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:

1. 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.
   
   

2. 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.
   
   

3. 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.
   
   

4. 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.
   
   

5. 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.
   
   

6. 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.

1. 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.
   
   

2. 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

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

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.

NAT is a Bermuda based company.

Contacts:

Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP
New York, USA
Tel: +1 212 574 1223

Bjørn Giæver, CFO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 888 755 8391 or +47 91 35 00 91

Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or +47 90 14 62 91

Attachment

• NAT 3Q2020 report