Contact Information: Contacts: Company: George Syllantavos CFO Star Bulk Carriers Corp. 7 Fragoklisias Str. Maroussi 15125 Athens, Greece E-mail: ir@starbulk.com www.starbulk.com Investor Relations / Financial Media: Nicolas Bornozis President Capital Link, Inc. 230 Park Avenue, Suite 1536 New York, NY 10169 Tel. (212) 661-7566 E-mail: nbornozis@capitallink.com www.capitallink.com
Star Bulk Announces Cash and Stock Dividend Totalling $0.36 per Share for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2008
| Source: Star Bulk Carriers Corp.
ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - November 17, 2008) - Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (the "Company")
(NASDAQ : SBLK ) announced today that its Board of Directors declared a cash
and stock dividend on its common stock totalling $0.36 per common share for
the quarter ended September 30, 2008. The dividend payment consists of a
cash portion in the amount of $0.18 per share with the remaining half of
the dividend payable in the form of newly issued common shares. The amount
of newly issued shares will be based on the volume weighted average price
of Star Bulk's shares on the NASDAQ Global Market during the five trading
days before the ex-dividend date or November 25, 2008. The dividend will
be payable on or about December 1, 2008 to stockholders of record on
November 28, 2008.
The Company also announced that management and directors who currently hold
approximately 10.3 million of the Company's common shares have committed to
reinvest the cash portion of their dividend into newly issued shares in a
private placement at the same weighted average price, thereby electing to
effectively receive the full amount of their dividend in the form of newly
issued shares.
Akis Tsirigakis, President and CEO of Star Bulk, commented: "The nominal
increase of this quarterly dividend by $0.01 from the previous quarter aims
to convey our continued belief in the financial health of our company. At
present share price levels, our annualized dividend yield would exceed 40%
and the cash portion alone represents a yield that would exceed 20% at
these levels.
"In the current turbulent economic environment, we are pleased to announce
our innovative approach of rewarding our shareholders while seeking to
properly position our company for the longer term. By paying a portion of
this quarterly dividend in the form of newly issued shares, we have limited
the cash outlay to approximately $8 million and conserved $11.6 million of
cash. Further, we believe that the effect of the additional number of
shares is not materially dilutive to our current shareholders and its
future effect will be mitigated once the Company's recent re-purchases of
shares are taken into account.
"In addition, the fact that management and directors have opted to reinvest
the cash portion of their dividend and thereby re-injecting that cash back
into the Company is a testament to our and their belief in the long-term
potential for our Company.
"We are closely monitoring developments in the world financial and shipping
markets and we will determine future quarterly dividend payments in the
context of the prevailing market conditions at the time we make those
determinations. Star Bulk's management is committed to its efforts of
enhancing shareholder value for the longer term and we believe that our
Company is well positioned to weather the current difficult market
environment."
About Star Bulk
Star Bulk is a global shipping company providing worldwide seaborne
transportation solutions in the dry bulk sector. Star Bulk's vessels
transport major bulks, which include iron ore, coal and grain and minor
bulks such as bauxite, fertilizers and steel products. Star Bulk was
incorporated in the Marshall Islands on December 13, 2006 and is
headquartered in Athens, Greece. Its common stock and warrants trade on the
NASDAQ Global Market under the symbols "SBLK" and "SBLKW" respectively.
Currently, Star Bulk has an operating fleet of twelve dry bulk carriers.
The total fleet consists of four Capesize and eight Supramax dry bulk
vessels with an average age of approximately 9 years and a combined cargo
carrying capacity of 1,106,250 deadweight tons.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information in this press release may contain forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding: (1) the delivery and operation of assets of Star
Bulk; (2) Star Bulk's future operating or financial results; (3) future,
pending or recent acquisitions, business strategy, areas of possible
expansion, and expected capital spending or operating expenses; (4) drybulk
market trends, including charter rates and factors affecting vessel supply
and demand; and (5) other statements identified by words such as
"anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will,"
"should," "may," or words of similar meaning.
Such forward-looking statements are based upon various assumptions, many of
which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without
limitation, Star Bulk's examination of historical operating trends, data
contained in their records and other data available from third parties.
Although Star Bulk 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 their control, Star Bulk cannot assure you that Star
Bulk will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the failure of a
seller to deliver one or more vessels, the strength of world economies and
currencies, general market conditions, including changes in charterhire
rates and vessel values, changes in demand that may affect attitudes of
time charterers to scheduled and unscheduled drydocking, changes in Star
Bulk's operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry-docking and
insurance costs, 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. Additional factors
that could cause Star Bulk's results to differ materially from those
described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Star Bulk's
Registration Statement on Form F-1/F-4, Annual Report on Form 20-F for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 and reports on Form 6-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's
Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks
only as of the date hereof, and Star Bulk disclaims any intention or
obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of
developments occurring after the date of this communication.