Nakilat Annual General Meeting agrees to distribute 12.5% cash dividend
15 March 2016
Nakilat, the shipping arm of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the financial year 2015.
The Board of Directors announced an increased net profit of QR 984 million compared to QR 895 million for the year 2014 amounting to a 10%increase .This is due to the company’s growth and shipping activities including the addition of three new vessels to its LNG fleet during 2015 making a consolidation of 67 vessels in total. Additional factors contributing to growth was the optimization of cost without impacting the safety standards of its Fleet operations and leveraging lower finance costs by repayment of loan principle. The meeting ratified the Board’s recommendation to distribute a cash dividend to the shareholders equal to 12.50% of the nominal value of its capital (equal to QR 1.25 per share).
The AGM discussed and ratified the governance report for the financial year ended 31st December 2015. The Board of Directors confirmed the company’s continuity in reevaluating Nakilat’s corporate governance code of ethics in order align best practices that will continue to fulfill the company’s business requirements.
The Board of Directors also confirmed that Nakilat continues to deliver strong returns for its shareholders through the consistent implementation of its business strategy. The company strategy involves new business opportunities by acquiring new vessels that serve the international maritime industry. Nakilat is also continually assessing current investments in relation to profitability in order to address any risk involved for the company and its shareholders.
Eng. Abdullah Fadhalah Al Sulaiti Nakilat Managing Director said: “We are happy with the company’s achievements, despite the circumstances in the oil and gas sector. The company was successful in completing the world-first ME-GI project that has immense environmental benefits. The project includes the potential to increase mean time between maintenance, provide flexibility of fuel supply to react to market changes and reduce bunkering activities which in turn will offer operations and marine risk reduction.”
Al Sulaiti also highlighted Nakilat’s technical efforts in assuming operations of its vessels to Nakilat Shipping Qatar Limited (NSQL) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nakilat.
Nakilat’s commitment to safety is the cornerstone of its business activities with a strong emphasis throughout its joint ventures. The company is confident in achieving higher growth in all aspects of operations which will fulfill the company’s ambitious future plans to be a globally successful owner and operator of vessels for the transportation of LNG and associated products, and the provider-of-choice for ship repair and construction services.
The company is pursuing and executing its business developments towards the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard contributing to Qatar’s maritime industry.
Nakilat’s Board of Directors would like to express their deepest gratitude to HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, and to HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Emir of the State of Qatar for their strong leadership and continuous support. Through the wise guidance of HH the Emir and HH the Father Emir, Nakilat has grown into a diversified marine company, which makes an important contribution to Qatar’s industrial sectors and to the new generations.
