ACL EXPANDS BOARD, AUTHORIZES STOCK PURCHASE, DIVIDEND

ACL EXPANDS BOARD, AUTHORIZES STOCK PURCHASE, DIVIDEND    Atlantic Container Line increased its board form four to six directors at its annual general meeting, held Tuesday in Gothenburg.
   Peter Carlsson, Christer Olsson, Olav Rakkenes and Jon-Aksel Torgersen were re-elected, while Emanuele Grimaldi and Gianluca Grimaldi were newly elected directors. Torgersen was re-elected chairman at a board meeting following ACL's general meeting.
   The board on Tuesday also granted authorization to purchase up to 10 percent of the company's shares over the Oslo Stock Exchange over the next year, and proposed to pay shareholders a dividend of SEK 12 ($1.17) per share in SEK 156 million ($15.2 million) total, and to carry forward the remaining balance.
   Before the general meeting, ACL reported its first-quarter results, including a 54.3-percent increase in first-quarter net income, to SEK 54 million ($5.3 million), despite a drop in volumes and cargo capacity utilization.