Nordic American Tankers Ltd (NYSE: NAT) – Report for the 3rd quarter – 2020 as a whole is expected to be a very good year for NAT - November 16, 2020
Dear Shareholders and Investors,
Highlights:
The average Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) for our trading fleet during the third quarter was $25,000 per day per ship. In perspective, this is the best third quarter TCE result for many years.
As 2020 draws to a close, we see far less uncertainty in the market place.
Asia is recovering strongly, the US election season is over and a vaccine for Covid-19 may be widely available by early 2021. The global pandemic short term impacted the strong fundamentals we saw for the tanker market going into 2020. Despite a temporary slowdown, we see that 2020 as a whole will be a very good year for NAT. We believe that these positive fundamentals will continue.
Cash dividends are a priority for NAT, and reflect our earnings. In 2020 we have paid $60 million or 41 cents per share in dividends. With this report we announce our 93rd consecutive quarterly dividend. The dividend for 3Q2020 is 4 cents ($0.04) per share, payable on or about December 15, 2020, to shareholders of record December 2, 2020. The accumulated dividend payments for the last four quarters represent an annualized yield of 14% on today’s share price.
During the third quarter we took several of our vessels through drydockings and as such our net voyage revenues and net profit were affected. This was an optimal timing. Our Net Income for 3Q 2020 thus came in at - $10.0 million, which gave an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of -$0.07. Our Year-to-date Net Income was positive with $78.7 million which is equivalent to an EPS of $0.53. This was an improvement of about $100 million compared to the same period in 2019, which produced a Net Income of -$23.1 million.
Our EBITDA (non-GAAP measure) for 3Q2020 was positive by $15.6 million. This was lower than second quarter, but the EBITDA was an improvement compared to the same quarter last year, which generated an EBITDA of $11.5 million.
Our total long term liabilities as per Sept 30, 2020 stood at $313.3 million, a reduction of more than $63 million since year-end 2019. Our Net Debt is $255.4 million or about $11 million per ship.
On Sept 23, 2020 we announced two newbuilding contracts placed with Samsung Heavy Industries. The two suezmaxes will be delivered first half 2022. Financing has been secured. This is a part of our strategy to renew and grow our fleet. The quality of the NAT fleet is first rate, reflecting the vetting record of our ships.
Detailed financial information for 3Q 2020 and for other periods is included later in this report.
Best regards,
Herbjorn Hansson
Founder, Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Ltd. www.nat.bm
