half year profits for Bermuda-registered Bona Shipholding Ltd. have jumped to $26.7 million, compared to $5.9 million for the first six months of 1996.

Bona earned a net profit of $5.9 million in the second quarter to June 30, with an improvement on operating profitability, due to the deployment of the majority of the fleet of Aframax tankers in the US Gulf/Caribbean market.

Aframaxes were earning on average $24,800 a day, compared to $17,500 a year ago.

Apart from the sale of the vessels, the only other non-recurring item which affected results in the first half was the reversal of an interest rate swap in May, which realised a profit of $4.3 million.

The company has continued to strengthen its relationship with key customers in prime markets, and this has had a discernible positive impact on fleet productivity.

During the first half of the year, management initiated an in depth study of the company's internal processes with a view to identifying areas where savings can be made and efficiencies achieved.

Findings to date suggest that the combination of improved marketing and productivity of the fleet and the savings achievable through more rigorous internal procedures should have a material beneficial effect on the group operating margin over time.

President Ragnar Belck-Olsen said, "Compared to last year, the short haul trade of crude into the US has further increased and rates during the first half of 1997 have been higher than earlier expected. Even if rates are assumed to come down in the second half of the year, the average rates for 1997 are expected to be higher than in 1996.

"The dry bulk rates are still at a low level and are not expected to improve during the last months of the year.'' The net asset value of Bona at June 30, 1997 was $363.9 million, an increase of $23 million over the last three months, due to the positive cash flow during the second quarter as the market value of the vessels have been more or less constant.

The NAV per share was $12.82 at June 30, compared to $12.02 at the end of the first quarter. The share price of Bona went up from $10.16 at the end of March to $10.93 at the end of June.

Bona had a market capitalisation of $311 million on the Oslo Stock Exchange as per June 30. The company issued 12,000 shares under the option scheme for the employees of Bona as on June 13, which increased the total number of shares to 28,386,434.