The Simeon Palios-led bulker owner recorded a reversal attributable to shareholders of $7.2m in the period, beyond the $5.2m lost of a year ago.

Its loss per share of $0.09 was a single penny beyond what analysts had expected.

For the first six months of 2014 Diana has booked a loss attributable to shareholders of $14.0m against the $8.4m red number a year ago.