Market Newsdesk

LAVAL, Quebec, Nov. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Acasti Pharma Inc. (“Acasti or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ACST – TSX-V: ACST) today provided a business update and announced its operating and financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 ended September 30, 2020.

Recent Events
:

TRILOGY 1 & 2 Topline Results
. The Company’s two Phase 3 clinical trials, designated as TRILOGY 1 & 2, were designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of CaPre in patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia. The top-line results were announced on January 13, 2020 and August 31, 2020 respectively, and neither TRILOGY 1 nor TRILOGY 2 independently reached statistical significance, and therefore they did not meet their primary endpoint for lowering triglycerides. Although the triglyceride reduction in the CaPre arm was one of the largest seen amongst previously conducted triglyceride reduction studies, the Company will not file a New Drug Application (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia and does not plan to conduct additional clinical trials for CaPre.

Engaged Oppenheimer & Co. Inc
.
to Assist in Strategic Review. On September 29, 2020, the Company announced that it had engaged Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. as its financial advisor to assist in the strategic review process. Potential strategic alternatives that may be explored or evaluated as part of this review include, but are not limited to, a merger, business combination or other strategic transaction involving Acasti and/or CaPre. There is no defined timeline for completion of the review process.

Reduction in Headcount and Discontinuation of Substantially all
Commercial and
R&D Activities. The Company initiated a plan in September 2020 to reduce personnel and expenses to preserve cash and further reduce its operations consistent with the decision to discontinue substantially all commercialization and research and development activities. The Company expects to devote significant time and resources to identifying and evaluating strategic alternatives, however, there can be no assurance that such activities will result in any agreements or transactions that will enhance shareholder value.

Jan D’Alvise, Chief Executive Officer of Acasti, commented, “We remain committed to maximizing value for our shareholders, and as previously disclosed, we are actively exploring and evaluating a range of strategic options. We have also taken a number of proactive steps to preserve our cash by reducing staff, discontinuing all commercialization activities and putting R&D activities on hold. This has resulted in certain one-time and non-cash charges as reflected in our financial statements this quarter. While we continue to pursue strategic alternatives, we plan to complete the full data analyses for TRILOGY as contemplated in the Statistical Analysis Plan, including the pooling of the data from TRILOGY 1 and 2. As previously disclosed, we plan to provide an update on the final TRILOGY data when feasible.”

Second
Quarter of Fiscal 2021
Financial Results
(US dollars):

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).

• Loss from operat
  ions for the three months September 30, 2020 was $7.8 million, compared to a loss from operations of $6.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019. The increase was due mainly to impairment charges of $5.3 million, $3.7 million related to intangible assets and $1.6 million related to production and lab equipment, offset by a reduction in R&D, general and administrative expenses, and sales and marketing expenses.
• Net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was $6.1 million or $0.06 per share, compared to a net loss of $21.2 million or $0.25 per share for the three months ended September 30, 2019. The reduction in net loss, resulted primarily from net financial expenses decreasing to a gain of $1.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, as compared to net financial expenses of $14.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019. This is due mostly to a decreased impact from the change in fair value of the derivative warrant liability as compared to the comparative fiscal quarter in 2019, caused by a proportionately higher decrease in the quarter over quarter closing share price partly offset by a reduction in the number of warrants outstanding due to exercises during the prior year.
• R&D expense
  s before depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation expenses were $0.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $3.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019. The net decrease was mainly attributable to a reduction in salaries and research contracts with the reduction in R&D activities.
• General and Administrative expenses before stock-based compensation expenses were $1.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $1.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019. This reflects a $0.27 million increase related to legal fees related offset by a decrease of $0.23 million related to salaries, due to a reversal of bonus accruals.
• Sales and Marketing expenses before stock-based compensation expenses were $0.02 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, compared to $0.66 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019. The decrease was mostly due to a reduction in professional fees as a result of a reclassification of professional and other expenses to R&D.
• Cash flows Cash and cash equivalents totaled $11.6 million as of September 30, 2020, compared to $14.2 million at March 31, 2020. Acasti believes that existing cash will fully fund the Company’s operations through the second calendar quarter of 2021 or through to an eventual completion of the evaluation of strategic options, but there can be no assurance as to when or whether Acasti will complete any strategic transaction, collaboration or non-dilutive financings. If the Company cannot raise additional funds or find one or more strategic partners, it may not be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business. As a result, there exists substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and therefore, realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business.

NASDAQ
Minimum Bid Price Rule

On February 28, 2020, Acasti received written notification from the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Department for failing to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share for the preceding 30 consecutive business days, as required by NASDAQ Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) – bid price (the “Minimum Bid Price Rule”). Under NASDAQ Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A) – compliance period, Acasti initially had 180 calendar days to regain compliance.

On April 17, 2020, Acasti was informed that NASDAQ had granted temporary regulatory relief related to the Minimum Bid Price Rule due to the COVID-19 pandemic for all NASDAQ-listed companies and therefore extended the deadline for Acasti to regain compliance to November 9, 2020.

On November 11, 2020, Acasti was further informed that NASDAQ had granted an additional 180 calendar days, or until May 10, 2021, for Acasti to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Rule.

Retention Agreements

In connection with its strategic review process, the Company also announces that, upon the recommendation of the Governance and Human Resources Committee of the board of directors, it has entered into retention incentive agreements with Ms. Jan D’Alvise, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Pierre Lemieux, the Company’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientific Officer (the “Retention Agreements”).

The Retention Agreements provide that the Company will pay Ms. D’Alvise an employment retention incentive of US $100,000 provided that she remains employed with the Company until the earlier of April 30, 2021 or the closing of a merger or like transaction with a third party.

