OREANDA-NEWS. April 8, 2008. The Sovcomflot Group Executive Board has reviewed the Group’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2007, including Novoship, prepared in accordance with IFRS.

The Group’s gross revenue (freight and hire receivable) for 2007 reached USD 1.24 billion (16.1 per cent increase on the comparable figure for 2006). Time charter equivalent revenue amounted to USD 976.0 million (13.7 per cent increase), EBITDA - USD 639.5 million (9.5 per cent increase), net profit - USD 470.8 million (30.8 per cent increase), the gain on the sale of assets (vessels older than 15 years) amounted to USD 120.8 million. The Group’s assets at the year end were USD 5.3 billion. There were 31 new vessels on order, at the year end, representing 2.8 million tonnes deadweight. The average age of vessel in the Sovcomflot Group tanker fleet is around six years. All tankers are double-hulled.

Consolidation of the Sovcomflot and Novoship state-owned shipping assets, by transferring the Russian Government’s controlling 50.34 per cent stake (67.13 per cent voting shares) in Novoship to Sovcomflot, was the key corporate event of 2007. As a result, Sovcomflot Group has emerged among the world’s five largest tanker companies by tonnage.

The results of Sovcomflot’s mandatory public offer, for the outstanding minority shares in Novoship, made in accordance with the best corporate governance practice, were also considered by the Sovcomflot Group Executive Board. As of 3 April 2008, the total number of shares tendered and transferred to Sovcomflot exceeded 24.2 million ordinary shares (around 6.4 per cent of the total number of the company’s ordinary shares, or two thirds of the total number of shares subject to the mandatory public offer).

Sovcomflot Executive Vice-President Nikolay Kolesnikov noted that: “Sovcomflot and its affiliates now own around 97 per cent of Novoship’s ordinary shares. In accordance with current legislation, Sovcomflot will notify the minority Novoship shareholders of their right to offer the remaining ordinary shares not yet tendered to Sovcomflot”.