Hansson sounds off as Nordic American Tankers declares another dividend
Just after Nordic American Tankers (NAT) posted “the strongest full-year cash flow in the company’s history” this week, chairman and CEO Herbjørn Hansson has said anyone who doubts the company’s recipe for success just doesn’t understand the business.
“Some commentators make statements about the age of our fleet. In many cases we hear things that demonstrate a lack of knowledge and experience about our industry,” Hansson (pictured) said in a note to investors today.
“The reason we share our vetting statistics (inspection of our vessels by clients) in our quarterly reports is to underline the excellent condition of our vessels. Technically, a vessel of 15 years is very much the same as a five-year-old vessel.
“Analysts, bloggers and others are not our customers – the oil companies are. They are highly satisfied with the service we provide. We do not see value in simply having the youngest fleet, since we are in the business of providing returns and yield to our shareholders and providing safe transportation to our customers,” said Hansson, who is NAT’s largest shareholder.
The CEO emphasised that plentiful oil supply and low crude prices has “led to record tanker demand”, which has been reflected in NAT’s financial results.
On Monday, the NYSE-listed company declared a dividend of $1.59 per share and operating cash flow of $212m, “the strongest year in NAT’s history”, during the fiscal year 2015.
NAT has paid a dividend 74 times since it commenced operations in autumn 1997. The total dividend payments over the period amount to $46.97 per share, including the dividend to be paid on February 10, the company said on Monday.