In addition, the Retention Agreements also provide that the Company will pay each of Ms. D’Alvise and Mr. Lemieux an amount of up to US $125,000 in the event that certain milestones are met in relation to the monetization by the Company of its assets relating to the Company’s drug candidate, CaPre.

The Company also announces the upcoming departure of Mr. Brian Groch, its Chief Commercial Officer, from his position with the Company effective December 31, 2020, until which date he is continuing in his role with Acasti. The Company would like to thank Mr. Groch for his contributions to the Company and wishes him well in his future endeavors.

About Acasti

Acasti is a biopharmaceutical innovator that has historically focused on the research, development and commercialization of prescription drugs using OM3 fatty acids delivered both as free fatty acids and bound-to-phospholipid esters, derived from krill oil. OM3 fatty acids have extensive clinical evidence of safety and efficacy in lowering triglycerides in patients with hypertriglyceridemia, or HTG. CaPre, an OM3 phospholipid therapeutic, was being developed for patients with severe HTG.

F
o
rw
a
rd
L
oo
king
S
t
a
tem
e
n
ts

Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other unknown factors that could cause the actual results of Acasti to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements labeled with the terms “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “potential,” “should,” “may,” “will,” “plans,” “continue”, “targeted”
or other similar expressions
to be uncertain and forward-looking. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, information or statements about
Acasti’s
strategy, future operations, prospects and the plans of management
;
the outcome of the
strategic
review process to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value
; and
Acasti’s
ability to
successfully consummate a strategic transaction
.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, the “
Special
Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
” section contained in
Acasti’s
latest annual report on Form
10-K
and quarterly report on Form 10-Q
,
which
are
available on
EDGAR at

www.sec.gov/edgar/shtml

, on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the investor section of
Acasti’s
website at www.acastipharma.com. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Acasti does not undertake to update any such forward-looking statements whether
as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. The forward-looking
statements contained herein are also subject generally to assumptions and risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in
Acasti’s
public securities filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities commissions, including
Acasti’s
latest annual report on Form
10-K
and quarterly report on Form 10-Q
under the caption “Risk Factors”
.

Neither NASDAQ, the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

A
c
a
s
t
i
C
on
t
a
c
t:

Jan D’Alvise
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: 450-686-4555
Email: info@acastipharma.com
www.acastipharma.com

Investor
C
on
t
a
c
t:

Crescendo Communications, LLC
Tel: 212-671-1020
Email: [email protected]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Silvercorp Metals Inc. (“Silvercorp” or the “Company”) (TSX/NYSE American: SVM) is pleased to report the discovery of new gold zones and high grade intercepts from its 2020 exploration program at the LMW mine, Ying Mining District, Henan Province, China. Extensive exploration drilling and tunnelling are ongoing at the LMW mine, and all other mines at the Ying Mining District.

The 2020 exploration program from July 1, 2019 to October 30, 2020 at the LMW mine has used in-fill drilling to target areas of known sub-vertical silver-lead-zinc veins that were previously believed to be uneconomic. Since June 2020, drilling has also targeted the gently-dipping zones believed to host gold mineralization, as reported in the May 28, 2020 news release. These gold zones were previously undiscovered and appear to have been over-printed by the sub-vertical silver-lead-zinc veins which are the focus of current mining operations.   Currently, ten rigs are drilling at the LMW mine and a total of 132 diamond drill holes, including 108 underground holes and 24 surface holes totaling 37,869 metres (“m”) have been completed. Assay results for 125 holes have been received with 72 holes intercepting many zones of higher-grade silver-lead mineralization, including veins LM7, LM7W1, LM8, LM8_1, LM12_1, LM13, LM14, LM16, LM22, LM25W, LM41E, LM41E1, and LM41E2. Most of these higher-grade silver-lead discoveries can be mined through existing tunnels which is expected to substantially reduce tunnel development costs at the LMW mine going forward.

Drilling to test the gold-bearing sub-horizontal shear zone LM22 has intersected high gold grades, including 37.08 g/t Au over 1.89m. In addition, at least three new gently-dipping (to the west at less than 15°), stacked gold mineralization zones, namely LM50, LM51 and LM53, have been discovered in this drill campaign. The gold mineralization is associated with k-feldspar-ankerite-quartz-pyrite-galena veinlets and stockwork alteration. The most-drilled LM50 vein has been defined by drilling and underground tunnelling over 450m along strike to the northeast and 350m down-dip in a 25m to 50m grid pattern and true thicknesses ranging from 0.5m to over 5.4m. Three rigs are drilling LM50 which is open in all directions.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9b26bc88-10c9-403e-a77f-76bdbb51a4ce

Highlights of selected drill hole intersections:

