Oil and gas producer Jadestone Energy (JSE) swung into profit in the first half despite operations faced with wild weather and a weaker spot price.
Jadestone brought its production average for the June quarter up to 13,315 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from 4,239 bopd the year before. There was a fall in production compared with the March quarter because of weather disruption at the offshore Montara project in Australia, and the company has tightened full-year guidance from 13,500 bopd to15,500 bopd to 13,500 bopd to14,500 bopd. The 49H well at the Stag asset was completed in May and alongside repairs on other wells brought its overall contribution to 4,000 bopd post-June 30.
From this higher volume, the expected higher earnings came through. Ebitdax (cash profits with the ‘x’ representing exploration expenses) was $75.4m for the June quarter compared with $300,000 a year earlier. Berenberg had forecast $58m for the quarter and possibly a dividend, but shareholders may have to wait a while longer. The company flagged an interest in acquisitions, and chief executive Paul Blakeley said a dividend was still on the cards but did not give a specific time frame. Berenberg analyst Ilkin Karimli said a dividend was “likely depending on the size and timing of a potential deal”.
Consensus estimates for full-year cash profit and reported EPS compiled by Bloomberg are $202.5m and 19¢, respectively, climbing to $272m and 38¢ in 2020.
| JADESTONE ENERGY (JSE) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 54p | MARKET VALUE: | £248m | |
| TOUCH: | 53.5-54p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 60p | 34p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | na | PE RATIO: | 9 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 48¢* | NET DEBT: | 3% | |
| Half-year to 30 June | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2018 | 35.8 | -19.8 | -10.0 | - |
| 2019 | 172 | 44.6 | 7.0 | - |
| % change | +380 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
| £1=$1.23 *Includes intangible assets of $99.9m, or 22¢ a share | ||||
