On Wednesday it reported a loss of $35.0m for the three months to 30 September, versus a deficit of $38.4m in the comparable period a year prior.

The result amounted to $0.81 in lost earnings per share, which beat Wall Street equity analysts’ consensus forecast by a nickel, according to data from Thompson Reuters.

While revenue rose to $58.6m from $53.6m year-on-year thanks in part to higher rates achieved by its capesizes and panamaxes the company acknowledged that the gains were partially offset by lower earnings generated by some of its smaller ships.

“Although there still remains excess vessel supply in the market, we believe the declining pace of fleet growth has caused freight rates to be more correlated to increases in cargo demand,” it said.

“We believe that during the third quarter, reduced supply growth in combination with increased shipments of iron ore volumes from Brazil and Australia as a result of higher Chinese steel production contributed to the Baltic Capesize Index reaching its highest point since 2010.”

Going forward, finance chief John Wobensmith said he is confident that Genco’s “opportunistic” time charter approach will help the company cash in on near-term freight rate increases while expanding its “future earnings potential in a stronger dry-bulk market”.

As TradeWinds has reported, Genco was among the many US-listed bulker operators that watched their stock soar at the end of the summer when capesizes trading in the spot market saw freight rates hit record highs.

At the time, equity analysts like Michael Webber of Wells Fargo Securities warned that the rally would be short lived. Today, capesizes are enjoying average daily rates of around $25,500, which is 28% higher than levels recorded last week but well below a near-term peak of $38,900.

While Genco’s New York-listed shares rose 5.69% to $2.97 in afterhours trading as investors digested news of the third-quarter beat, Wall Street researchers are quick to point out that this is far lower than a 52-week high of $4.98.

You can read Genco's third-quarter earnings report in full by clicking on the link located under the Related Media section to the right of this article