Stolt-Nielsen Ltd’s loss in US courts weighed on its second-quarter earnings, but tax benefits pulled its bottom line back into the black.

The Oslo-listed shipowner reported on Thursday a $113m profit for the three months ending 31 May — a figure whittled down by a $155m loss provision taken after a judgment against it in a US appeals court for its role in a fatal fire aboard a MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company vessel in 2012.