profit of $1,969,000 for the year to March 31, more than 8.4 percent higher than the year before.

Three months ago, the company said it was exploring a range of strategic alternatives aimed at positioning itself to compete more effectively in the changing market for quoted tanker companies.

Seeking enhancement of shareholder value, the company hired Gleacher NatWest Inc. and NatWest Securities Ltd. to render financial advice.

Yesterday, the company was tightlipped about possible developments in that regard, but noted "due to the timing of this process'', it has been decided not to publish the annual report at this time, nor set a date for the annual general meeting.

The successful year included a fourth quarter in which net income was $824,000, a substantial improvement over the previous year's fourth quarter in which the company lost $435,000.

For the year, LOF had net operating income of $9,706,000, compared with $6,849,000 the year before.

The company said the entire tanker market was especially strong during the fourth quarter and they benefited from their exposure to the voyage market.

The core of the profit improvement stemmed from a 20 percent improvement on last quarter's result in time charter equivalent (TCE) earnings in the Panamax fleet.

The company CEO, Miles Kulukundis, said yesterday: "As we have been predicting, the pressures from increasing oil demand, a relatively stable fleet, increasing charter preference for modern tonnage and high capacity utilisation have led to this improved voyage market. In the short term, these trends are expected to continue to the benefit of our trading.''