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The world of shipping is more complicated than ever, but British shipbroking giant Clarksons sees an opportunity in helping its customers understand it, according to its managing director.

The London-listed broker reported positive results for the first half of the year on Monday, after which its shares hit an all-time high of £ 34.55 ($ 47.92) during intraday trading.

Clarksons Ship Broker’s core business posted net income of £ 900,000 more in early 2020 for the first half of this year.

However, Clarksons’ bottom line was also supported by its advanced advisory services that help clients understand, plan, and comply with changing environmental requirements, Case said.

His dedicated “green transition team,” as Case calls it, has been around for some time, but has expanded over the past six months.

“We have been running green projects for around three to four years, [but] They’re much more tailored to specific customers and specific customer needs, “he explained.

The service has since expanded to include all of Clarksons’s markets, not only because of the daunting challenge of decarbonising shipping, but also because of the specific macroeconomic backdrop.

“You are at a very interesting moment in history,” said Case.

“We actually suddenly have a short supply supply. We have now been demanding for the past two years that we move towards this supply supply supply. And now you have seen rapid inflation in commodity prices,” he said.

Then there is the green transition.

“All of this requires very careful navigation, so we do a lot of consultation and then look at the execution at the end of it,” he said.

“Shipping isn’t the cause of global warming. But everyone in the world has to take responsibility and we are working to help companies achieve this. “

The shipping transition “affects every part of our business,” be it Clarksons’ research, green finance projects or new business opportunities in the renewable energy sector, added CFO Jeff Woyda.

Rebound from a loss

Clarksons’ positive half-year results follow a difficult 2020 that ended with Clarksons posting an annual loss due to a pandemic-induced impairment of $ 84 million on its securities and offshore business.

Clarkson’s result for the first half of 2021

Clarksons got off to a strong start to the year and achieved a profit of around 30% in the first six months compared to the same period in 2020.

The London-listed broker posted a pre-tax profit of £ 27.3 million ($ 37.8 million) compared to £ 20.9 million in the first half of last year.

Earnings per share rose to 63.5p compared to 50.6p in early 2020.

The result has enabled Clarksons to announce an interim dividend of 27p per share, twop more than in the first half of last year.

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But CEO Case told TradeWinds that 2021 was a different story.

“When we presented our interim results last year, we were definitely buoyed by the tanker market and this first half of the year is almost completely the opposite,” he said.

“The oil and oil related sectors were the more challenged sectors, and the bulk and the container [markets] to be the ones who actually show the greatest strength. “

Clarksons is now paying more and more dividends for the 19th consecutive year, which the company is very proud of, Case said.

Case said he hoped the company could pay more shareholder dividends in the second half of the year after paying out £ 8.2 million in dividends – or 27p a share – for the first half.

“But obviously the company is looking for numerous ways and means to invest and grow,” he added without going into detail.

Good advice

According to Jeff Woyda, the group’s CFO, every part of Clarksons’s business will be impacted by the decarbonization of the maritime industry, both now and in the future. Photo: Clarksons

Maritime is more ‘complex’ than ever

What keeps Case up at night? Calls from customers in the middle of the night, he joked, as “people are still looking for the right business”.

Case indicated that the company has a strategy in place and is focused on executing that plan.

“We have led the company through the global financial crash, we have navigated the company through Covid, a global pandemic, and these are two massive market moments where the company has still managed to get real results,” he explained.

Case said Clarksons has long been viewed as a “modernizer” in its field and the company wants to keep raising the bar.

“But it’s also about meeting the needs of the market, and that’s the job of a service provider – you really have to understand the markets,” he said.

“I think the maritime world is more complex now than ever before.

“I think the challenge [shipping] and the solutions it is looking for are not easy choices. “