Interim report – third quarter 2020 – guidance raised

ANNOUNCEMENT NO. 86 - 4 NOVEMBER 2020

Attached please find the full interim report as PDF file

Today, the Board of Directors approved the interim report for the third quarter of 2020. The report contains the following highlights:

Results

Adjusted Result* for Q3 2020: USD 27 million (Q3 2019: USD -4 million)

• Asset Management: USD 6 million (USD -4 million)
• Dry Operator: USD 31 million (USD 3 million)
• Tanker Operator: USD -10 million (USD -3 million)

Adjusted Result* for the first nine months of 2020: USD 85 million (first nine months of 2019: USD -8 million)

*”Profit/loss for the period” adjusted for “Profit from sale of vessels etc.”

Markets

• Asset Management: Newbuilding prices and asset values in dry cargo remained stable. Conversely, tanker asset prices and period rates continued the decline from the previous quarter albeit at a slower pace and has since stabilised.
• Dry cargo: Spot markets continued to improve in Q3 driven by strong Chinese import.
• Tankers: Spot rates have dropped considerably from the high Q2 level and continue to be impacted by reduced oil demand.

Business highlights

• Asset Management: NORDEN has utilised the low dry asset price levels to pursue dry asset acquisitions.
• Dry Operator: Outstanding result based on proactively chartering period vessels during Q2 and optimising regional positioning during Q3. With relatively low capital requirements, the result corresponds to a very attractive risk adjusted return.
• Tanker Operator: Difficult quarter mitigating worst effects through reducing exposure and optimising cover.

Guidance

NORDEN raises its expectations for the full-year Adjusted Result to USD 90-120 million (previously USD 70-110 million). This is based on higher expectations for the Dry Operator business unit.

NORDEN remains committed to returning cash to its shareholders through the Company’s dividend policy, paying out minimum 50% of the annual Adjusted Result.

In addition, the Company has decided to initiate a new share buyback programme of up to USD 20 million.

Values

Change in value of NORDEN’s owned vessels and newbuildings: -3%.

“NORDEN continues to deliver strong results in volatile and challenging markets suppressed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Q3 has shown Dry Operator’s significant ability to create value based on its asset light operations, delivering an outstanding result by capitalising on optimal regional positioning of the fleet and generating record high activity. On this basis, we once again raise our guidance for the full-year Adjusted Result to USD 90-120 million”.

CEO Jan Rindbo

A telephone conference as well as an audiocast will be held today at 10:30 a.m. (CET), where CEO Jan Rindbo and CFO Martin Badsted will comment on the interim report. Participants can join the audiocast to view and listen to the live presentation, while conference call participants have the ability to ask questions at the end of the call. The accompanying presentation will be available on NORDEN’s website prior to the conference call and audiocast. It is requested that all conference call participants have joined the call by latest 10:25 a.m. (CET).

Webcast link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/soo44shs

Dial in details for conference call:
Danish participants:                           (+45) 32720417
International participants:
UK:                                                     +44 (0) 2071 928338
USA:                                                   +1 6467413167
Confirmation code:                            7437989

The audiocast will be recorded and made available on NORDEN’s website subsequently.

For further information:
Thomas France, Investor Communications Partner, tel.: +45 3315 0451