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OCT borrowed capital on time, CEO says

13/01/2009 07:48
Listed company, Ocean Tankers aims to maintain its profitability at $20 million per annum despite the global economic recession and the anticipated downturn of the shipping sector. In his interview to StockWatch, Ocean Tankers CEO, Michalis Ioannides stressed that the company managed to finalize its development plans before the crisis breaks out. OCT, which was listed in the CSE two years ago with three tankers, now has fifteen, most of which are chartered in the long term, while some others are in the spot market.

At a time that other companies face numerous problems, Ocean borrowed the necessary capital on time. Recently, it sold one of the tankers it received, enjoying profit of $5 million and the CEO does not exclude the possibility of selling other tankers too, if long-term contracts are not achieved. “The Company’s middle-term target is to increase its fleet to 25 tankers”, Mr. Ioannides said.

Despite the crisis that hit the shipping sector, Mr. Ioannides is optimistic that Ocean will manage to achieve its target for profits of $20 million. He believes the profits are maintainable in 2009 due to the long-term lease contracts. Since the company will have more chartered ships in 2009, the income from long-term charters will increase and will cover the losses that might emerge from the spot market.

In his interview, Mr. Ioannides also referred to the project of €35 million for the transfer of water from Greece and stressed that the margin of profit fell to 3% and Ocean might show loss. The CEO admitted that there were mistakes, “which were overcome successfully”. “If it wasn’t for this water, given that Cyprus had no stock, what would Limassol do and what would the repercussions on economy be”, he wondered.