Near-death experiences often induce a clamour for the incident-free life and the security of the routine. While EnQuest (ENQ) remains operationally very busy, investors will have been cheered by the North Sea player's first set of full-year results since a major financial restructuring saved it from death by a thousand loan repayments.
Those results detailed a still toppy net debt pile of $1.8bn (£1.4bn), but maturities have now been kicked down the line so EnQuest can press ahead with its production goals. These now centre on the Kraken development, which should finally awake from its slumber before the end of June, although the timing of first oil will dictate where average daily production will sit in the 45,000-51,000 forecast range. Although Kraken will come in under budget, getting the field online will gobble up the majority of the $375m to $425m the group has set aside for capital expenditure in 2017, although operating expenditure should again fall on a per-barrel basis.
Last year, full-year proven and probable reserves also increased 6 per cent to 215m barrels of oil equivalent, as increased stakes in Kraken and West Don, and reserve upgrades at the Heath and Thistle hubs, were offset by a small downgrade at Alma/Galia.
Consensus forecasts are for pre-tax profits of $28.5m and adjusted EPS of 3¢ this year, rising to $366m and 21.9¢ in 2018.
ENQUEST (ENQ) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 43.25p | MARKET VALUE: | £501m | |
| TOUCH: | 43.25-43.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 56p | LOW: 17p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 2 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 71¢ | NET DEBT: | $1.8bn | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($bn) | Earnings per share (¢)* | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.89 | 0.40 | 43.2 | nil |
| 2013 | 0.96 | 0.33 | 22.4 | nil |
| 2014 | 1.03 | -0.58 | -21.3 | nil |
| 2015 | 0.91 | -1.34 | -98.8 | nil |
| 2016 | 0.80 | 0.22 | 22.7 | nil |
| % change | -12 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na £1 = $1.25. *Adjusted for 4-for-9 open offer in October 2016. | ||||
