[SINGAPORE] Samudera Shipping Line, a Singapore shipping firm, said first-half profit surged 20 per cent with the addition of a new tanker and more container traffic.

The shipping company earned $10.3 million, or 2.22 cents a share, from $8.6 million, or 2.04 cents, in the same half a year ago.

Sales rose 12 per cent to $200.5 million from $179 million.

Samudera, as with shipping lines worldwide, is benefiting from a recovery in trade, sending shipping rates doubling over the past year. The company expects to sustain its performance in the second half.

"The group will further explore business opportunities in places like China, the Mediterranean, Indian sub-continent and the Middle East," the company said in a statement after the market closed yesterday.

Samudera's first-half profit benefited from a new tanker delivered in May.

The addition to the fleet will aid second-half profit, as will a chemical tanker delivered last month, it said.

A net foreign exchange gain of $241,000 also helped boost profit. In the same period a year ago, Samudera had a foreign exchange loss of $1.05 million.

The company, which derives a substantial amount of business from Indonesia, did not explain the foreign exchange gain. The rupiah lost 10 per cent against the US dollar in the six months ended June 30.

Samudera also cut its interest costs to $2.4 million from $2.7 million a year ago.

It had total loans of $75 million at end June, down from $75.95 million at last year-end. It did not declare any dividends.