• Hole
  ZKX0535 intersected a 1.89m interval (1.66m true width) of vein LM22 grading 37.08 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold (“Au”), 4 g/t silver (“Ag”), and 0.53% copper (“Cu”), which includes a 1.25m interval (1.10m true width) grading 55.80 g/t Au, 5 g/t Ag, and 0.56% Cu.
• Hole
  ZKX0723 intersected a 6.13m interval (4.89m true width) of vein LM50 grading 5.23 g/t Au, 30 g/t Ag, 0.21% lead (“Pb”), and 0.12% zinc (“Zn”), which includes a 1.58m interval (1.34m true width) grading 12.70 g/t Au, 19 g/t Ag, 0.10% Pb, and 0.12% Zn.
• Hole ZKX0527 intersected a 2.34m interval (2.22m true width) of vein LM50 grading 8.51 g/t Au, and 16 g/t Ag, including a 1.22m interval (1.16m true width) grading 13.30 g/t Au, and 15 g/t Ag.
• Hole ZKX0725 intercepted a 2.45m interval grading 4.33 g/t Au of an unknown vein, approximately 50m above the LM50 zone.
• Hole
  ZKX0940 intersected a 1.63m interval (1.46m true width) of vein LM8_1 grading 1,984 g/t Ag, 3.86% Pb, 0.60% Zn, 0.07 g/t Au, and 0.49% Cu, which includes a 1.08m interval (0.97m true width) grading 2,985 g/t Ag, 5.26% Pb, 0.87% Zn, 0.10 g/t Au, and 0.73% Cu.
• Hole
  ZKX0934 intersected a 4.43m interval (2.50m true width) of vein LM12_1 grading 343 g/t Ag, 6.21% Pb, 1.16% Zn, and 0.17 g/t Au, which includes two intersections:
  • A 1.24m interval (0.70m true width) grading 339 g/t Ag, 7.72% Pb, 0.28% Zn, and 0.17 g/t Au; and
  • A 0.89m interval (0.50m true width) grading 1,185 g/t Ag, 17.46% Pb, 4.84% Zn, and 0.50 g/t Au.
• Hole ZKX0118 intersected a 1.81m interval (1.29m true width) of vein LM25W grading 1,715 g/t Ag, 1.53% Pb, 0.44% Zn, 0.44 g/t Au, and 0.30% Cu.

In addition, a total of 8,684m of exploration tunnels have been developed at the LMW mine during the period. These exploration tunnels (including 4,750m of drifts) were driven along and across major mineralized vein structures to upgrade the drill defined mineral resources and test for new parallel and splay structures, and are summarized in the following table:

Major Target Veins	Total Tunne l ling (m)	Channel Samples Collected	Drift Included (m)	Total Mineralization Exposed by Drifts [1]
				Length (m)	Average True Width （ m)	Ag (g/t)	Pb (%)	Zn (%)	Au (g/t)	Cu (%)
LM19W2, T27E, LM14, LM16_1, LM16,LM17W, LM12_1, LM12E, LM22, LM8_4a, LM32, LM8, LM41E, LM17	8,684	3,320	4,750	775	0.53	397	4.34	0.42	0.09	0.18

[1] Mineralization is defined by silver equivalent value (AgEq) greater than or equal to 155 g/t at the LMW mine (Formula used for AgEq calculation: AgEq = Ag g/t + 35.06 * (Pb% + Cu%) + 79.57 * Au g/t).

Highlights of selected mineralized zones exposed in the drift tunnels:

• Drift Tunnel
  XPDS-LM17-575-26SYM2 exposed mineralization 25m long and 1.54m wide (true width) grading 894 g/t Ag, 9.35% Pb, 0.53% Zn, 0.17 g/t Au, and 1.16% Cu within vein structure LM17;
• Drift Tunnel
  XPDS-LM16-675-115SYM exposed mineralization 10m long and 0.59m wide (true width) grading 1,740 g/t Ag, 0.96% Pb and 0.36% Zn within vein structure LM16;
• Drift Tunnel
  PD1080-LM41E-1080-11NYM exposed mineralization 15m long and 0.74m wide (true width) grading 1,079 g/t Ag, 2.12% Pb, 0.15% Zn, 0.02 g/t Au, and 0.55% Cu within vein structure LM41E; and
• Drift Tunnel
  PD918-W6-880-128NYM exposed mineralization 35m long and 0.68m wide (true width) grading 603 g/t Ag, 4.91% Pb, 2.12% Zn, 0.02 g/t Au, and 0.13% Cu within vein structure W6.

