$1,091,150 or 36 cents per share in the first six months to June 30, an 18 percent increase over the same period last year.

"This growth in net earnings is directly related to a growth in cargo volume which itself is due to the buoyant Bermudian economy,'' the company stated in its unaudited six month report to shareholders.

BCL operates the MV Oleander container ship which transports cargo from New Jersey to Bermuda. The company also owns half of Somers Isles Shipping Ltd.

which operates a freighter service from Florida to Bermuda.

The company's New Jersey service had a two percent increase in container volume. The Florida service had a growth of 1.9 percent volume.

BCL reported revenues of $11.93 million, an increase of 5.54 percent, and expenses of $10.84 million, an increase of 4.43 percent, for the six month period.

While expense increases were in line with revenue increase, the company noted that stevedoring costs in Bermuda were ten percent higher than a year ago. The increased cost was attributed to the larger cargo volume and a stevedoring rate increase in second half 1997.

"The company also experienced a healthy growth in cash resources with the unconsolidated cash position increasing by $660,000 since the beginning of the year despite significant capital expenditures,'' the report stated.

Capital expenditures included advances of $544,000 on the last two instalments of the purchase of a new terminal facility in Salem, New Jersey, and $328,000 spent on buying equipment and the fuel conversion of the Oleander ship.

BCL expects to spend a total of $500,000 on the project and save $200,000 a year on fuel for the Oleander .

The company also reported that its lawsuit against the International Longshoremen's Association, and New York Shipping Association was still unresolved.

BCL is attempting to relocate to the Salem port facility it bought in Salem, New Jersey from nearby Port Elizabeth but has been blocked by a legal battle with the US dock workers and the shipping association.

The longshoremen don't want BCL to move to Salem where the union is not represented. The employers' association has said BCL would be in breach of contract and would be subject to damages of $600,000 per voyage if it moved to Salem. In response, BCL filed its a suit against the organisations.

The local freight carrier's management has said previously that unless it is allowed to move to the less expensive port facility at Salem, the company could succumb to fierce competition on the New York to Bermuda run.

BCL reported that its directors and officers held 859,150 common shares representing a 28.64 percent interest in the company.

BUSINESS BUC