Stealthgas has reported a second quarter profit of $4.7m on revenues of $31.9m, compared to a $5.1m profit on $30.3m revenues in the same period last year.

The results bring Stealthgas' first half revenue to $65.8m, a 10.2% increase on H1 2013's $59.7m while profit rose to $12.3m from $11.5 between the same periods. Seven vessels joined the fleet of the LPG shipowner between the second quarter 2013 and the same period this year.

"As always second and third quarters prove to be challenging ones due to mainly seasonality but also terminals maintenance. In addition we had a couple of vessels finishing long charters in 'exotic' locations and had to be repositioned to find new business," commented Stealthgas ceo Harry Vafias.

Age was a determining factor in the spot market, with seven of StealthGas' older vessels "underperforming" during the quarter, yet a healthy demand and stable market for newer tonnage.

Vafias stated the company's commitment to reduce spot exposure, adding that it is preferable to sign period charters during the firm winter markets. "It will take a few quarters to see the effects of our fleet growth, but we have already made significant commitments to increase our fleet from 44 vessels to 61 vessels at a cost of nearly $400 million, most of which will be delivered by Q3 2015."

Stealthgas also secured long term charters for three of its 17 newbuilds during the quarter, with contracts through to 2022.

Plans for making use of proceeds from StealthGas' recent equity raise are due to be announced in the near future; the ceo stated that the company's significant cash reserves and debt to capital ratio of under 30% means that there is no further need for equity raising.

"We will now focus on taking delivery of all our newbuildings, milking our existing vessels, and taking advantage of the positive demand and supply fundamentals in the LPG space" Vafias concluded.