Calgary, Alberta and Houston, Texas - December 12, 2019-PetroTal Corp. ("PetroTal" or the "Company") (TSX-V: TAL and AIM: PTAL) is pleased to announce that the Company's board of directors has declared an interim dividend in respect of the common shares in the capital of PetroTal (the "Common Shares") to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 20, 2019 (the "Record Date").
The interim dividend will be CAD$0.0017 (£0.001) cash for each Common Share, subject to applicable withholding taxes for non-Canadian resident shareholders, and will be paid on January 20, 2020. Based on the number of shares currently outstanding, this represents a total dividend payment of approximately CAD$1.14 million (£0.66 million).
As announced at the time of the Company's most recent equity placing on May 31, 2019, the Company intends to pay a total dividend in respect of the half year period from July 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 equivalent to an annualized yield of 4% (based on the £0.15 per share placing price). The interim dividend of CAD$0.0017 (£0.001)per share declared today represents one-third of the expected total dividend for that period and it remains the Company's intention, subject to the ongoing satisfactory performance of the Company's operations in Peru, to declare the final two-thirds of the total dividend alongside the Company's final results for the year ending December 31, 2019, which are expected to be released in April, 2020.
Common Shares will commence trading on an ex‐dividend basis on December 19, 2019 (as of which date the Common Shares will no longer have the attaching entitlement to this dividend).
Manolo Zuniga, President and Chief Executive Officer stated:
"We're pleased to honor our commitment to declare a dividend for the second half of 2019. To date, operations in Bretaña have exceeded expectations and we're delighted to be in a position to share that success with our dedicated shareholders. Additional development of the oil field will continue over the next few years, and PetroTal expects to maintain this minimum level of dividend obligation. Going forward, we expect to declare an interim dividend representing one third of the annual entitlement in August of each year, based on the first half year results, with the remaining two thirds payable, based on the Company's full year results, declared when annual results are published."