Gulf Navigation Holding successfully concludes its ordinary General Meeting

The shareholders approved a cash dividend of 8% of share capital equivalent to 8 fils per share for 2008.

Other items that received shareholder approval included the audited financial statement and the Board of Director's report for the year ended December 31, 2008.

It appointed KPMG as auditor for 2009 and approved the Board of Directors to be authorized for distribution dividends twice a year under account of the yearly dividends; the latter requires amendment of the article of association which will be ratified at the upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting to be held at Al Habtoor Grand Resort located in Dubai Marina on 12th March 2009 at 5PM.

GULFNAV had announced a record net profit of Dhs148.22m for the year ended on December 31, 2008. Profit is up by 27.73% as compared to the Dhs116.04m for 2007. The company's revenues rose to Dhs395.95m, an increase of 45% over that of 2007. Moreover the company's total assets rose to Dhs3.04bn, an increase of 13% 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.

Engineer Abdullah Al Shuraim, Chairman, in a presentation at the AGM, gave an overview of the company, its key success factors and growth strategies. He also presented the financial results and performance for 2008.

Commenting on the outlook for 2009 he said, "It is going to be tough year ahead, but I firmly believe that Gulf Navigation will be stronger at the end of it. We have always performed strongly as we have experienced tough times before however difficult circumstances seem again now, I believe that we will look back on this time as one of opportunity and since we deal with fundamental business and we have pool of talent, difficult times are a wonderful opportunity to improve market shares with our strong liquidity of Dhs600m invested in Islamic Murabaha and our excellent relation with international and local banks we intend to take that opportunity."

Commenting on the shares of company's founders which have been recently unlocked after passing of two fiscal years of foundation, Mr. Shuraim said, "For at least one year from now our key strategic founders and stakeholders are committed not to sell any of their shares due to its present low value which by all means doesn't reflect neither the fair value nor the company's performance and its strong positioning."

Noting the high level of commitment from his people, Per Wistoft, CEO added, "We cannot remain the leading regional shipping company without our people continually working towards that goal. We endeavor to make GULFNAV the preferred place for people to work in the regional and international shipping industry."

He went on to say "As you will see from the financial results presented at this AGM, Gulf Navigation Holding is strongly positioned towards the future. International shipping is a cyclical business and the current economic climate of the world creates uncertainties and with financial institutions becoming more careful than ever one must walk firmly but carefully through the year and this is exactly what we will do in Gulf Navigation Holding."

Gulf Navigation holding PJSC and its group companies own and operate crude, clean petroleum product and chemical tankers. It is an ISO 9001:2000 certified, Dubai-based and Untied Arab emirates Holding Entity with operations worldwide. It leads the shipping and marine services industry in the region. It has 11 specialized 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.