Table
1
:
Selected
results from the 2020 drill programs at the LMW mine

Hole ID	From (m)	To (m)	Interval (m)	True Width (m)	Ag (g/t)	Pb (%)	Zn (%)	Au (g/t)	Cu (%)	Vein	Ore Type
ZKX0015	307.53	308.73	1.20	1.07	331	1.10	2.78	0.05	0.14	LM10W	Ag-Pb
ZKX0015	349.68	350.51	0.83	0.78	3	0.01	0.01	1.03	0.29	LM51 [1]	Au
ZKX0016	131.45	133.12	1.67	0.94	522	0.43	0.03	0.05	0.07	LM13	Ag-Pb
ZKX0017	278.50	280.97	2.47	1.34	273	0.25	0.03	0.16	0.26	LM26 [1]	Au
ZKX0026	192.99	193.79	0.80	0.75	13	0.02	0.02	4.75	2.18	LM26	Au
ZKX0118	30.48	32.29	1.81	1.29	1,715	1.53	0.44	0.44	0.30	LM25W	Ag-Pb
ZKX0118	146.71	148.17	1.46	1.27	3	0.01	0.01	3.52	0.33	LM22 [1]	Au
ZKX0319	270.45	271.16	0.71	0.57	5	0.01	0.01	3.19	0.69	LM51	Au
ZKX0334	84.70	86.08	1.38	1.30	1	0.00	0.00	5.43	0.09	LM22	Au
ZKX0517	46.70	47.23	0.53	0.50	6	0.01	0.02	2.49	0.00	LM22a [1]	Au
ZKX0527	162.82	165.16	2.34	2.22	16	0.64	0.07	8.51	0.01	LM50 [1]	Au
Including	163.94	165.16	1.22	1.16	15	0.86	0.07	13.30	0.01	LM50	Au
ZKX0528	154.89	159.55	4.66	3.15	5	0.01	0.02	2.58	0.00	LM50	Au
Including	159.15	159.55	0.40	0.26	47	0.04	0.04	26.70	0.01	LM50	Au
ZKX0529	113.56	114.16	0.60	0.36	780	1.23	0.33	0.04	0.46	LM7W1	Ag-Pb
ZKX0529	168.28	176.06	7.78	4.68	256	0.76	0.07	0.01	0.08	LM7	Ag-Pb
Including	168.28	169.97	1.69	1.02	587	0.25	0.02	0.01	0.03	LM7	Ag-Pb
and	174.68	176.06	1.38	0.83	609	2.93	0.24	0.01	0.39	LM7	Ag-Pb
ZKX0531	105.26	105.97	0.71	0.61	5	0.02	0.01	21.10	1.14	LM22	Au
ZKX0535	92.91	94.80	1.89	1.66	4	0.00	0.01	37.08	0.53	LM22	Au
Including	92.91	94.16	1.25	1.10	5	0.00	0.01	55.80	0.56	LM22	Au
ZKX0723	184.27	190.40	6.13	4.89	30	0.21	0.12	5.23	0.00	LM50	Au
Including	184.27	185.85	1.58	1.34	19	0.10	0.12	12.70	0.01	LM50	Au
ZKX0725	126.41	128.86	2.45	2.06	2	0.01	0.01	4.33	0.01	? [1], [2]	Au
Including	126.41	127.36	0.95	0.80	3	0.02	0.01	10.03	0.01	?	Au
ZKX0725	166.07	167.37	1.30	1.18	1	0.02	0.06	1.87	0.01	LM50	Au
ZKX0726	165.59	166.44	0.85	0.65	15	0.59	0.33	9.74	0.01	LM50	Au
ZKX0726	207.06	208.56	1.50	0.92	370	0.59	0.08	0.01	0.04	LM8a	Ag-Pb
ZKX0934	135.46	136.56	1.10	0.98	39	0.09	0.46	3.25	0.01	LM13	Ag-Pb
ZKX0934	323.27	327.70	4.43	2.50	343	6.21	1.16	0.17	0.04	LM12_1	Ag-Pb
Including	323.27	324.51	1.24	0.70	339	7.72	0.28	0.17	0.05	LM12_1	Ag-Pb
and	326.81	327.70	0.89	0.50	1,185	17.64	4.84	0.50	0.08	LM12_1	Ag-Pb
ZKX0940	249.22	250.85	1.63	1.46	1,984	3.86	0.60	0.07	0.49	LM8_1	Ag-Pb
Including	249.77	250.85	1.08	0.97	2,985	5.26	0.87	0.10	0.73	LM8_1	Ag-Pb
ZKX1103	56.48	57.34	0.86	0.72	156	0.91	0.05	0.03	0.01	LM7W1	Ag-Pb
ZKX1103	116.00	116.29	0.29	0.27	618	0.08	0.03	0.03	0.04	LM7W	Ag-Pb
ZKX1104	157.45	157.70	0.25	0.23	2,133	1.99	0.14	0.05	0.18	LM41E	Ag-Pb
ZKX1105	130.58	131.30	0.72	0.62	644	3.02	0.79	0.05	0.33	LM41E2	Ag-Pb
Including	130.58	130.82	0.24	0.21	1,842	8.37	2.25	0.05	0.94	LM41E2	Ag-Pb
ZKX1105	133.32	133.69	0.37	0.32	582	3.69	1.07	0.05	0.22	LM41E1	Ag-Pb
ZKX1108	130.04	131.52	1.48	0.85	330	0.63	0.02	0.01	0.02	LM12E	Ag-Pb
ZKX1109	157.87	158.85	0.98	0.51	12	0.04	0.03	8.35	0.00	LM50	Au
ZKX1501	270.21	273.89	3.68	2.83	135	0.35	0.04	0.01	0.02	T22	Ag-Pb
Including	270.21	270.46	0.25	0.16	1,579	3.70	0.40	0.03	0.20	T22	Ag-Pb
ZKX4007	284.81	287.36	2.55	1.81	423	0.26	0.22	0.01	0.07	LM17	Ag-Pb
ZKX4008	296.43	297.54	1.11	0.80	29	13.52	0.04	0.01	0.00	LM17	Ag-Pb
Including	297.21	297.54	0.33	0.24	81	43.66	0.03	0.02	0.01	LM17	Ag-Pb
ZKX6801	121.67	122.94	1.27	1.22	2	0.25	0.02	1.99	0.02	LM53 [1]	Au
Including	122.68	122.94	0.26	0.25	6	0.91	0.03	5.91	0.04	LM53	Au
ZKX6803	182.76	184.49	1.73	0.89	454	1.37	0.18	0.01	0.28	?	Ag-Pb
ZKX10105	336.91	337.16	0.25	0.20	20	9.13	1.00	0.03	0	LM8W	Ag-Pb
ZKX10509	254.09	254.52	0.43	0.40	743	0.32	0.30	0.31	0.05	LM8W3	Ag-Pb
ZKX10509	282.06	282.41	0.35	0.27	723	1.57	0.14	0.33	0.01	LM8W2	Ag-Pb
ZKX10509	385.00	385.51	0.51	0.39	168	11.57	1.77	0.22	0.03	LM8	Ag-Pb
ZKX10708	247.43	249.99	2.56	2.15	394	2.96	0.22	0.03	0.07	LM8	Ag-Pb
ZKX10814	232.25	233.17	0.92	0.65	9	0.02	0.01	2.21	0.00	LM51	Au
ZKX10915	8.72	9.19	0.47	0.36	639	3.04	0.36	0.12	0.02	LM20	Ag-Pb
ZKX11402	259.04	259.84	0.80	0.54	527	2.21	0.43	0.07	0.12	LM8	Ag-Pb
ZKX11507	229.68	231.39	1.71	0.93	82	7.53	0.13	0.01	0.04	LM17W	Ag-Pb
ZKX12503	174.73	175.88	1.15	0.99	475	1.68	0.13	0.05	0.02	LM14	Ag-Pb
ZKT4402	174.17	174.95	0.78	0.66	18	0.17	0.01	8.60	0.29	?	Au
ZKT4802	318.39	319.08	0.69	0.64	366	7.85	0.42	0.05	0.02	T11	Ag-Pb
Including	318.39	318.62	0.23	0.21	329	22.97	1.15	0.05	0.03	T11	Ag-Pb

[1] Veins discovered between July 1, 2019 and October 30, 2020.

