Equity and Dividends

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Equity and Dividends [Abstract]

Equity and Dividends

19.  Equity and dividends

Share capital

Preferred stock

Unlimited number of senior preferred shares, without par value, issuable in series.

Unlimited number of junior preferred shares, without par value, issuable in series.

All issued shares are fully paid. No preferred shares have been issued.

Share repurchase

There were no common shares repurchased during the three months ended March 31, 2017 (2016: 1,460,000 repurchased common shares, which were cancelled on March 15, 2016).

Dividends

Declared and paid

The Company declared and paid the following dividends during the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016:

	Declaration date	Dividend per share		Record date		Total dividends	Payment date
Fourth quarter 2016	January 23, 2017	$	0.1700	February 10, 2017	$	18,160	March 3, 2017
Fourth quarter 2015	January 15, 2016	$	0.1600	February 12, 2016	$	17,154	March 4, 2016

Declared and undistributed

Subsequent to March 31, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17cents per common share, payable on June 13, 2017 to stockholders of record on May 23, 2017. This dividend payable has not been recognized as a liability in the financial statements. The payment of this dividend will not have any tax consequence for the Company.

Foreign currency translation reserve

Foreign currency translation adjustments include intra-entity foreign currency transactions that are of a long-term investment nature, which generated net gains of $3,667,000 for the three months ended March  31, 2017  (2016:  $8,882,000).