NOL OMITS DIVIDEND PAYMENT FOR 3RD YEAR

NOL OMITS DIVIDEND PAYMENT FOR 3RD YEAR    Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines, the parent company of APL, will omit the payment of a dividend for 1999, for the third year running.
   The company said that its board of directors does not recommend the payment of a dividend for 1999, despite NOL’s return to profitability last year. NOL will hold its annual general meeting on June 7.
   The company’s 1999 annual report, just published, shows that NOL’s earnings per share increased to 17 Singapore cents (11 U.S. cents) last year, from a loss per share of 59 Singapore cents.
   Following an international share placement, NOL’s share capital reached S$1.17 billion (U.S.$707 million) on Dec. 31, 1999, compared to S$722 million a year earlier.
   During the year, Singapore’s state-controlled Termasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd. increased its shareholding in NOL to about 383 million shares, from 241 million shares at the end of 1998. Termasek Holdings is the largest shareholder in NOL, with 32.6 percent of the shares, the company said in its annual report.