EURONAV NV: FIRST SEMESTER RESULTS

ANTWERP, Belgium, 24th July 2007 – The executive committee of Euronav NV (EURONEXT: EURN) today reported its unaudited financial results for the six months ended 30th June 2007.

The company had net income of USD 134.2 million (2006: USD 124.7 million) or USD 2.55 (2006: USD 2.37) per share, for the six months ended 30th June 2007. For the six months ended 30th June 2007, EBITDA was USD 250.9 million (2006: USD 224.7 million).

The average VLCC daily time charter equivalent (TCE) rates obtained by the company’s owned fleet was around USD 56,250/day in the second quarter (2006: USD 51,750/day and USD 54,600/day for the first semester (2006: USD 67,000/day).

The time charter earnings of the Suezmax fleet which is fixed on long term time charters, was USD 34,000/day for the second quarter (2006: USD 33,550/day) and USD 34,850/day for the first semester (2006: USD 32,600/day).

Against seasonal expectation, the freight market in the second quarter was higher than in the first quarter. This was due to a strong crude oil demand from China and a much higher number of VLCC being converted for offshore projects.

In the second quarter and as previously announced, the owners of the VLCC Shinyo Landes (1993 - 306,474 dwt) have decided to exercise an option to terminate the time charter contract against a compensation of USD 20.8 million. Euronav also sold the double-hull VLCC Savoie (1993 - 306,430 dwt), for USD 82.2 million. The capital gain of this sale transaction was about USD 44.4 million. Those two transactions demonstrate Euronav’s commitment to its program of fleet renewal and the strategy to maintain a young fleet.

Two of Euronav’s VLCC, the Luxembourg (1999 – 299,150 dwt) and the Algarve (1999 – 298,969 dwt) which were on time charter out for the last five and a half years will be redelivered to Euronav during the 3rd quarter and placed into the Tankers International pool where they will be traded on the spot market.

In recent weeks the market has softened noticeably following a much anticipated seasonal trend. The outlook for the rest of the year remains nevertheless positive with demand typically increasing toward the end of the third and during the fourth quarter as a result of both weather disruptions and seasonal heating demand.

Contact:
Mr. Hugo De Stoop
Deputy CFO
Belgica House
De Gerlachekaai 20
BE 2000 Antwerpen 1
Tel: +32 3 247 44 11

FULL DETAILS OF THE RESULTS ARE POSTED ON THE EURONAV CORPORATE WEBSITE: www.euronav.com

Euronav is one of the world's leading independent crude oil tanker companies. Prior to the demerger, Euronav was the crude oil tanker division of CMB SA, the former national shipping line of Belgium founded in 1895, which has been and continues to be successfully engaged in all aspects of shipping. Euronav is the successor in business to a joint venture between CMB and CNN Compagnie Nationale de Navigation (formerly part of Worms & Cie) - which was terminated in 1998 when CMB acquired CNN from Worms.

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This release was published on openPR.