D. John Stavropoulos, Chairman of the Board, stated, “We are pleased to continue our payment of regular dividends commenced in October 2002. We are very proud of this record which including this dividend will result in total cash dividends of $9.375 per share (adjusted for the 2-for-1 split in November 2007) compared with the IPO price in March 2002 of $7.50 per share (also split adjusted).”
Mr. Stavropoulos added, “We have confidence in the resilience of our strategy and business model which should continue enabling TEN to take advantage of market opportunities while maintaining dividend distributions.”
As of today, the Company has secured charter agreements and renewals with expected minimum revenues in excess of $1 billion over the life of these charters. The Company has 33 out of its 51 vessels under term employment (including the two DP2 shuttle tankers that TEN expects to take delivery in Q1 2013 and Q2 2013 which are fixed on 15-year time charters).
In accordance with our dividend policy, payments of dividends are subject to prudent financial policy and the discretion of the Board of Directors after due consideration of available cash, anticipated cash needs, loan agreement restrictions, and future prospects for earnings and cash flow as well as other relevant factors.
ABOUT TSAKOS ENERGY NAVIGATION
To date, TEN's pro forma fleet consists of 51 double-hull vessels of approximately 5.5 million dwt that includes one LNG carrier and two DP2 suezmax shuttle tankers totaling 400,000 dwt. The company has options for two conventional suezmax tankers and an additional LNG carrier to be declared no later than September 2012, totaling 402,000 dwt. TEN’s balanced fleet profile is reflected in 23 crude tankers ranging from VLCCs to aframaxes and 26 product carriers ranging from aframaxes to handysize and two LNG carriers.