Profit before tax at Clarkson has fallen by 3% year-on-year to £51.5m, while its earnings per share fell by the same amount to 129.1 pence per share.

The integrated shipping services firm said that in the six months to 30 June, it saw its interim dividend per share increase from 30 pence to 32 pence.

However, in this time, its revenue dropped from £321.1m in H1 2023 to £310.1m in the same period in 2024.

It said that its spot and forward business transactions in this period were ahead compared to the same period last year in the broking division.

Furthermore, Clarkson said that its balance sheet was "robust", now standing at £178.4m.

Chief executive officer at Clarkson, Andi Case, said: "I am immensely proud of everyone within the Clarksons team for delivering this strong set of results for the first half of 2024.

"The profile and further development of the forward order book, level of new business being transacted and pipeline for the second half, means that we have confidence that we will be second half weighted and deliver full year results in line with the board's expectations. This confidence has enabled the board to increase the interim dividend by 2p to 32p."

Looking ahead, the firm said that the board’s expectations for the full year remain unchanged.

Head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, Danni Hewson, added: "Shipping services provider Clarkson dropped its own pebble in the volatile pond as it revealed a drop in first half profits stemming from geo-political tensions in the Middle East.

"But its outlook was considerably brighter with the broker maintaining its full year forecast and hiking its dividend as it pointed to strong forward orders.

"The tonne-mile, which represents how much it charges to get one tonne of goods one mile, is expected to rise 5.4% over the second half of the year as demand picks up.

"But with so much global unpredictability investors are wary."

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