LONDON (Bloomberg) — Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd., a Bermuda-registered and Athens-based crude oil shipper, said on Monday profit rose 12 percent from a larger fleet, and that it plans a two-for-one stock split.

The shares rose as much as 9.3 percent.

Third-quarter net income climbed to $50 million, or $2.61 a share, from $44.5 million, or $2.33, a year earlier, Tsakos said in a statement. Earnings surpassed the $1 a share average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 6.4 percent to $123 million.

"In the near term what is going to help them is their chartering strategy and diversification," Jon Chappell, a JP Morgan Chase & Co. analyst with an "overweight" rating on the stock, said.

"They have a lot of ships locked in on time- charter, and since the third-quarter spot market was the weakest in five years, that helps them."

Tsakos closed up $3.50 to $69.48 on Monday and was up nine percent to $71.90 earlier in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have risen 57 percent this year. Tsakos has a secondary listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

The stock split will take "the form of a 100 percent share dividend," the company said.

The additional shares will be distributed after the close of trading on November 14 for shareholders of record at the end of trading on November 9.

The company's strategy of seeking out long-term charter contracts comes as spot shipping rates suffer amid a glut of new ships and lacklustre demand growth for oil.

The Baltic Dirty Tanker Index, which tracks world shipping rates, was down an average 34 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier.

The size of the world fleet has expanded 3.8 percent this year, according to Lloyd's Register-Fairplay. Demand to ship crude has increased 1.5 percent, based on International Energy Agency estimates.

The world tanker fleet will increase by as much as 32 percent during the next five years, according to estimates by Lloyd's Register-Fairplay, the company that assigns ship registration numbers.

Tsakos, which operates more tankers than any other Greek shipping line, hired its vessels out for a daily average of $26,467, from $29,779 a year earlier. An additional eight ships are currently on order.

"They trade at a big discount to others, and they're growing their fleet," Chappell said. Tsakos's fleet expanded to 43.6 vessels this quarter from 37.1 ships a year earlier.

The fleet includes so-called VLCCs, very large crude carriers, as well as smaller crude carriers and tankers that carry gasoline, diesel and other refined fuels.