|
Aberdeen, Scotland - 21.12.2015 KNOT Offshore Partners LP (the “Partnership”) (NYSE:KNOP) announced the following today: Despite the disruption in the capital markets, the Partnership has not experienced any material changes in its operations since its third quarter 2015 earnings announcement on November 5, 2015. The Partnership’s underlying business continues to perform well in the fourth quarter. The Partnership’s vessels have experienced 100% utilization in the months of October and November 2015. As a result of the acquisition of the shuttle tanker Ingrid Knutsen on October 15, 2015, the Partnership expects to report incrementally higher Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2015. Furthermore, the Partnership has no newbuilding commitments and no loan maturities before the second half of 2018. Therefore, the Partnership's management currently expects to recommend to the board of directors (the “Board”) an unchanged distribution of $0.52 per unit with respect to the fourth quarter of 2015. The Board must approve the fourth quarter of 2015 distribution and this approval will be dependent upon, among other things, the absence of any material adverse developments at the time of the determination. Management expects the Board to meet in January 2016 to determine this cash distribution. Subsequent to the acquisition of the Ingrid Knutsen, the average age of the Partnership’s vessels is 3 years 10 months, compared to an industry average of approximately 10 years. As previously announced on August 12, 2015, the Board authorized a program for the Partnership to repurchase up to 666,667 of its common units and the board of directors of the Partnership’s general partner concurrently authorized the general partner to purchase up to 333,333 common units. As of December 20, 2015, the Partnership and the general partner had purchased 95,193 and 47,545 common units, respectively. John Costain, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Partnership commented, “While we cannot change the backdrop to the market, our shuttle tankers continue to perform well under long term contracts. The Partnership’s vessels operate under long-term charters, which today have an average remaining term of 5.6 years. We remain confident that the Partnership will deliver a strong sustainable performance in the years ahead, making us well placed to take advantage of improvements in the capital markets”. The Partnership owns, operates and acquires shuttle tankers under long-term charters in the offshore oil production regions of the North Sea and Brazil. The Partnership is structured as a master limited partnership. The Partnership’s common units trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “KNOP.” KNOT Offshore Partners LP press release 
|
