China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has registered higher earnings in the first quarter ended 31 March 2015 largely due to the improved tanker shipping market.

Net profit for the first three months was recorded at RMB225.04m ($36.28m), an increase of 22.6% from RMB183.52m in the same period of last year.

Revenue for the quarter more than doubled to RMB1.36bn from RMB660.44m a year ago.

“In the first quarter of 2015, freight rates for the VLCC market were on average higher compared to the first quarter of 2014. The dry bulk shipping market hit bottom in January this year, and the market is expected to remain weak in the long run,” CMES commented.

It added that the group managed to capture the upturn of the tanker shipping market during the first quarter, translating to an operating profit of RMB422.09m compared to the gain of RMB147.53m a year ago.

The dry bulk shipping segment, however, posted an operating loss of RMB1.65m during the quarter as against an operating gain of RMB17.89m a year earlier. Its joint venture LNG fleet made an operating profit of RMB21.94m, up 1.8% year-on-year.