Clarkson Shares Price Jumps as Hormuz Turmoil Drives Record H1 Profit

Shares in Clarkson PLC (LON: CKN) surged 15% on Monday morning after the shipping services group posted record first-half results and said full-year profit would come in “materially ahead” of market expectations, as disruption in the Strait of Hormuz supercharged trading across its broking and derivatives businesses.

The FTSE 250 shipbroker reported underlying pre-tax profit of £61.5m for the six months to 30 June, up from £39.4m a year earlier, on revenue that jumped to £413.5m from £297.8m. Underlying earnings per share rose to 147.6p from 98.6p. The board lifted the interim dividend to 35p from 33p, marking a 24th consecutive year of dividend growth.

Clarkson said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz had triggered extreme volatility across tanker, gas and dry cargo markets, pushing freight rates and hedging activity to exceptional levels. VLCC crude tanker earnings rose 166% year-on-year, while its Broking division delivered record profit of £64.8m at a 20.9% margin. The Financial division, encompassing Clarksons Securities, also more than doubled operating profit to £11.7m.

Chief executive Andi Case said the group’s scale and market intelligence had proven invaluable amid “increasingly complex” global trade conditions, adding that the board “looks forward with confidence.” Unusually, management said it does not expect the normal second-half weighting to its earnings this year, given the strength of the first half.

The results also confirmed leadership changes, with long-serving CFO Jeff Woyda retiring after nearly two decades and being succeeded in November by Niamh Staunton, joining from BP. Harriet Oliver becomes chief operating officer.

The group also completed three acquisitions during the period — Link Group, Zuma Labs and Serpac International — expanding its commodities, technology and South American footprint, funded from a strong balance sheet with free cash resources of £154.6m.