Diana Containerships Inc. (NASDAQ: DCIX), a global shipping company specializing in owning and operating containerships, today reported net income of $1.9 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared to a net income of $0.3 million for the same period of 2011.
Time charter revenues were $12.4 million for the first quarter of 2012, compared to $3.2 million for the same period of 2011, mainly due to the increase in the number of vessels in the fleet following the delivery of the Maersk Merlion, Maersk Malacca and Maersk Madrid in June 2011 and the delivery of the Cap San Marco, Cap San Raphael, APL Sardonyx and APL Spinel in February and March 2012.
Dividend Declaration
The Company has declared a cash dividend on its common stock of $0.25 per share. The cash dividend will be payable on May 31, 2012 to all shareholders of record as at May 17, 2012. The Company has 23,076,161 shares of common stock outstanding.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer’s Comments
“The dividend we have just announced represents a substantial increase over the prior level, as the continued growth of our fleet has expanded the Company’s earnings and dividend capacity. However, the current dividend rate does not reflect our full potential yield for the future, since four of our vessels joined the fleet during the 2012 first quarter, three in February and one in March, and therefore did not contribute to revenues and earnings for the full quarter. As we receive the full benefit of the revenue and earnings generated by our additional vessels in subsequent quarters of this year, we would expect our dividend potential to increase. We will continue to deliver on our strategy to build a fleet of quality container vessels with very lucrative time charters and a stable revenue stream,” said Symeon Palios, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Diana Containerships Inc.