earnings for Bermuda-based London & Overseas Freighters shoot up by more than 180 percent, the company reported yesterday.

Earnings for the three months to December 31 rose to $2.24 million from $802,000 for the same period a year earlier.

For the first nine months of the year, the independent oil tanker company said profits rose from $2.36 million a year earlier to $5.99 million in 1994.

The company said built-in increases in the charter rates of the ships London Pride , London Spirit and London Victory under their Chevron charters, improved trading conditions for the London Enterprise and reduced debt payments contributed to the increases in income.

Earnings per share for the quarter and three quarter period were $0.030 (equivalent to $0.30 per American Depositary Share) and $0.080, respectively.

Those figures compared with the prior year of $0.020 and $0.080.

The board of directors also declared a dividend for the third quarter of $0.0025 per ordinary share (equivalent to $0.025 per ADS) to shareholders of record on March 30, payable to ordinary shareholders on April 20 and to ADS shareholders on April 21.

Total revenues for the quarter rose to $7.29 million from $6.84 million while total expenses rose to $4.97 million from $4.85 million for the quarter.

Revenues were further boosted as interest income from the proceeds of the company's December 1993 share offering rose from $182,000 to $542,000 and interest expenses were cut from $1.37 million to $614,000.

For the first nine months, revenues rose by more than 20 percent to $24.8 million from $20.34 million, total expenses rose from $12.7 million to $14.85 million, interest income jumped from $212,000 to $1.56 million and interest expenses fell from $2.29 million to $2.21 million.

For the nine months to December 31, 1994, total assets edged up from $179.87 million to $181.94 million while liabilities fell from $71.33 million to $68.19 million.

Other matters which affected net income for the nine month period included a full period's trading with London Pride , which was delivered in June 1993.

In the prior period there were interest breakage costs as a result of the breakage of fixed interest contracts in order to syndicate the debt facilities in July 1993.

There was also an increase in administrative expenses as a result of the company's larger size. And the London Enterprise , the only vessel operating in the spot market, earned a daily time charter equivalent of $16,500 in the third quarter and $13,500 in the nine months, compared with $9,500 and $12,000 in the prior periods.

Mr. Miles Kulukundis, LOFS CEO, said: "The sound base of our three Chevron charters together with improved trading for the London Enterprise has produced another increased profit for the quarter.

"The London Enterprise benefited from the generally tighter tanker market due to increased world oil consumption. She also benefited from a reduced supply of tonnage in the US trades due to the impending CoFR requirements at the end of the quarter.

"Trading since the end of the quarter has been maintained and improved despite a very mild winter in the United States and Europe.'' Mr. Kulukundis said 1994 will not be viewed as a good year for the tanker market, especially for larger vessels, but positive trends for the tanker trade remained intact.

"World oil consumption grew in 1994 by 1.5 percent and is predicted to grow by 1.9 percent in 1995. In the face of increased North Sea oil production, OPEC production grew by only 0.8 percent in 1994.

"Tanker demand, measured in tonne-miles, grew by only one percent as a result of the correlations between OPEC production and tanker demand. OPEC production is expected to grow by 2.1 percent in 1995 with the resultant benefit to tanker demand.

"On the supply side, almost 16 million tonnes of tankers were removed from the fleet during the year, resulting in a fall of two percent in the size of the tanker fleet. In addition, spare capacity within the fleet was further reduced by falls in laid up tonnage and tonnage used as floating storage by about two percent of the fleet.'' He continued that as a result of extensive orders for new container and large bulk vessels, the fall in newbuilding tanker prices has been arrested and there have been some signs of a firming in prices. This is evidenced, he said, by the market value of the company's vessels remaining at last quarter's levels.

"As we look forward in 1995 to increasing tanker demand combined with reduced supply and increased capacity utilisation, we remain satisfied with the prospects for our vessels in the spot market.

"Our exposure to the spot market increases from June 1995 with the delivery of the newbuilding London Glory and the redelivery of the London Spirit and London Victory from their Chevron time charters. We remain confident that our aim of securing term charters for our vessels will be achieved, although there are no definite opportunities as yet and the timing of that event cannot be predicted.''