ANNOUNCEMENT NO. 1 - 2007 5 March 2007
TORM 2006 result before tax was USD 241 mill. Proposed dividend of DKK 11.5
(USD 2.0) per share. Expectations for 2007 profit before tax of USD 135-155
mill.
TORM's Board of Directors and Management have re-evaluated the Company's
strategy ”Greater Earning Power” and have focused on an accelerated
implemen-tation of the strategy using the Company's strong balance sheet.
The Company will consider a share buy-back programme of up to 15% of the
Company's share capital in 2007. In addition, the Board will propose a share
split.
· Net profit after tax for the year was USD 235 million (DKK 1,395 million).
The Board of Directors con-siders the result very satisfactory.
· EBITDA was USD 301 million (DKK 1,790 million).
· Cash flow before financing items was USD 115 million (DKK 683 million). Cash
flow from operating activities was USD 233 million (DKK 1,383 million), while
cash flow from investing activities was USD (118) million (DKK (699) million).
· At 31 December 2006, equity amounted to USD 1,281 million (DKK 7,251
million), corresponding to USD 37.0 per share (DKK 209.4) excluding treasury
shares.
· The market value of the Company's fleet as at 31 December 2006 exceeded the
book value by USD 1,016 million (2005: USD 768 million) equalling USD 29.3 per
share (DKK 166.0) (2005: USD 22.0 (DKK 139.4)) excluding treasury shares.
· On 3 December 2006, TORM announced its own evaluation of its assets and
hereby the Company's Net Asset Value excluding brand and goodwill. The
evaluation was solely an internal calculation and was not confirmed by
evaluations from external advisers. The calculated value was DKK 14,861 million
equivalent to DKK 429 per share of DKK 10. For information about vessels
chartered in and purchase options, please refer to Note 18 and 19.
· Return on Invested Capital (RoIC) was 19.6% (2005: 33.8%), and Return on
Equity (RoE) was 21.5% (2005: 36.9%).
· At the end of 2006, the Company owned 36 vessels: 31 product tankers and five
dry bulk carriers. The Company took delivery of four vessels during the year
and contracted eight newbuildings not yet de-livered.
· By the end of 2006, TORM had 17 vessels on order. In addition, the Company
had entered into time charters for another 34 vessels. Consequently, the
Company's fleet of owned and chartered vessels will by 2011 consist of 73
vessels based on existing contracts, assuming that no vessels are disposed of,
acquired and/or chartered in the meantime.
· TORM's Board and Management have re-evaluated the Company's strategy “Greater
Earning Power”. The strategy is maintained, but will in a number of areas be
made more precise. For details, please re-fer to page 24.
· The profit before tax forecast for 2007 is USD 135-155 million. In 2006,
profit before tax was USD 241 million including dividends (USD 26.4 million)
and gains from sale of vessels (USD 54.4 million) vs. a profit before tax
forecast range of USD 240-250 million.
· The Board of Directors recommends, subject to approval by the Annual General
Meeting, that a divi-dend of DKK 11.5 (USD 2.0) per share be paid corresponding
to a total dividend payment of DKK 419 million (USD 74 million) and equivalent
to 30% of net profit for the year and a return of 3.1% in rela-tion to the
closing price of the Company's shares on the last business day of 2006.
Telephone conference A telephone conference and webcast (www.torm.com)
reviewing the Annual Report 2006 will take place today, 5 March 2007, at 17:00
Copenhagen time. To participate, please call 10 minutes before the call on
tel.: +45 3271 4607 (from Europe) or +1 334 323 6201 (from the USA). A replay
of the conference will be available from TORM's website.
Contact A/S Dampskibsselskabet TORM Telephone +45 39 17 92 00
Tuborg Havnevej 18 Klaus Kjærulff, CEO
DK-2900 Hellerup - Denmark
SAFE HARBOUR STATEMENT - FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future
events and financial performance and may 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 forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various
assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions,
including without limitation, management's examination of historical operating
trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third
parties. Although TORM believes 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, TORM cannot assure you that it will achieve or
accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.
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, changes in charter hire rates and
vessel values, changes in demand for “tonne miles” of crude oil carried by oil
tankers, the effect of changes in OPEC's petroleum production levels and
worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in demand that may affect
attitudes of time charterers to scheduled and unscheduled dry-docking, changes
in TORM's operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry-docking and
insurance costs, changes in governmental rules and regulations including
requirements for double hull tankers or actions taken by regulatory
authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, domestic
and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes
due to accidents and political events or acts by terrorists.
Risks and uncertainties are further described in reports filed by TORM with the
US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the TORM Annual Report on Form
20-F and its reports on Form 6-K.
