UPDATE 2-DHT Maritime Q2 profit lags Street; shares tank

* Q2 adj EPS $0.07 vs est $0.16

* Q2 rev falls 6 pct to $26.2 mln

* Suspends dividend for Q2

* Shares down 25 percent (Adds conference call details, updates share movement)

Sept 2 (Reuters) - Oil tanker company DHT Maritime Inc (DHT.N) reported a second-quarter profit below expectations, hurt by lower spot-market charter rates for its vessels, and said it would not pay dividend for the quarter, sending its shares down 25 percent.

DHT said it was within its financial covenants and has voluntarily prepaid $50 million under its credit facility.

"I don't think it is correct that the shareholder can expect a full dividend when you have a down market that you have seen today," DHT chief executive Ole Jacob Diesen said on a conference call with analysts.

Cancellations and delays in deliveries of newbuilding orders resulting from weak freight market and adverse credit conditions, may reduce projected tonnage supply, the company said.

"The company expects the base hire component of each of its charters will provide for stable cash flow during the current volatile and uncertain market," it said.

However, the company said a number of vessels continue to be used for storage as a result of current oil price weaknesses. This has to some extent helped to mitigate the unfavorable demand and supply factors affecting ship values.

Oil companies are storing a record volume of oil at sea in giant tankers as world crude supply outstrips demand.

With tanker rental rates low and on-land oil stocks near record levels, storing oil at sea has become a much cheaper option, giving oil traders more flexibility than long-term storage tanks.

WEAK Q2

For the quarter ended June 30, net income was $5 million, or 10 cents a share, compared to $10.3 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. Net income was 7 cents a share, after adjusting for non-cash financial items.

Revenue fell 6 percent to $26.2 million.

Analysts on average were expecting DHT to report a profit of 16 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $26.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

"The current charter rates obtainable in the spot market have had, and are expected to continue to have, a negative impact on the company's revenues by decreasing the profit sharing element under its charter agreements," DHT said in a statement.

Shares of the company were down 22 percent at $3.96 in midday trade Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. They touched a low of $3.82 earlier in the session.

For the alerts, please double click [ID:nWNAB5990] (Reporting by Arup Roychoudhury in Bangalore; Editing by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri) (arup.roychoudhury@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: arup.roychoudhury.reuters.com@reuters.net))