OREANDA-NEWS. According to audited financial results of JSC “Latvian Shipping Company”, the company and its subsidiaries (LSC Group) closed 2013 with losses in amount of 18.15 million USD; however they have decreased by almost a half in comparison with previous year, when losses of the company were 34.6 million USD. The net result was negative mainly as a consequence of vessel impairments in the amount of 22.92 million USD.

Throughout 2013 EBITDA continued to increase and reached 47.33 million USD which was an improvement of 6.34 million USD when compared with the previous year. During 2013 the LSC Group improved its cash position significantly and as at 31st December 2013 the Group had cash and short-term deposits in the amount of 36.57 million USD, which is 10.44 million USD more than at the beginning of 2013.

Forecasting company's performance results this year, LSC management indicates that throughout 2013 the LSC fleet generated earnings in line with expectations and current market indicators suggest that the petroleum product tanker sector will continue to perform satisfactorily. However, the future profitability of the product tanker segment will depend on worldwide economic growth, which still remains finely balanced. Economic growth drives demand for refined oil and hence impacts on demand for product tankers.

The total income of the fleet for 2013 was 103.54 million USD. The LSC Group fleet's net voyage result for 2013 was 88.93 million USD which was a slight improvement when compared with the previous year (twelve months of 2012: 88.33 million USD) despite the fact that the number of vessels within the fleet has declined. The net voyage result is a more comparable indicator of fleet performance, rather than total income, as it is calculated by deducting voyage costs from voyage income and shows the Group's result, irrespective of whether the fleet is employed in the spot or time charter market.

During 2013 the price of LSC shares quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Riga experienced growth of 55.95%. The OMX Baltic Benchmark GI index in 2013 increased by 12.16%. There were 1 862 trades of Latvian Shipping Company's shares during 2013 involving 4 575 982 shares worth 1 509 756 LVL which is 61% of total share turnover and 11% of trading volume in value terms of all the Latvian companies listed on the Baltic Main List. On 31 December 2013 the capitalization of Latvian Shipping Company shares at NASDAQ OMX Riga was 78.60 million LVL.

In the medium-sized and handy tankers categories JSC „Latvijas kugnieciba” (NASDAQ OMX RIGA: LSC1R) is among the leading ship owners in the world, and in terms of transport volumes of petroleum products it is also in a leading position among similar companies in Northern Europe. It owns 16 modern ships, employing more than 700 professional and highly qualified seamen from Latvia. The average age of the fleet is 6 years. All ships have received ISM (International Safety Management) certificates.