China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), part of state conglomerate China Merchants Group, has forecast a six-fold increase in net profits during the first half of this year due to strong tanker rates.

Preliminary results showed the Shanghai-listed company, one of the world’s largest VLCC and valemax owners, achieved a net profit between CNY 2.79bn ($397m) and CNY 3.09bn in the six months.