NEWYORK(Bloomberg) ? Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd., the world?s biggest oil- tanker owner by capacity, posted record profits in the first quarter as rising demand for crude oil in the US and Asia boosted shipping rates.

Net income rose to $214.4 million, or $2.91 a share, from $179.7 million, or $2.35, a year earlier, the company said in a statement on Hugin. Operating profit jumped 62 percent to $275.2 million, higher than the $241 million median estimate from a survey of ten analysts by TDN Finans.

Earnings at Frontline and rivals such as Teekay Shipping Corp. have risen to records as a global economic expansion, led by China, spurred tanker demand to outpace the growth in shipping capacity. Last year was probably the tanker industry?s most profitable year in three decades, helping shippers? shares outperform benchmark stock indexes.

?The outlook is strong,? said Ivar Larsen, an analyst at Enskilda Securities on Oslo, who recommends clients buy Frontline shares. ?The company will continue to post strong earnings.?

The shares rose ten kroner, or 4.4 percent, to close at 235.5 kroner, the highest since March 9, in Oslo. They have more than doubled in the past year, valuing the company at 17.4 billion kroner ($2.6 billion).

The company, controlled by Norwegian shipowner John Fredriksen, 60, plans to pay a dividend of $5 a share for the quarter. Fredriksen, Norway?s wealthiest individual with an estimated $1.9 billion in assets according to Forbes magazine, will receive about $200 million from the first-quarter dividend.

Other major shareholders include Fidelity Investments and Neuberger Berman Inc.

?Shareholders should expect a continued high dividend payment as well as further attempts to consolidate the tanker market,? the company said.

Frontline runs most of its ships in the spot market on single- voyage contracts. Tanker rates, measured by the Worldscale standard, rose as high as WS 172.5 in the first quarter for cargoes of about 260,000 tons from the Persian Gulf to Japan, according to Bloomberg data. That?s the second time since before the 1973 oil embargo that VLCC rates climbed to such levels. The record was WS 190 on Oct. 24, 2000, Bloomberg data showed.

First-quarter sales jumped by a third to $450.6 million. Frontline operates 35 very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, each able to carry 2 million barrels of oil, and 27 Suezmax tankers that can haul one million barrels each.

Income from Frontline?s VLCCs rose to $74,900 a day from $55,400 a year earlier, after deducting voyage-related costs such as fuel and port fees. The ships cash flow break-even point was about $21,878 as of today, Frontline said.