Gulf Navigation Holding has approved a cash dividend of 8 per cent of share capital equivalent to 8 fils per share for 2008.

The company also appointed KPMG as auditor for 2009 and approved the board of directors to be authorised for distribution dividends twice a year under account of the yearly dividends.

The upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting will be held at Al Habtoor Grand Resort in Dubai tomorrow (March 12).

GulfNav had announced a record net profit of Dh148.22 million ($40 million) for the year ended December 31, 2008. Profit is up by 27.73 per cent as compared to the Dh116.04 Million for 2007.

The company’s revenues rose to Dh395.95 million, an increase of 45 per cent over that of 2007. Moreover the company’s total assets rose to Dh3.04 billion, an increase of 13 per cent over that of 2007.

The regional shipping leader also unveiled plans to further widen and solidify its position in order to avoid the world financial problems.

'It is going to be tough year ahead, but I firmly believe that Gulf Navigation will be stronger at the end of it,' stated Abdullah Al Shuraim, chairman.

'Difficult times are a wonderful opportunity to improve market shares with our strong liquidity of Dh600 million invested in Islamic Murabaha and our excellent relation with international and local banks we intend to take that opportunity.'

Gulf Navigation and its group companies own and operate crude, clean petroleum product and chemical tankers.

It is an ISO 9001:2000 certified, Dubai-based and UAE holding entity with operations worldwide. It leads the shipping and marine services industry in the region.

It has 11 specialised subsidiaries and owns 19 tankers and charters Suezmax, Chemical and Product Tankers. It is also the sole agency for a large number of global marine manufacturers and the only maritime and shipping company listed on the Dubai Financial Market, he added.-TradeArabia News Service