New York-listed Diana’s bottom line sagged to just a quarter of where it sat a year ago to miss Wall Street forecasts for the period.
And analysts fear further falls ahead with the owner tipped to post a loss for both the first quarter of 2013 and the year as a whole.
Diana pocketed $5m in the final three months of 2012, down from $20.2m a year ago.
Its earnings per share hit the Street at $0.06, three cents below what the market had hoped for.
Diana’s full-year profit was a healthy $54.6m, around half the level seen in 2011.
The bulker owner has signed several period contracts at lower levels in recent times and is tipped to card a loss of $0.01 per share in the first quarter of 2013.
In 2013 Wall Street is looking for the bulk owner with the most pristine balance sheet on Wall Street to record a $0.16 per share loss.
Diana still has $446.62m in the bank despite adding five vessels worth almost $120m since the start of 2012.
