LONDON—Goldenport Holdings Inc., the first Greek shipowner to list shares on the London Stock Exchange, said first-half profit climbed 49 percent on higher demand for commodity carriers. Its stock rose to a record.

Net income increased to $32.3 million, or 46 cents a share, from $21.7 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier, Mejuro, Marshall Islands-based Goldenport said in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service Tuesday. Sales climbed to $57.5 million from $39.8 million.

Profit was bolstered by Goldenport refusing to lease out its ships on long-term charters in order to exploit record daily, or spot, hire rates. Rivals including Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. have locked in hire rates for the next several years.

“These results are a little better than we expected,” Gert Zonneveld, an analyst at Panmure Gordon UK Ltd. in London, who recommends investors buy the shares, said by phone Tuesday. “The company has only been on the market for a year but it seems to be delivering on its strategy.”

Goldenport rose 24.75 pence, or 6.3 percent, to 420.75 pence in London, valuing the company at £294 million ($597 million). The stock has gained 56 percent in 12 months, compared with a 14-percent advance in the 11-member FTSE All-Share Industrial Transportation Index. (Bloomberg)

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LONDON—Goldenport Holdings Inc., the first Greek shipowner to list shares on the London Stock Exchange, said first-half profit climbed 49 percent on higher demand for commodity carriers. Its stock rose to a record.