Ithaca Energy (ITH) picked an interesting time to come back to public life. Its first five months since November's initial public offering (IPO) have seen oil and gas prices drop at the same time as the UK government ramped up its energy profits levy (EPL).
As a result, the company's share price is down a quarter from its IPO price of 250p, a drop similar to those sustained by other North Sea-exposed companies like Harbour Energy (HBR) and Serica Energy (SQZ) over the same period.
Executive chair Gilad Myerson told Investors’ Chronicle the EPL had taken the air out of the sector even with the government calling for greater domestic oil and gas supply. “Since the listing, we’ve faced quite some headwinds coming from the UK government,” he said, adding that Ithaca was “very committed” to developing its assets and to the North Sea specifically.