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Taylor Maritime Ltd on Friday reported a widened interim loss as it marched on with its strategic vessel divestment programme and announced a proposed return of capital. The Guernsey, England-based shipping investor said pretax loss swelled to $31.1 million for the six months ended September 30 from £14.0 million a year ago. This was despite making a revenue of $90.7 million compared to zero a year, largely because of a jump in impairment of vessels to $18.8 million from zero. Cost of sales rose to $78.2 million, bringing gross profit down to $12.5 million. Administrative and general expenses more than tripled to $17.7 million from $5.5 million, and the company reported a net loss on financial assets at fair value of $120,000, from a gain of $4.0 million, further weakening the bottom line. Taylor Maritime attributed the impairment charge to vessels designated for sale during the period, part of its strategic vessel divestment programme. The company completed 18 vessel sales during the period for combined proceeds of $295.8 million. As a result, cash at end of period surged to $139.2 million from $3.6 million. Time charter equivalent earnings fell 13% to $12,031 per day from $13,885 a year ago, given the smaller operating fleet. The company on Friday also announced its intention to distribute to shareholders an aggregate amount of approximately $143.4 million in the first quarter of 2026. This return of capital will be made in addition to the planned quarterly dividend of 2.00 US cents per share, which is the same as last year. Its dividend target for the current financial year is 8 cents per share in total. ‘Having liquidated a large portion of the fleet through 2025 to protect against short-term downside risk and preserve shareholder value, we have greatly reduced our exposure to ongoing market volatility,’ said Chief Executive Edward Buttery. Looking ahead, Taylor Maritime noted ‘ongoing concerns’ for international trade such as tensions between the US and China, as well as increased protectionism. As a result, it forecasts ‘only very modest world trade growth’ for 2026. ‘The group has built in some resilience in its balance sheet to enable it to focus on strategic objectives as and when the market conditions look right,’ said Chair Harry Strutt. ‘In the meantime, management is focused on achieving a greatly reduced group cost base to minimise value leakage in this interval.’ Shares in Taylor Maritime rose 5.0% to 67.60 pence on Friday morning in London. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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