[2] New veins with no name assigned.

Table
2
:
Selected
mineralized zones exposed by drift
tun
n
el
li
ng
at
the LM
W
mine

Tunnel ID	Vein	Ore Length (m)	True Width (m)	Ag (g/t)	Pb (%)	Zn (%)	Au (g/t)	Cu (%)
XPDN-LM8-600-111NYM	LM8	25	0.33	229	2.57	0.29	0.04	0.07
XPDN-LM8_4a-500-143NYM	LM8_4a	35	0.42	301	1.07	1.39	0.00	0.00
PD969Shaft-LM12_1-600-12SYM	LM12_1	45	0.77	344	3.37	0.19	0.00	0.00
PD924-LM12E-924-11NYM	LM12E	35	0.46	201	1.33	0.15	0.00	0.00
XPDS-LM14-625-109SYM	LM14	20	0.24	440	3.34	0.06	0.00	0.00
XPDS-LM14-575-113NYM1	LM14	15	0.47	135	3.58	0.19	0.00	0.00
XPDS-LM14-575-113NYM2	LM14	15	0.30	304	2.96	0.25	0.00	0.00
XPDS-LM16-675-115SYM	LM16	10	0.59	1,740	0.96	0.36	0.00	0.00
XPDS-LM16_1-725-111NYM	LM16_1	20	0.29	616	1.64	0.25	0.00	0.00
XPDS-LM17-575-26SYM1	LM17	40	0.70	96	4.02	0.35	0.00	0.00
XPDS-LM17-575-26SYM2	LM17	25	1.54	894	9.35	0.53	0.17	1.16
XPDS-LM17W-600-0NYM1	LM17W	20	0.40	377	4.37	0.66	0.00	0.00
XPDS-LM17W-600-0NYM2	LM17W	40	0.72	249	2.98	1.16	0.00	0.00
XPDN-LM17W-800-9ECM	LM17W1	15	0.27	719	5.07	0.59	0.00	0.00
XPDN-LM19W2-700-122SYM	LM19W2	70	0.63	499	2.72	0.45	0.00	0.00
PD969Shaft-LM19W2-600-114SYM	LM19W2	12	0.52	195	1.22	0.18	0.00	0.00
PD969Shaft-LM19W2-600-114NYM	LM19W2	15	0.56	381	1.63	0.15	0.00	0.00
SJ969-LM19W2-550-110NYM	LM19W2	15	0.97	26	8.58	0.26	0.00	0.00
PD924-LM22-834-3NYM	LM22	40	0.18	11	0.04	0.01	2.72	1.55
PD969Shaft-LM30-550-114SYM	LM30	30	0.41	136	4.40	0.31	0.00	0.00
PD969Shaft-LM12_2-500-14SYM	LM32	25	0.28	303	4.87	0.85	0.33	0.11
PD1080-LM41E-1080-11NYM	LM41E	15	0.74	1,079	2.12	0.15	0.02	0.55
PD924-T27E-900-110SYM	T27E	20	0.89	114	14.33	0.17	0.00	0.00
PD918-W6-880-128NYM	W6 [1]	35	0.68	603	4.91	2.12	0.02	0.13

[1] Veins discovered between July 1, 2019 and October 30, 2020.

Quality Control

Drill cores are NQ size. Drill core samples, limited by apparent mineralization contacts or shear/alteration contacts, were split into halves by saw cutting. The half cores are stored in the Company’s core shacks for future reference and checks, and the other half core samples are shipped in securely sealed bags to the Chengde Huakan 514 Geology and Minerals Test and Research Institute in Chengde, Hebei Province, China, 226km northeast of Beijing, the Zhengzhou Nonferrous Exploration Institute Lab in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, and SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., Tianjin, China. All the three labs are ISO9000 certified analytical labs. For analysis, the sample is dried and crushed to minus 1mm and then split to a 200-300g subsample which is further pulverized to minus 200 mesh. Two subsamples are prepared from the pulverized sample. One is digested with aqua regia for gold analysis with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), and the other is digested with two-acids for analysis of silver, lead, zinc and copper with AAS.

Channel samples are collected along sample lines perpendicular to the mineralized vein structure in exploration tunnels. Spacing between sampling lines is typically 5m along strike. Both the mineralized vein and the altered wall rocks are cut by continuous chisel chipping. Sample length ranges from 0.2m to more than 1.0m, depending on the width of the mineralized vein and the mineralization type. Channel samples are prepared and assayed with AAS at Silvercorp’s mine laboratory (Ying Lab) located at the mill complex in Luoning County, Henan Province, China. The Ying lab is officially accredited by the Quality and Technology Monitoring Bureau of Henan Province and is qualified to provide analytical services. The channel samples are dried, crushed and pulverized. A 200g sample of minus 160 mesh is prepared for assay. A duplicate sample of minus 1mm is made and kept in the laboratory archives. Gold is analysed by fire assay with AAS finish, and silver, lead, zinc and copper are assayed by two-acid digestion with AAS finish.

