With Hurricane Energy (HUR) booking its maiden revenues in the six months to June, it might seem churlish to dwell on July's unsuccessful drilling campaign at Warwick Deep, part of a three-well programme underway in the West of Shetland region of the UK Continental Shelf.
At any rate, technical setbacks come with the territory for oil & gas explorers, while shareholders can take solace from successful flow testing at Lincoln Crestal, the second and most recent well within the programme, which delivered 9,800 barrels of oil per day (bopd) with the aid of pumping equipment and 4,682 bopd in natural flow conditions.
Coming on the back of the May start-up of the wholly owned Lancaster field’s early production system – both on schedule and within budget – the period marks a genuine sea change for the company. Output rates at the end of June were running ahead of guidance. Following first oil, Hurricane has sold over 1.6m barrels of oil across four cargoes and Lancaster has been producing at an average rate of 14,100 bopd.
The early production system also served to generate $14.7m (£11.8m) in operating cash-flow (before working capital commitments), thereby providing improved clarity on funding as Hurricane seeks to expand reserves and production across its Rona Ridge assets.
Consensus forecasts compiled by Bloomberg give adjusted EPS of 2.1¢ for the year-end, rising to 10.0¢ in 2020.
| HURRICANE ENERGY (HUR) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 46.7p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 929.4m | |
| TOUCH: | 46.5-46.7p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 65p | LOW: 38p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 31¢* | NET DEBT: | 17%** | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2018 | nil | -75.1 | -3.83 | nil |
| 2019 | 22.5 | -27.5 | -1.08 | nil |
| % change | - | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | - | |||
| Payment: | - | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of $132m, or 6.7¢ a share. **Excludes $212m in lease liabilities. £1 = $1.25. | ||||
