Dana Gas holds 2018 AGM

Transcription

1. Dana Gas holds 2018 AGM Sharjah , UAE; 19 April 2018: Dana Gas PJSC (“Company”), the Middle East’s largest regional natural gas company, today held its 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meeting was chaired by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Sultan Al-Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Honorary Chairman of Dana Gas. At the meeting its shareholders agreed to the Board of Directors’ recommendations for all the proposed resolutions, including the election of a new Board but excluding a Board recommendation and proposal to postpone the decision on the previously recommended 5% cash dividend payment. With regard to the resolution for declaration and payment of the dividend, the Board, at its meeting on the 14 March 2018 had taken the position that in view of the Company’s strong cash position, the Company could afford to return some of that cash to shareholders in the form of a dividend of 5%. However, notwithstanding that the payment of the proposed dividend is permitted under the terms of the Sukuk, on 4 April 2018 one of the sukukholders obtained an ex parte injunction from the English court against the Company preventing the Company from declaring a dividend. Under these circumstances the Company requested on 15 April 2018 guidance from the Securities and Commodities Authority of the UAE (SCA) which advised the Company that the English Court order restraining the Company from distributing a dividend should be referred to the UAE Courts to determine its eligibility for enforcement in the UAE. SCA has also advised the company that it has no objection to deferring the Board’s previously recommended resolution for a dividend at the AGM to a future date. SCA’s response has been posted on the Dana Gas website. On the matter of the deferral of the consideration and resolution of the dividend item on the AGM agenda, SCA responded that it had no objection on condition that the shareholders at the meeting be made aware of the English Court injunction preventing the declaration of the dividend, and that a resolution put to shareholders to defer the dividend be passed by a simple majority. Such resolution was put to the shareholders but rejected by simple majority, subsequent to which the majority of shareholders proceeded to vote in favour of the declaration of a dividend, against the Board of Director’s specific reconsidered recommendation to the contrary. And in recent development on 16 April 2018 the Sharjah Federal Court decided, upon an application by a shareholder of the Company, freezing the English Court Order until it is submitted to UAE Courts to determine its enforceability in the UAE.
2. The AGM concluded with the election of a new 11 member Board of Directors for the coming 3year term . The new Board comprises Mr. Hamid Jafar, Mr Rashid Al-Jarwan, Mr. Majid Jafar, Mr. Varouj Nerguizian, Mr. Said Arrata, Mr. Abdullah Ali Al-Majdouie, Mr. Ziad Galadari and Mr. Hani Hussain being re-elected as Directors, and Mr. Shaheen Al-Muhairi, Mr. Adel Al-Awadhi and Mr. Nureddin Sehweil as new Directors. The Chairman welcomed the new Directors and thanked the retiring board members HE Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al-Qasimi, Mr. Nasser Al-Nowais and Mrs. Fatima Obaid Al-Jaber for their invaluable counsel to the Company during a challenging three-year period that included a lower oil price environment, cash collection delays, and arduous yet important arbitration cases, which thankfully have thus far been resolved in Dana Gas’s favour. Despite the difficulties, the Company produced a strong performance and 2017, in particular, saw some key achievements. The most important of these is that after 4 years of negotiations and a further 4 years of arbitration proceedings, the Company was able to amicably resolve the outstanding contractual dispute with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with settlement terms that are favourable for all concerned. The current and long-term potential of the Khor Mor and Chemchemal giant fields in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is simply enormous, and the Company estimates that they hold in-place resources of 75 trillion cubic feet of gas and 7 billion barrels of oil. The Company is now looking forward with optimism as its focuses on contributing to the development of these world class assets. The targeted production increases are 20% this year and 170% within two to three years, with corresponding revenue increases of 45% and 260%. As such, the Consortium will be producing in total just under 900 million standard cubic feet of gas, 36,000 barrels of condensate, and 1,200 tons of LPG gross per day from the expanded facilities by 2021. Dana Gas posted a strong financial performance in 2017, with full year gross revenues of $450 million, up 15% from 2016, and a net profit of $83 million. Group production rose to 67,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), and the Company ended the year with a cash balance of $608 million, the highest in 10 years. The Company’s success is reflected in its strong recent share price performance. Hamid Jafar, Chairman of Dana Gas, said: “I am delighted to report that the Company resolved the outstanding contractual dispute with the KRG in August 2017. The settlement agreement is a major landmark for Dana Gas and all its partners and stakeholders. Despite all of the geopolitical and security challenges that we have faced, we have been producing from the region continuously for nine years, and our investment represents one of the largest and most successful private sector investments in the KRI and Iraq as a whole.
3. On behalf of the Board of Directors , I would also like to express my gratitude for the continued support of our Honorary Chairman, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Sultan Al-Qasimi, and express my thanks to all my Board colleagues for their contribution over the last three years. I would also like to recognize the management team for their dedication and hard work which have been vital to the success of the Company. I welcome our new Board members and look forward to working with them to further enhance shareholder value in the years ahead.” ---Ends--About Dana Gas Dana Gas is the Middle East's first and largest regional private sector natural gas Company established in December 2005 with a public listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). It has exploration and production assets in Egypt, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and UAE, with 2P reserves exceeding one billion boe and average production of 67,600 boepd in 2017. With sizeable assets in Egypt, KRI and the UAE, and further plans for expansion, Dana Gas is playing an important role in the rapidly growing natural gas sector of the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region. Visit: www.danagas.com Communication & Investor Relations Contact Mohammed Mubaideen Head of Investor Relations +971 6 519 4401 ir@danagas.com