ANNOUNCEMENT NO. 20 - 2007
14 August 2007
Extraordinary general meeting
An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of A/S Dampskibsselskabet
TORM has today been held at Radisson SAS Falconer, Falkoner Allé 9, 2000
Frederiksberg, Denmark.
The general meeting resolved to authorise the Board of Directors to decide to
distribute interim dividends pursuant to section 109a of the Danish Public
Companies Act and to insert a section 3.8 in the Articles of Association
reflecting this.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors stated at the general meeting that the
Board of Di-rectors still intends to exercise its authorisation in connection
with the release of the semi-annual report on 31 August 2007 and that the Board
of Directors intends to adopt a resolu-tion to distribute interim dividends in
the aggregate amount of DKK 2 billion in cash corre-sponding to approximately
DKK 27 per share in TORM of a nominal value of DKK 5 each.
If the Board of Directors decides to distribute dividends on 31 August 2007,
dividend set-tlements will be handled through the Danish VP Securities Services
(VP) on Wednesday, 5 September 2007 on the basis of the shareholdings
registered on VP accounts following an update at the end of the trading day.
Share purchases which are settled no later than Wednesday, 5 September 2007
will thus entitle the purchaser to dividends, whereas share sales which are
settled no later than 5 September 2007 will not entitle the seller to
dividends. This means that trades taking place up until and including Friday,
31 August 2007 will be settled inclusive of dividends, whereas trades effected
as from Monday, 3 September 2007 will be settled exclusive of dividends
(subject to the conventional three settlement days).
As regards TORM's ADRs trades up until and including Friday, 31 August 2007
will be settled inclusive of dividends, whereas trades effected after this date
will be settled exclusive of dividends.
Based on the above, dividends will be available to the shareholders on
Thursday, 6 Septem-ber 2007, whereas it is expected that dividends in relation
to ADRs will be available on Thursday, 13 September 2007.
Contact Klaus Kjærulff, CEO, tel.: +45 39 17 92 00.
About TORM
TORM is one of the World's leading carriers of refined oil products and has
significant activi-ties in the bulk market. The Company operates more than to
100 modern and secure ves-sels, most of them in pool co-operation with other
respected shipping companies, sharing TORM's commitment to safety,
environmental responsibility and customer service.
TORM was founded in 1889 and has constantly adapted itself and benefited from
the signifi-cant changes characterizing shipping. The Company conducts business
all over the World and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. TORM's shares
are listed in Copenhagen (ticker TORM) as well as on NASDAQ (ticker TRMD). For
more information, visit www.torm.com.
SAFE HARBOUR STATEMENT - FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
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 other statements, which are other than statements of historical
facts.
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 TORM 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, TORM cannot assure you 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 world economies and currencies, changes in charter hire rates and
vessel values, changes in demand for “tonne miles” of crude 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 governmental rules and regulations including
requirements for double hull tankers or actions taken by regulatory
authorities, potential liability from pending or fu
ture litigation, domestic and international political conditions, potential
disruption of shipping routes due to accidents and political events or acts by
terrorists.
Risks and uncertainties are further described in reports filed by TORM with the
US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the TORM Annual Report on Form
20-F and its reports on Form 6-K.