A routine quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedure is adopted to monitor the analytical quality at each lab. Certified reference materials (CRMs), pulp duplicates and blanks are inserted into each batch of lab samples. QA/QC data at the lab are attached to the assay certificates for each batch of samples.

The Company maintains its own comprehensive QA/QC program to ensure best practices in sample preparation and analysis of the exploration samples. Project geologists regularly insert CRM, field duplicates and blanks to each batch of 30 core samples to monitor the sample preparation and analysis procedures at the labs. The analytical quality of the labs is further evaluated with external checks by sending approximately 3-5% of the pulp samples to higher level labs to check for lab bias. Data from both the Company’s and the labs’ QA/QC programs are reviewed on a timely basis by project geologists.

Guoliang Ma, P. Geo., Manager of Exploration and Resource of the Company, is the Qualified Person for Silvercorp under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and given consent to the technical information contained in this news release.

About Silvercorp

Silvercorp is a profitable Canadian mining company producing silver, lead and zinc metals in concentrates from mines in China. The Company’s goal is to continuously create healthy returns to shareholders through efficient management, organic growth and the acquisition of profitable projects. Silvercorp balances profitability, social and environmental relationships, employees’ wellbeing, and sustainable development. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorp.ca.

For further information

Lon Shaver
Vice President
Silvercorp Metals Inc.

Phone: (604) 669-9397
Toll Free: 1 (888) 224-1881
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.silvercorp.ca

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER – FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain of the statements and information in this news release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “expects”, “is expected”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “plans”, “projects”, “estimates”, “assumes”, “intends”, “strategies”, “targets”, “goals”, “forecasts”, “objectives”, “budgets”, “schedules”, “potential” or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information relate to, among other things: the price of silver and other metals; the accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates at the Company’s material properties; the sufficiency of the Company’s capital to finance the Company’s operations; estimates of the Company’s revenues and capital expenditures; estimated production from the Company’s mines in the Ying Mining District; timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals; availability of funds from production to finance the Company’s operations; and
access to and availability of funding for future construction, use of proceeds from any financing and development of the Company’s properties.

Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, social and economic impacts of COVID-19; risks relating to: fluctuating commodity prices; calculation of resources, reserves and mineralization and precious and base metal recovery; interpretations and assumptions of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; exploration and development programs; feasibility and engineering reports; permits and licenses; title to properties; property interests; joint venture partners; acquisition of commercially mineable mineral rights; financing; recent market events and conditions; economic factors affecting the Company; timing, estimated amount, capital and operating expenditures and economic returns of future production; integration of future acquisitions into the Company’s existing operations; competition; operations and political conditions; regulatory environment in China and Canada; environmental risks; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; insurance; risks and hazards of mining operations; key personnel; conflicts of interest; dependence on management; internal control over financial reporting as per the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; and bringing actions and enforcing judgments under U.S. securities laws.

This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company’s forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those referred to in the Company’s Annual Information Form under the heading “Risk Factors”. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

The Company’s forward-looking statements and information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this news release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or management’s assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information.

CAUTIONARY NOTE TO US INVESTORS

This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of NI 43‐101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Definition Standards, which differ from the requirements of U.S. Securities laws. NI 43‐101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects.

 

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Nov. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (“Mateon” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: MATN) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020 (“Q3 2020”), as well as an update on its therapeutic development initiatives, including those related to COVID-19.

Recent Operational Highlights

●	ArtiShield™ (outside of India)/ARTIVeda™ (India)
		o	Signed an agreement with Windlas Biotech Pvt. Ltd. of India to commercialize ArtiShield™ /ARTIVeda™, the Company’s lead ethnobiology dru,g designed to be a readily available and cost-effective agent to combat COVID-19;
		o	ArtiShield™ /ARTIVeda™ approved for manufacture and marketing by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy), license number UK.AY-401/2018, for the treatment of various symptoms like fever and inflammation frequently seen in COVID-19 patients;
		o	Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, B.A.M.S, M.D. (Ayurveda), a worldwide renowned ayurvedic expert, joined Mateon as an advisor for Mateon’s Ayurvedic product ARTIShield™ /ARTIVeda™ in its commercialization for COVID-19;
		o	Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar led a successful symposium entitled: “Advancing Ayurveda Through Ethnobiology Drug Development.” Topics included Mateon’s ARTIShield™/ ARTIVeda™ for the Treatment of COVID-19 and COVID-19/Influenza Coinfection. Presentations can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0agiVypL_LU&feature=youtu.be.
		o	Commenced patient enrollment for its ARTI-19 Phase IV multi-center interventional study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ArtiShield™ in the treatment of adults with COVID-19 in India. This global study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of ArtiShield™ upto 3,000 total patients, 120 of whom are currently from India and further expandable to 300 patients from India. Top line data from ARTI-19 in India is expected between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021;
●	OT-101/COVID-19 program
		o	Received clearance from regulatory authorities in Argentina and Peru to initiate a Phase II clinical trial of OT-101, a TGF-β antisense, for the treatment of patients with mild to severe COVID-19 infection. Top line data from the study is currently expected during or before Q1 2021. If the outcome is positive, the data will form the basis for Emergency Use Approval (EUA) application to global regulatory bodies. Including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA);
		o	Continuing our partnership with Golden Mountain Partners (GMP) and/or their designee with drawdown of the $2.0 M debt financial instrument with GMP to conduct OT-101/COVID-19 clinical trial.
●	Oxi4503/ Melanoma
		o	Announced that the US FDA granted Rare Pediatric Disease (RPD) designation to OXi4503 (combretastatin A1-diphosphate; CA1P) for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia due to genetic mutations that disproportionately affect pediatric patients. The FDA grants RPD designation for diseases with serious or life-threatening manifestations that primarily affect people aged from birth to 18 years, and that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.; and
●	Strengthened our scientific and management teams with the appointments of Anthony Maida, III, Ph.D., MA, MBA as Chief Clinical Officer – Translational Medicine to drive the Company’s clinical development activity.

