Ninety day periods offer a short-term snapshot of a company. However, a meaningful analysis must contain a bigger, longer-term picture. The direction of NAT is unquestionably upwards and we create room for profitable growth. Whatever we do, dividends remain an important objective.
Highlights:
The dividend for the first quarter is 7 cents ($0.07) per share. This is our 111th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. The dividend is payable June 26, 2025, to shareholders on record as of June 12, 2025.
During the first five months of 2025 we have acquired two 2016-built vessels for a combined price of $132 million and sold two of our 2003-4 built vessels for a combined price of $45 million. Our cash position per March 31st 2025 was $103 million.
Increased pressure on sanctioned oil trades or agreements with sanctioned nations, combined with increased OPEC volumes, will increase demand for our ships. The so called “shadow fleet” is pushed further into the darkness. This is good for NAT.
The average time charter equivalent (TCE) for the NAT time charter and spot fleet for the first quarter of 2025 came in at $24,714 per day per ship. The operating costs are $9,000 per unit. Together with the sale of “Nordic Apollo”, this gave a net result of $4.2 million for the first quarter 2025.
Thanks to careful voyage planning and adjustment of speed, we continue to reduce emissions of our vessels.
The top quality of the NAT vessels is proven by the vetting performance undertaken by the major oil companies. These companies employ about 50% of the NAT fleet.
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 worldwide 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.
