EURONAV - OUTSTANDING THIRD QUARTER RESULTS 2008

The executive committee of Euronav NV (EURONEXT BRUSSELS: EURN) today reported its financial results for the three months ended 30th September 2008.

The company had a net income of USD 158 million (third quarter 2007: USD -23.3 million) or USD 3.05 (third quarter 2007: USD -0.44) per share, for the third quarter 2008. EBITDA for the same period was USD 216.6 million (third quarter 2007: USD 43.8 million). The average daily time charter equivalent rates (TCE) obtained by the company’s fleet in the Tankers International pool was approximately USD 116,000 per day (third quarter 2007:USD 36,500 per day). The time charter equivalent earnings of the Euronav Suezmax fleet which is fixed on long term time charters, including profit shares when applicable, was USD 46,000 per day (third quarter 2007: USD 28,900 per day) for the third quarter 2008.

The result is affected by the revaluation at marked-to-market levels of non cash items
(unrealized) such as: hedge instruments on interest rates for a total of USD -8 million, rate of exchange difference for a total of USD 1.8 million, FFA portfolio USD 4.8 million and USD –11.5 million on the company’s short term investments portfolio.

Euronav is an integrated owner, operator and manager able to provide complete shipping services in addition to the carriage of crude oil on its fleet of modern large tankers. The crude oil sea-borne transportation market is cyclical and highly volatile requiring flexible and proactive management of assets in terms of fleet composition and employment. Euronav operates its fleet on both the spot and the period market. Most of Euronav VLCCs as well as all VPLUS are operated in the Tankers International pool. Euronav operates at the moment all of its Suezmaxes and Aframaxes under period charter contracts with oil majors, leading refiners and oil traders such as BP, Glencore, Petrobras, Sun Oil, Total Valero and Vitol. Fleet management is conducted by three wholly owned subsidiaries: Euronav Ship Management SAS and Euronav SAS, both French companies with headquarters in Nantes (France) and with a major branch office in Antwerp and Euronav Ship Management (Hellas) Ltd with its head office in Piraeus, Greece. The skills of its directly employed seagoing officers, shore-based Captains and Engineers give Euronav a competitive edge in high quality design, maintenance and operation. Euronav vessels fly Belgian, Greek and French flag. The use of national flag together with operational and maintenance standards in terms of age, appearance and performance which are higher than industry norms enables Euronav to employ part of its fleet on long-term charter with fixed earnings to secure financial visibility.

IMPRESS COMMUNICATIONS LTD
DMR House
8-10 Cleave Avenue,
Farnborough, Orpington
Kent BR6 7DR
UNITED KINGDOM

Tel: +44 (0) 1689 860660
Fax: +44 (0) 1689 850484
e-mail: impcomms@yahoo.co.uk
Ian Matheson

This release was published on openPR.