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(Alliance News) - Caspian Sunrise PLC on Friday posted a very slightly narrowed loss for the first half of 2020 as administrative expense, selling expense, and finance cost almost entirely offset higher revenue.
Shares in Caspian were down 33% at 1.90 pence in London in late morning trading.
Caspian reported a USD1.4 million pretax loss for the six months ended June 30, narrowed from USD1.5 million a year before.
More positively, revenue increased 14% to USD5.0 million from USD4.4 million as total production rose to 272,707 barrels from 259,475 barrels, while cost of sales declined to USD2.6 million from USD4.4 million, taking the company to a gross profit of USD2.4 million from no gross profit at all a year prior.
However, total administrative expenses increased to USD1.7 million from USD1.4 million plus the firm incurred USD1.7 million of selling expense versus no such expense the previous year. Additionally, finance cost rose to USD466,000 from USD35,000 which meant that pretax loss was only partially narrowed.
Chair Clive Carver said: "The impact of the measures taken to deal with the Covid-19 virus continue to have a material impact on the group's operational and financial position. The board is focused on preserving the group's asset base during this period to allow the continued development of our potentially extremely valuable assets over the medium to longer term."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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