Western Bulk Chartering AS reported consolidated financial results for the second half and full year of 2017. For the second half, the company reported operating profit of $9,005,000, result before tax of $7,144,000 and result for the period of $6,385,000 on gross revenues of $415,591,000 against operating loss of $18,161,000, loss before tax of $19,212,000 and loss for the period of $18,911,000 on gross revenues of $336,544,000 for the same period of last year. Net cash flow from operating activities was $7,262,000 against $19,426,000 for the same period of last year. Investments in fixed and intangible assets was $52,000 against $96,000 for the same period of last year.

For the year, the company reported operating profit of $9,523,000, result before tax of $5,483,000 and result for the period of $4,294,000 on gross revenues of $827,280,000 against operating loss of $31,795,000, loss before tax of $36,942,000 and loss for the period of $36,984,000 on gross revenues of $631,932,000 for the same period of last year. Net cash flow from operating activities was $6,842,000 against $40,754,000 for the same period of last year. Investments in fixed and intangible assets was $212,000 against $173,000 for the same period of last year.

The company announced that the market returned to a more sustainable level in 2017 and it is entering 2018 with increased optimism. The new-building order books are historically low and steel prices have been supporting scrapping, leaving expected fleet growth as low as 1-2 % in 2018. Trade growth projections overall remains healthy and demand growth is likely to be higher than the supply side, increasing fleet utilization and supporting market levels. For Western Bulk margins have returned to historical levels and are on average expected at about 10 % of the market going forward. Combined with a slight increase in the average number of vessels this should allow for further increase in Net TC.