Nordic American Tankers Ltd made a loss of $21.9 million, or 20 cents per share, in the fourth quarter.

That was less than the $34.3 million loss reported by the Bermudian-based company in the preceding quarter. However, the result missed analysts expectations by three cents per share.

In a statement the company said the tanker market remains volatile, but it expects an improvement during the year.

One measurement of the health of the market is the timecharter equivalent per ship per day. In the fourth quarter that was $13,400, which was up on the $10,600 for the third quarter. The average market rate for the last 25 years was about $30,000.

Nordic American has a fleet of 33 almost identical Suezmax tankers, including three that are being built and are due for delivery this year. During the fourth quarter the company announced the full financing of the new vessels. It is in the process of retiring its revolving credit facility, which dates back to 2004, with a new and smaller facility in combination with other financing. As part of that plan it raised $110 million in new equity in December.

Nordic American’s operational cashflow for the quarter was $11.2 million, up from an operating loss of $700,000 in the third quarter.

In a statement, the company said: “Despite the volatility in the stock markets, the world economy is enjoying its strongest upswing since 2010. What is good for the world economy and world trade is positive for the crude oil tanker business.

“Recent upbeat macroeconomic data released by the International Monetary Fund in Washington, are giving further positive signals for the world economy and consequently for the NAT business.”

The company’s net debt at the end of the quarter was $253 million, equal to about $8.4 million per vessel.

A dividend of three cents, unchanged from the third quarter, will be paid to shareholders next month. The company’s shares closed at $2.19, up about 11 per cent.

Disclosure: the author of this article owns shares in Nordic American Tankers