President Energy (PPC) left it late to publish financial results for its half-year to June, filing on the last possible day permitted under Aim rules. No wonder, then, that numbers are both “in the rear-view mirror” and bear “little relation to the group’s current position and outlook”, in the words of chairman and largest shareholder Peter Levine. Quite: current production of 2,300-2,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day is more than three times the first-half’s average output.
That step-change follows the acquisition of Chevron’s interest in certain oil-producing assets in the Neuquén Basin, which has added more than 1,200 barrels of oil a day in the process, each of which should produce a net profit of $27 (£20.15). The deal, inked a week prior to the release of these numbers, sees President pay $0.4m (£0.3m), plus $15m to the Rio Negro province for a 10-year concession. This, together with the payment of a further $7m in 2018, will be funded by an extension to existing credit provided by IYA – a company also owned by Mr Levine. Aware that loans from shareholders “are not the optimum financing medium”, President is in discussions with institutional lenders to replace or supplement the borrowings.
On average, analysts are guiding for a pre-tax loss of $3.9m and a loss per share of 0.8¢ this year, compared with losses of $20.5m and 1¢ in 2016.
| PRESIDENT ENERGY (PCC) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 8.1p | MARKET VALUE: | £77.5m | |
| TOUCH: | 8-8.3p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 12p | LOW: 5.5p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 14.8¢* | NET DEBT: | 4% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2016 | 4.6 | -5.2 | -1.0 | nil |
| 2017 | 5.6 | -4.6 | -0.9 | nil |
| % change | +24 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | n/a | |||
| Payment: | n/a | |||
| £1=$1.34 *Includes intangible assets of $104m, or 11¢ a share | ||||
