Danaos Corp's fourth-quarter profit leapt 28% from a year ago during what chief executive John Coustas called a "most outstanding turnaround" for the boxship sector.

The New York-listed owner of 65 containerships saw adjusted earnings for the three-month period improve to $47.8m from $38m, compared to the same period last year.

Earnings per share came in at $2.29 for the quarter, beating the analyst consensus by $0.02