“We are very encouraged by the progress being made at Mateon through the first nine months of 2020,” said Dr. Vuong Trieu, CEO of Mateon. “While our product portfolio addresses significant unmet needs with respect multiple disease states, including glioblastoma, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer, we are most excited by our strategy to focus on COVID-19 and COVID-19/influenza coinfection. We look forward to multiple clinical trial catalysts – notably top line data from our ARTI-19 Phase IV trial between Q4 2020 and Q2 2021 the end of this year – and are excited about the transformational opportunities that our therapies may provide.”

“We are excited about the commercialization of ARTIVeda^™ in India. It is expected to be a cost-effective treatment and prophylactic for COVID-19. This is transformational for the Company, as we establish a consortium of manufacturers, distributors, and marketers for the equitable distribution of this COVID-19 therapy,” said Amit Shah, CFO of Mateon.

Q3 2020 Financial Results Overview –

MATEON THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30

(UNAUDITED)

		2020				2019				Variance
Operating expense:
Research and development			936,196				343,789				592,407
General and administrative			680,077				586,924				93,153
Total operating expense			1,616,273				930,713				685,560
Loss from operations			(1,616,273	)			(930,713	)			(685,560	)
Loss on conversion of debt			(88,817	)			–				(88,817	)
Change in the value of derivatives on debt			49,992				–				49,992
Interest expense, net			(331,459	)			(60,413	)			(271,046	)
Net Loss		$	(1,986,557	)			(991,126	)			(995,431	)

Total operating expenses for Q3 2020 rose to $1.6 million from $0.9 million in Q3 2019, reflecting a $0.6 million increase in R&D expense and a $0.1 million increase in general & administrative expenses, both of which are to support ongoing clinical trial activity, including activity related to COVID-19.

Net loss attributable to common stockholders for Q3 2020 was $2.0 million, or ($0.02) per share, compared to a net loss of $1.0 million, or ($0.01) per share, for Q3 2019.

Cash and cash equivalents were $1.4 million as of September 30, 2020, compared to $0.6 million as of June 30, 2020, and $0.1 million as of December 31, 2019. Total assets increased from $23,684,781 to $24,628,545

“During Q3 2020 we raised proceeds of $2.3 million, net of costs, to help us advance our therapeutic development activities,” said Mr. Shah.“ Also, the Company has formally changed its name to Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. with the State of Delaware. We are working with the appropriate agencies to obtain approvals to change our name and establish our new ticker symbol.”

Additional information is included in the Company’s Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2020, filed on November 16, 2020, a copy of which is available free of charge at http://investor.mateon.com/sec-filings.

ARTIShield ™/ARTIVedaTM- an Ethnobiology Drug

Mateon is pursuing several avenues with respect to the development and commercialization of ARTIShield^™ in the treatment of COVID-19. ARTIShield^™ is Ayurveda – Dvipaantara Damanaka – and is labeled as a capsule containing Artemisia Powder 500mg. It is a demonstration of how Ethnobiology can be used to drive drug development against emerging pandemics.

The classical pharmaceutical regulatory pathways have failed to provide fast-track to treatment and vaccines. Government resources have concentrated on a few candidates most of which have failed. The Ayurvedic medicine route is proving to be an accelerated pathway to deploy a well-known, abundantly available and cost effective Ayurvedic medicine that is safe and being proven in-vitro and large-scale clinical trial to be effective.

ARTIShield

^™

/ARTIVeda

^™

– Commercialization in India

Mateon announced that ARTIShield ^™/ARTIVeda^™ has been approved for manufacture and marketing by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) in India for the treatment of various symptoms including fever and inflammation, which can be associated with COVID-19. ARTIShield^™ is in co-development with Windlas Biotech Pvt. Ltd., Mateon’s commercial partner for India and is designed to be a readily available and cost-effective agent to combat COVID-19. ARTIVeda^™ is the tradename for India and ArtiShield^TM is the tradename for outside of India. Mateon expects sales will commence in India before year end.

ARTI-19 Multi-national Phase IV Trial, Currently in India

Mateon announced the enrollment of its first patient in a Phase IV study ARTI-19, “A Prospective, Randomized, Multi-center, Open label, Interventional Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Artemisinin 500 mg capsule in Treatment of Adult Subjects with COVID-19”. This trial will compare the efficacy of oral doses with standard-of-care (SOC) versus SOC alone. This is a global study with India to contribute at least 300 patients to the total aggregate of 3000 patients. We expect preliminary top-line data for ARTI-19 sometime between Q420 and Q121.

About OT-101

OT-101 is an antisense against the host TGF-β protein required for viral replication and its overexpression likely to cause the wide range of clinical symptoms associated with COVID-19 including Kawasaki syndrome (Fatih M. Uckun, Vuong Trieu. Targeting Transforming Growth Factor-beta for Treatment of COVID-19-associated Kawasaki Disease in Children. Clin Res Pediatr 2020; 3(1): 1-3) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (Fatih M. Uckun, Larn Hwang, Vuong Trieu. Selectively targeting TGF-β with Trabedersen/OT-101 in treatment of evolving and mild ARDS in COVID-19. Clin. Invest. (Lond.) 2020; 10(2), 167-176. DOI: 10.4172/ Clinical-Investigation.1000166.).

TGF-β is elevated in COVID-19 (Xiong Y. et al. Transcriptomic characteristics of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and peripheral blood mononuclear cells in COVID-19 patients. Emerging Microbes & infections 2020; 9:1, 761-770, DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1747363. Agrati C. et al. Expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in patients with severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Cell Death & Differentiation 2020; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41418-020-0572-6.).

