Board of Directors’ report by the Chairman of the Board Christopher H. Boehringer
Ladies and gentlemen, dear TORM shareholders
On behalf of the Board of Directors and Management, I am pleased to welcome you to today’s Extraordinary General Meeting. It is the fourth general meeting in TORM this year, and I can assure you that it is also the last in 2015.
The purpose of today’s general meeting is to carry out a share capital decrease in order to cancel 9,810 A shares of DKK 15 each and 1,054 fractional A shares of DKK 0.01 each. TORM acquired these shares through the redemption process that was carried out as part of the implementation of the reverse stock split in September this year.
The Board of Directors has nominated attorney Klaus Søgaard as Chairman of this general meeting, and I will now hand over to him.
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This general meeting marks the final implementation step of TORM’s restructuring. Since the completion of the Restructuring on 13 July 2015, TORM has continued to demonstrate its strong operational platform and delivered the highest product tanker freight rates since 2008.
The reported EBITDA for the third quarter of 2015 was USD 96m and the pro forma EBITDA was USD 105m, which is a pro forma improvement of USD 79m year-on-year. The reported profit before tax for the third quarter of 2015 was USD 65m, and the pro forma profit before tax was USD 81m compared to a pro forma loss of USD 4m for the same period in 2014.
With the exit from bulk to become a pure-play product tanker company, TORM has also demonstrated its financial and strategic flexibility. In addition, TORM has acquired three MR product tankers and made a firm order for four LR2 newbuildings with delivery in 2017-2018. There are flexible options for an additional six newbuildings within the product tanker segment.
With the Company’s proven track record and a large fleet on the water, TORM is well-positioned to take advantage of the promising supply and demand fundamentals in the market.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank the shareholders for the support demonstrated throughout 2015 and wish you a happy 2016. Finally, I would also like to extend my appreciation to Klaus Søgaard for conducting this general meeting.
Thank you.
| Contact Christopher H. Boehringer, Chairman, tel.: +453917 9200 Jacob Meldgaard, CEO, tel.: +45 3917 9200 Mads Peter Zacho, CFO, tel.: +45 3917 9200 Christian Søgaard-Christensen, IR, tel.: +45 3076 1288 | TORM A/S Tuborg Havnevej 18 DK-2900 Hellerup, Denmark Tel.: +45 3917 9200 / Fax: +45 3917 9393 www.torm.com | |
| About TORM TORM is one of the world’s leading carriers of refined oil products. The Company operates a fleet of approximately 80 modern vessels with a strong commitment to safety, environmental responsibility and customer service. TORM was founded in 1889. The Company conducts business worldwide and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. TORM’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (ticker: TORM A). For further information, please visit www.torm.com. | ||
| Safe Harbor statements as to the future Matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance and may include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and statements 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,” “may,” “should,” “expect,” “pending” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company believes 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, the Company cannot guarantee that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. 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 the world economy and currencies, changes in charter hire rates and vessel values, changes in demand for “ton miles” of oil carried by oil tankers, the effect of changes in OPEC’s petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in demand that may affect attitudes of time charterers to scheduled and unscheduled dry-docking, changes in TORM’s operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, changes in the regulation of shipping operations, including requirements for double hull tankers or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents, political events or acts by terrorists. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current evaluation, and TORM is only under an obligation to update and change the listed expectations to the extent required by law. | ||
