The last time we heard from Indus Gas (INDI) was in the lull between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2016. With the publication of preliminary results, the narrative has edged forward to March 2017, accompanied by another series of brief revelations: the period saw further appraisal drilling at the SGL field, while production wells and field development “continued as planned to meet contracted and planned gas sale requirements”.
Shareholders are entitled to expect more detail, particularly in light of the “extremely challenging and volatile conditions facing the global oil and gas sector” seen in the year. Worse, chairman Peter Cockburn’s observation that this was “another year of improved revenue and profit generation” is misleading. As the table below shows, the top line dropped, and gross profit only picked up following the receipt of $15.5m in compensation for a contract that went wrong. That could be a worry, given $46.6m of debt repayments are due in the current fiscal year – up from $34.2m in 2017.
Arden Partners expects pre-tax profit of $44.7m and adjusted EPS of 24¢ in the year to March 2018, up from $38m and 21¢ in 2017.
| INDUS GAS (INDI) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 403p | MARKET VALUE: | £737m | |
| TOUCH: | 390-405p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 507p | LOW: 270p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | 38 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 71¢ | NET DEBT: | 213% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend share (¢) |
| 2013 | 8.1 | 3.1 | 1.0 | nil |
| 2014 | 27.8 | 21.0 | 6.0 | nil |
| 2015 | 41.4 | 30.0 | 9.0 | nil |
| 2016 | 45.6 | 29.7 | 9.0 | nil |
| 2017 | 39.1 | 43.8 | 14.0 | nil |
| % change | -14 | +47 | +56 | - |
| Ex-div: | n/a | |||
| Payment: | n/a | |||
| £1=$1.34 | ||||
