A one-time tax benefit of $139.4 million helped lift Triton International Ltd’s fourth-quarter profit to $207.2 million, or $2.57 per share.

That compares with a profit of $57.2 million in the preceding quarter, and $22.8 million for the same quarter in 2016.

The Bermudian-based container company had income before income taxes of $86.7 million, and adjusted pre-tax income of $84.9 million, or $1.05 per share.

The company benefited from favourable market conditions and an increased demand for leased containers, with utilisation averaging 98.3 per cent for the fourth quarter and 96.9 per cent for the year.

Brian Sondey, chief executive officer of Triton International, said the company’s leasing revenue and margins continued to grow as a large number of new containers went on-hire. He said: “Our ability to step in to the supply gap created by the combination of stronger than expected trade growth and constrained buying by many of our customers and several other leasing companies reinforced our position with the world’s largest shipping lines and enhanced our strong reputation for reliability.”

Triton saw fourth-quarter benefits that included $6.8 million in insurance receipts related to lost leasing revenue due to the default of Hanjin Shipping in 2016, and an income tax benefit of $139.4 million related to the revaluation of Triton’s deferred tax liability as a result of the reduction in the US statutory corporate tax rate.

Mr Sondey added: “We expect market conditions will remain favourable in 2018. Our customers are indicating they expect trade growth will remain solidly positive, and the supply of containers remains well controlled, with a moderate amount of new container inventory and very limited inventories of available used containers.”

Triton reported a $344.6 million profit for the year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of 45 cents per share payable on March 28, to shareholders of record as of March 12.

Disclosure: the writer owns shares in Triton International.