Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) - Mid-year Letter to Shareholders from the Chairman & CEO.
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Hamilton, Bermuda June 24, 2015
Dear Shareholder,
As we approach the halfway point of 2015, I'd like to share with you some of my
views on the current state of the tanker market and on our business in general.
We are in the midst of an interesting period during which the tanker market is
showing positive developments, a point we discussed in our first quarterly
report earlier this year.
The decline of the price of oil coupled with minimal tanker fleet growth are
among the factors behind this gratifying development for Nordic American. In our
previous communications to investors, we have talked about the trends in tanker
demand and supply, trends that have helped make this market such a solid one.
Our business is sustainable both in strong and weak markets based upon
simplicity, transparency and predictability. NAT has a very high degree of
liquidity in the stock; at this time about 1.5 million shares are bought and
sold every day. We have achieved such good results by sticking to our strategy,
which can be summarized as follows:
* Expansion of a homogeneous fleet
* The payment of dividend every quarter
* Limited debt and a strong balance sheet
* Maintenance of a top quality fleet
* Aligned interests between shareholders and management
* A low cash breakeven point through effective management.
For the second quarter of 2015, we believe that NAT will achieve rates generally
at the same level as in the first quarter of 2015. This should result in a
strong dividend for 2Q2015 too, a dividend which will be announced in mid-July.
As you know, we have retained some cashflow in recent quarters - this reflects
our strategy of effectively managing risk and working towards the long term
benefit of shareholders. Cash held back will contribute to the financing of
fleet expansion.
We have two newbuildings joining the fleet in 2016 and 2017, adding further to
our dividend and earnings capacity. In addition, we continue to assess
acquisition opportunities. At the same time, the operational record of our fleet
is excellent. The high technical standard of our suezmax fleet is underscored by
the good vetting statistics that emerge from the inspection of our ships by
clients. Our vessels are performing very well - underlining that it is not age,
but quality that matters. The major oil companies strongly demand quality
vessels, which is what NAT stands for. The NAT established brand is linked to
safety for assets and for crews while at the same time we have a strong focus on
protection of the environment.
Our steady relationship with a subsidiary of the US based oil giant ExxonMobil
is now in its fourth year. In early June this year the cooperation was extended
for an additional year. It is the type of freight agreement that is good for our
client and for Nordic American.
Our strategy of maintaining a strong balance sheet and focusing on the quality
of our operations and vessels is quite literally paying dividends. The company
is in an excellent position to grow the fleet. The two newbuildings will not
require further equity from the capital markets. Based on our strategy, NAT has
the financial capacity to increase the fleet beyond 24 units, by a ship or two,
without issuing stock.
We are resisting the temptation to make large fleet acquisitions. Those who have
followed the NAT story for some time, know we prefer to grow in a considered and
deliberate way. We see that some other players, both public and private, have
suffered as a result of what I like to call gigantomania. Our approach to risk
management is to take one step at a time, always considering the many pitfalls
of large and complicated transactions.
We also avoid mergers for the same reasons. NAT is, and has always been, vastly
different from other tanker companies. We believe that our lean model and focus
on shareholder value is far superior to "empire building", which is often more
for the benefit of management than shareholders. As one of the largest
shareholders myself, please rest assured that you and I are all literally in the
same boat. We believe 2015 is shaping up to be a great year for Nordic American.
I wish you and your families all the best for the summer. As always, please feel
free to communicate your views to me at herbjorn.hansson(at)scandicamerican.com
Kind regards,
Herbjørn Hansson
Chairman & CEO
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:
Jacob Ellefsen, VP Research & IR
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: + 33 678 631 959 or + 377 93 25 89 07
Turid M. Sørensen, CFO & EVP
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +47 33 42 73 00 or +47 90 57 29 27
Rolf Amundsen, Advisor
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 800 601 9079 or + 47 908 26 906
Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP, New York, USA
Tel: +1 212 574 1223
Press release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/201/R/1930966/694172.pdf
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(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Nordic American Tankers Limited via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#1930966]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 24.06.2015 - 11:07 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 402631
Anzahl Zeichen: 9559
contact information:
Town:
Hamilton
Kategorie:
Business News
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