Norden has breezed past fourth quarter estimates but braced investors for lower numbers in the year ahead.

Copenhagen-listed Norden booked a profit of $29.7m in the final three months of the year, behind the $46.2m seen a year ago.

Analysts say the Danish owner’s operating profit of $38.5m for the period trounced the $26.1m the market had been looking for.

Carsten Mortensen, CEO of Norden, said in a statement: “We came out of 2011 better than expected in spite of the difficult conditions.

“Though you should never write off the dry cargo market, 2012 is appearing even more difficult, and we will therefore maintain strict cost control and risk management.

“But as spot rates in dry cargo are expected to bottom out this year, we also continue working with our growth strategy and thoroughly analyse when to begin making new investments in both dry cargo and tankers.”

Norden explains the fourth quarter was its best of 2011 with income from its dry-cargo and tanker divisions improving from the level seen at the same stage in 2010.

For the full-year its bottom line reached $87.8m, down from $244.8m a year ago.

With the dry-cargo market expected to be very challenging in the year ahead, Norden says its operating profit for 2012 will land between $10m and $50m.

This will mark a sharp fall from the $104.5m booked in 2011.