HAMILTON, Bermuda, July 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
The second quarter of 2016 shows solid results. The recent deliveries of four Japanese–built second hand ships (costing $106m) and the purchase of two new vessels from Korea ($64m cash delivery payment in total for both) to be delivered in the next six months are being financed from our own resources, without raising new equity. The making of this cash payment in total of $170m, which brings the fleet to 30 vessels and enhances our earnings potential significantly, guided us in setting the dividend for 2Q2016. The tanker market is volatile. A higher demand for tankers should result in higher dividends. We believe that in the present circumstances the strategy of deploying our cash both to pay dividend and to buy ships and thereby increase our dividend capacity is in the best interests of the NAT shareholders. Going forward, competitive dividend payments, a strong balance sheet and a high liquidity in the stock, compared with our competitors, continue to be prioritized objectives for NAT.
In view of the above, the Board of Nordic American Tankers Limited has declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share to shareholders of record August 17, 2016. The dividend is expected to be paid on or about August 31, 2016.
The 2Q2016 earnings report is expected to be released Monday August 8, 2016 before NYSE opening.
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 world wide 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:
Jan H. A. Moller,
Head of Investor Relations & Financial Manager
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 888 755 8391 or +47 90 11 53 75
Turid M. Sørensen, CFO & EVP
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +47 33 42 73 00 or +47 90 57 29 27
Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP, New York, USA
Tel: +1 212 574 1223
Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or +47 90 14 62 91
Web-site: www.nat.bm
Press release PDF http://hugin.info/201/R/2031390/755830.pdf