The first three months of the year took a heavy toll on Greek dry cargo operator Diana Shipping, which saw its bottom line plunge by more than USD 20 million, shows the earnings report.

Diana Shipping had a profit of USD 2.1 million in the first quarter of the year. In the same period last year, the profit was USD 22.7 million.

According to the company, the decline in the first three months of the year is due to ships sailing at lower rates than expected.

”As profitable contracts from a firmer 2022 market began to roll-off, subsequent re-chartering has come at lower rates. We expect the sequential decline in Diana’s earnings will begin to level out as ships are now being fixed at higher rates,” the dry bulk carrier writes, referring to the historically strong market after the covid pandemic.

Revenue also fell in the first quarter to USD 57.6 million, from USD 72.6 million in the same period last year.

Diana Shipping states that 66 percent of the dry bulk carrier’s available days in 2024 are fixed at a rate of USD 16,629 per day. In the first quarter, the average hourly charter earnings for the fleet were USD 15,051 per day.

However, the dry bulk shipping company’s liquidity remains strong with USD 162m with no debt maturity before 2026, it says. This is despite the fact that ”margins for cash inflows remain tight”.