NEW YORK -- Drybulk carrier Paragon Shipping Inc. said Tuesday that profit and sales fell during the third quarter amid a downturn in shipping that led to lower charter rates.

The company said it earned $18 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with $18.9 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding special non-cash items including depreciation linked to below-market charter rates on acquired vessels, the company said it would have earned $15.1 million, or 33 cents per share, in the latest period.

Revenue fell to $40.1 million from $43.6 million a year ago.

Analysts, who usually exclude items from their calculations, had expected earnings of 30 cents per share on $34.8 million in revenue.

The company operated 12 vessels during the third quarter and earned an average time charter equivalent rate of $34,687 per day. A year earlier, the average rate was $40,250 per day.

Paragon said it agreed last week with STX Panocean Co. Ltd. on a new agreement for a vessel covering 23 to 25 months at a gross daily charter rate of $13,700.

Chairman and CEO Michael Bodouroglou said he expects 2010 "to be another challenging year for drybulk shipping."

Bodouroglou said the company had set its ship-chartering strategy to make revenue and cash flow more predictable. He said this gives the company confidence to invest in growth "as the right opportunities present themselves."

Paragon shares rose 7 cents to $4.46 in regular trading, then gained another 4 cents to $4.50 in extended trading after the results were released.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@