Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE: NAT) –Report for the fourth quarter 2019 and the twelve months ending December 31,...
February 18 2020 - 6:51AM
Hamilton, Bermuda, February 18, 2020
Highlights:
- Our Net Profit for 4Q2019 came in at
$12.7m against a Net Loss of $13.7m for 3Q2019 and a Net Loss of
$10.5m in 4Q2018.
- Today we announce distribution of our 90th consecutive
quarterly dividend. The dividend for the fourth quarter of 2019
will be 7 cents ($0.07) per share, payable on March 16, 2020, to
shareholders of record March 2, 2020. In the previous quarter we
paid a dividend of 2 cents ($0.02) per share.
- Developments so far in the first
quarter of 2020 confirm the momentum in the tanker market. Although
rates have eased recently, we believe the outlook for 2020 remains
solid. A stronger market going forward will form the basis for
increased dividends. Please also see paragraph 5
below.
- The balance between increased dividend and reduction of
debt is a central Risk Management question. In
addition to the increased dividend, NAT has since our
3Q2019 report reduced long-term debt with about $20 million,
further strengthening our balance sheet. The
company’s long-term debt to total assets ratio is about 37%, which
is among the lowest in the industry.
- The average Time Charter Equivalent
(TCE) achieved for the fourth quarter of 2019 across our fleet was
about $31,700 per day per ship. So far in 1Q2020 about 70% of the
trading days of our 23 suezmax units have been booked at an average
TCE of $53,000 per day per ship. This is a strong improvement and
an encouraging signal for increased dividend
payments. Our operating costs are about $8,000 per day per
ship.
- Recently we have seen several events come and go, such
as the trade negotiations between the US and China and the
tensions in the Middle East. These events now seem
like a distant past.
- The tanker market was showing solid strength before
these events and the positive developments continued in 2020. The
Corona virus is now grabbing the headlines. The virus could have a
negative impact in the short term. New regulations (IMO 2020) and
muted supply of ships have in itself created a strong base for a
solid future for the tanker
industry.
- The quality of the NAT fleet is first rate, reflected
in the vetting record of our ships. Vetting
is the assessment of oil companies to establish the technical and
operational quality of our fleet. All our ships are running on IMO
compliant fuel.
- For the full report and detailed financial information
for this and other periods please see link below.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Matters discussed in this press release may
constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for
forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to
provide prospective information about their business.
Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans,
objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and
underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than
statements of historical facts.
The Company desires to take advantage of the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in
connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe,"
"anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan,"
"potential," "will," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and
similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this press
release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are
based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without
limitation, our management's examination of historical operating
trends, data contained in our records and other data available from
third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions
were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently
subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are
difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we
cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these
expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertake no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Important factors that, in our view, could cause
actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the
forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies
and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations
in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker
market, as a result of changes in OPEC's petroleum production
levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in our
operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and
insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of
financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and
regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential
liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and
international political conditions, potential disruption of
shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels
breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other important factors
described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the
prospectus and related prospectus supplement, our Annual Report on
Form 20-F, and our reports on Form 6-K.
Contacts: |
|
Gary J.
WolfeSeward & Kissel LLPNew York, USATel: +1 212 574 1223
|
|
Bjørn Giæver,
CFONordic American Tankers LimitedTel: +1 888 755 8391 or
+47 91 35 00 91 |
|
Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman & CEONordic American Tankers
LimitedTel: +1 866 805 9504 or +47 90 14 62 91 |
|
|
|
Web-site:
www.nat.bm |
|
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