Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) shares advanced 11.84% on Friday to $2.55 after the company announced it will be entering a time charter contract with Bunge S.A., Geneva.
Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) is a holding company that provides shipping transportation services and specializes in the ownership of dry bulk vessels. In particular, it transports dry bulk cargoes, including commodities, such as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along shipping routes around the world. The company wholly owns, directly or indirectly, the subsidiaries, which own the vessels that comprise its fleet.
According to their press release on Friday, Diana Shipping Inc. announced that it entered into a time charter contract with Bunge S.A., Geneva, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Naias. The gross charter rate is US$5,000 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of about five to seven months. The charter, which was conducted through a wholly owned subsidiary, started on Friday.
In addition, Diana Shipping Inc. also entered into a time charter contract with Bunge S.A., Geneva, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Artemis. The gross charter rate is US$5,350 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum ten (10) months to about thirteen (13) months. This is expected to start next week on June 6, 2016.
Together, these contracts are expected to generate approximately US$2.3 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charters. Prior to this announcement, the company had released its earnings report and showed a basic consolidated earnings per share of-$0.8138. Earnings per share from continuing operations came at -$0.3921 for the fiscal ended March 31, 2016. Diana Shipping Inc. shares are trading in a 52-week range of $1.95 to $8.27. The company has a market cap of $241.55 million at 82.55 million shares outstanding.
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