Strong net cash balances and a well-funded, low-cost production base have enabled Soco International (SOCO) to navigate through the pricing storms that have hit world oil markets, but whether the frontier driller emerges unscathed is another matter.
IC TIP:
Hold
at
157p
The driller's market valuation has contracted by two-thirds since the onset of crude's downward trend. And the surest sign of a resource company under the cosh - a nod to an exemplary health and safety record - features prominently in the full-year returns. But despite Soco swinging to a full-year earnings loss, we feel the shares will outperform the wider energy sector as crude markets edge back towards equilibrium.