despite the disappointing result, we still expect Dry Operator to be profitable for the full year, which, combined with a firming forward tanker market, enables NORDEN to maintain the overall guidance of $25-60 mill profit for 2019,” CEO Jan Rindbo said.