Suezmax specialist Nordic American Tankers (NAT) aims to be debt-free within two years as it rakes in cash from high spot rates.
The New York-listed owner said its dividend could double from $0.15 a share once it has paid off its main US bank creditor.
NAT founder and chief executive Herbjorn Hansson said: “We now expect very clearly to be a debt-free company in a year or two and being able then to raise dividends significantly.
“I don’t think I have seen a better condition than now.”
Fifteen of the company’s suezmaxes are operating in the spot market.
The company said last week that it had booked nearly three-quarters of its spot voyage days for the first quarter of 2023 at an average of $60,630 per day per ship.
“We are raking in money,” said Hansson.
The company, which owns 19 suezmax oil tankers, last month reported profits of $36m in the fourth quarter of 2022 following a $72.9m loss from the year before.
It said its debts are among the lowest of publicly listed tanker companies, with net debt at $197m that it was seeking to pay off.
“Everything else being equal, the dividend could double from today’s level” once the debt is paid, said chief financial officer Bjorn Giaever in a company presentation.
Hansson said a historically low orderbook and trade changes caused by the Russian war are key to driving revenues in coming years.
He said the company’s tankers had not hauled Russian oil for the past 18 months, before the start of the war.
Hansson, who turned 75 this month, says he is committed long-term to the company: “We are in a good position. And it’s very exciting. And I can assure you I will hang in there for a long time.”
His son Alexander increased his own shareholding by more than 3.5% last month in buying 75,000 shares at $4.44 a share.
