Norwegian shipping company Farstad Shipping increased its first quarter profits last year as a result of a one-off accounting effect related to financial restructuring.
Profits increased to NOK 1.1 billion –up from NOK 94.2 million in the first three months of 2016.
The results were bolstered by a NOK 1.6 billion net finance gain which included a one-off accounting impact related to converting debt to equity at a share price higher than the fair value.
The company posted an operating income of NOK 495.6 million, down from NOK 872.2 million in the same period last year.
Operating costs increased to NOK 821.3 million, compared to NOK 569.6 last year.
The company’s first quarter report said that the contract coverage of their fleet is about 44% for the remainder of this year, dropping to 36% for 2018.
It added that the short term outlook for oil service vessels “continues to be adversely affected”, and it expects low market rates and low fleet utilisation to continue in the near term.