OT-101 is also being developed as an adjuvant for second generation COVID-19 vaccine. To avoid the two potential issues with 1st generation vaccine against COVID-19, we will be combining the 1st generation COVID-19 DNA vaccine with a TGF-β inhibitor (OT-101) to stimulate a strong immune response while suppressing the IgA class switching that could aggravate the disease through Kawasaki reaction- IgA vasculitis. The company is aggressively pursuing the development of this 2nd generation COVID-19 vaccine expecting that the 1st generation vaccines would not be fully effective and may not be sufficiently protective to counter the current pandemic.

The development of OT-101 is important given the failure of other drugs leaving dexamethasone as the only clinically proven effective drug against COVID-19.

About Mateon Therapeutics

Mateon was created by the recent reverse merger with Oncotelic, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mateon, thereby creating an immuno-oncology company dedicated to the development of first in class RNA therapeutics as well as small molecule drugs against cancer and infectious diseases. OT-101, the lead immuno-oncology drug candidate of Mateon/Oncotelic, is a first-in-class anti-TGF-βRNA therapeutic that exhibited single agent activity in some relapsed/refractory cancer patients in clinical trial settings. OT-101 also has activity against SARS-CoV-2. Mateon/Oncotelic is seeking to leverage its deep expertise in oncology drug development to improve treatment outcomes and survival of cancer patients with a special emphasis on rare pediatric cancers. Mateon has rare pediatric designation for DIPG (OT-101), melanoma (CA4P), and AML (OXi4503).

For more information, please visit www.oncotelic.com and www.mateon.com.

Mateon’s Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this communication regarding strategy, future operations, future financial position, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Words such as “may”, “expect”, “anticipate” “hope”, “vision”, “optimism”, “design”, “exciting”, “promising”, “will”, “conviction”, “estimate,” “intend,” “believe”, “quest for a cure of cancer”, “innovation-driven”, “paradigm-shift”, “high scientific merit”, “impact potential” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about future plans, the progress, timing, clinical development, scope and success of future clinical trials, the reporting of clinical data for the company’s product candidates and the potential use of the company’s product candidates to treat various cancer indications. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during preclinical or clinical studies, clinical trial site activation or enrollment rates that are lower than expected, changes in expected or existing competition, changes in the regulatory environment, failure of collaborators to support or advance collaborations or product candidates and unexpected litigation or other disputes. These risks are not exhaustive, the company faces known and unknown risks, including the risk factors described in the company’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on May 20, 2020 and in the company’s other periodic filings. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, whether as a result of new information future events, or otherwise.

Contact Information:

For Mateon Therapeutics, Inc.:
Amit Shah
[email protected]

November 16, 2020

Dear Shareholders and Investors, 

Highlights: 

   

1. The average Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) for our trading fleet during the third quarter was $25,000 per day per ship. In perspective, this is the best third quarter TCE result for many years.

2. As 2020 draws to a close, we see far less uncertainty in the market place.
   
   Asia is recovering strongly, the US election season is over and a vaccine for Covid-19 may be widely available by early 2021. The global pandemic short term impacted the strong fundamentals we saw for the tanker market going into 2020. Despite a temporary slowdown, we see that 2020 as a whole will be a very good year for NAT. We believe that these positive fundamentals will continue.

3. Cash dividends are a priority for NAT, and reflect our earnings. In 2020 we have paid $60 million or 41 cents per share in dividends. With this report we announce our 93rd consecutive quarterly dividend. The dividend for 3Q2020 is
   4 cents ($0.04) per share, payable on or about December 15, 2020, to shareholders of record December 2, 2020. The accumulated dividend payments for the last four quarters represent an annualized yield of 14% on today’s share price.

4. During the third quarter we took several of our vessels through drydockings and as such our net voyage revenues and net profit were affected. This was an optimal timing. Our Net Income for 3Q 2020 thus came in at – $10.0 million, which gave an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of -$0.07. Our Year-to-date Net Income was positive with $78.7 million which is equivalent to an EPS of $0.53. This was an improvement of about $100 million compared to the same period in 2019, which produced a Net Income of -$23.1 million.

5. Our EBITDA (non-GAAP measure) for 3Q2020 was positive by $15.6 million. This was lower than second quarter, but the EBITDA was an improvement compared to the same quarter last year, which generated an EBITDA of $11.5 million.

6. Our total long term liabilities as per Sept 30, 2020 stood at $313.3 million, a reduction of more than $63 million since year-end 2019. Our Net Debt is $255.4 million or about $11 million per ship.

7. On Sept 23, 2020 we announced two newbuilding contracts placed with Samsung Heavy Industries. The two suezmaxes will be delivered first half 2022. Financing has been secured. This is a part of our strategy to renew and grow our fleet. The quality of the NAT fleet is first rate, reflecting the vetting record of our ships.

8. Detailed financial information for 3Q 2020 and for other periods is included later in this report.

 

Best regards,

Herbjorn Hansson

Founder, Chairman & CEO

 

Nordic American Tankers Ltd.                                                           www.nat.bm  

 

 

 

 

 

 
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “potential,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “expect,” “pending” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market, as a result of changes in OPEC’s petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the prospectus and related prospectus supplement, our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and our reports on Form 6-K.

NAT is a Bermuda based company.

Contacts:       

Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP
New York, USA
Tel: +1 212 574 1223

Bjørn Giæver, CFO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 888 755 8391 or +47 91 35 00 91       

Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or +47 90 14 62 91 

Attachment

• NAT 3Q2020 report