Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NAT) - (NYSE: NAT) Announces 1st Quarter 2005 Results
30 4월 2005 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NAT) - (NYSE: NAT) Announces
1st Quarter 2005 Results HAMILTON, Bermuda, April 29
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the
"Company") today announced its result for the first quarter of
2005. The Board has declared a second quarter 2005 dividend of USD
1.15 per share compared with USD 1.62 in the preceding quarter. The
dividend will be paid on or about May 26th 2005 to shareholders of
record May 9th 2005. Whilst keeping up well, the spot market rates
for suezmax tankers in the first quarter of 2005 were substantially
lower than those during the exceptionally strong market in the
fourth quarter of 2004. The operating cash flow(*) was USD 13.9m in
the first quarter 2005, compared to USD 19.8m in the fourth quarter
2004. According to the spot assessment of the Imarex Tanker Index,
suezmax spot rates were on average USD 46,947 per day during the
first quarter of 2005, as against USD 96,364 per day during the
fourth quarter of 2004. In January 2005 the Company announced that
it had agreed to acquire a double hull suezmax tanker. The tanker -
the Nordic Fighter - was taken over March 21st and has thereafter
been trading in the spot market. In February 2005 the Company
announced that it had agreed to acquire a double hull suezmax
vessel to be delivered from the Daewoo Shipyard in Korea. The ship
- the Nordic Freedom - was delivered from the yard March 29th this
year after which it has been trading in the spot market. The
Company completed the transformation from a financial lease company
into an operating company in mid October 2004. Since then, the
fleet of the company has doubled from three to six ships all of
which are modern double-hulled suezmax crude oil tankers. In March
2005 the Company sold 3.5 million shares in a public offering,
giving net proceeds of USD 162.1 million to the Company.
Thereafter, the number of shares issued and outstanding is
16,644,496 as against 13,067,838 as per January 1st. The weighted
number of shares issued and outstanding during the quarter is
14,020,761. In connection with the follow-on offering in the first
quarter of 2005, the manager was issued 76,658 restricted shares in
accordance with the management agreement. The accounts include a
charge of USD 3.6m (a non-cash item) reflecting this issue. Bear
Stearns & Co Inc. and UBS Investment Bank acted as joint book
running managers and DnB NOR Markets Inc. acted as co-manager for
the equity offering. The proceeds were partly used to pay for the
two acquisitions -- in total USD 149.3m. The fleet is now: Name
Built Size(DWT) Employment Nordic Hunter 1997 151,458 spot
employment Nordic Hawk 1997 151,458 spot employment Gulf Scandic
1997 151,458 long term contract Wilma Yangtze** 1997 149,591 spot
employment Nordic Fighter 1998 153,181 spot employment Nordic
Freedom 2005 159,500 spot employment ** to be renamed Nordic
Voyager The two new vessels were delivered at the very end of the
quarter, and therefore generated only a limited contribution to the
Company's operating cash flow for the period. Based on the
operating cash flow generated by our active fleet in the first
quarter, the aggregate dividend would have been USD 13.9 million,
or USD 1.07 per share issued and outstanding at the beginning of
the quarter -- 13,067,838 shares. USD 1.36 per share would have
been the dividend if we had six ships, and if five of them were in
the spot market as from January 1st 2005 and if 16,644,496 shares
(the share count end March after the recent follow-on offering)
were issued and outstanding at the beginning of the quarter. Taking
account of the important events in the first quarter - i.e. above
all the increase of the fleet from 4 to 6 vessels (50%), the
follow-on offering and increased share count (27.4%), the strong
financial position of the Company with no debt and cash on the
balance sheet, the Board has decided to declare a dividend of USD
19.1 million, or USD 1.15 per share. For the quarter ending June
30, 2005 the Board of Directors currently expects to declare a
dividend based upon the actual operating cash flow during the
second quarter and based upon the share count at the end of the
quarter without use of any cash reserve. For further accounting
information please see the profit and loss and balance sheet data
being a part of this message. For the foreseeable future, the
Company's Board intends to continue its policy of maintaining a low
debt to equity ratio and of pursuing a full dividend payout policy
as in the past. Another important part of our strategic platform is
expansion of the fleet of high quality vessels. An objective is
that all vessel acquisitions and other projects that we may
implement in the future are designed to be accretive to earnings
and dividends per share. It is hard to predict the short term spot
tanker rates. During April this year we have seen a further
softening of the spot market. Rates may rise from the present
level, they may remain at the same level or they may drop. Whilst
we are always faced with uncertainties, the Board holds the view
that the general tanker market dynamics are favourable, and our
analysis show that over time spot employment generates premium
earnings compared to longer term employment. The Company had 3
vessels in the spot market or on spot related terms during most of
the first quarter of 2005. Following the inclusion of two more
ships in the fleet as referred to above, the Company will have at
least 5 vessels in the spot market or on spot related terms during
the second quarter of 2005 and later, impacting positively the
earnings and dividend potential of the Company. The Company is in a
good position to provide for continued accretive growth based upon
its unique operating model. (*) Operating cash flow is a non-GAAP
financial term often used by investors to measure financial
performance of shipping companies. Operating cash flow represents
income before depreciation and amortization expense. 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 and our Annual Report
on Form 20-F. Contacts: Scandic American Shipping Ltd. Manager for
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. P.O Box 56 3201 Sandefjord,
Norway Tel: + 47 33 42 73 00 E-mail: Web-site: http://www.nat.bm/
Rolf Amundsen Chief Financial Officer Nordic American Tanker
Shipping Ltd. Tel: +1 800 601 9079 or + 47 908 26 906 Gary Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP, New York, USA Tel: +1 212 574 1223
Herbjorn Hansson Chairman & CEO Nordic American Tanker Shipping
Ltd. Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or + 47 901 46 291 The 1st quarter 2005
Results press release (including tables) can be downloaded from the
following link: http://hugin.info/201/R/992184/149696.pdf
DATASOURCE: Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. CONTACT: Scandic
American Shipping Ltd., Manager for Nordic American Tanker Shipping
Ltd., +47-33-42-73-00, or ; or Rolf Amundsen, Chief Financial
Officer, +1-800-601-9079, or +47-908-26-906, or Herbjorn Hansson,
Chairman & CEO, +1-866-805-9504, or +47-901-46-291, both of
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd.; or Gary Wolfe of Seward &
Kissel LLP, New York, USA, +1-212-574-1223 Web site:
http://www.nat.bm/ http://hugin.info/201/R/992184/149696.pdf
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