LONDON (Alliance News) - Bankers Petroleum Ltd Thursday said its earnings per share and revenue fell in the first quarter of 2015 as the oil price continued to impact its financial performance.
In the first quarter of 2015, Bankers reported a basic earnings per share of USD0.003 per share, significantly down from USD0.097 per share in the first quarter of 2014 as revenue continues to be hampered by the falling oil price.
The company reported a substantial fall in revenue to USD72 million compared to USD145 million a year earlier and USD109 million in the previous quarter as oil prices continue to fall.
Bankers said its average oil price in the quarter was USD39.66 per barrel, down from USD57.29 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2014. In the first quarter of 2014, it achieved an average price of USD87.39 a barrel.
The company said the field price realisation in the quarter represented 74% of the Brent oil benchmark price, down from 75% in the previous quarter and from 81% a year earlier, mainly caused by to an increase in domestic oil sales in the first quarter of 2015, it said.
During the quarter, Bankers achieved a cash margin for USD23.32 per barrel, down from USD31.30 in the previous quarter and 55.75 per barrel a year earlier.
Production in the quarter averaged 19,767 barrels of oil per day, which is down quarter on quarter and year on year. In the previous quarter, production averaged 20,338 barrels per day and in the first quarter of 2014 it averaged 19,911 barrels per day.
So far, in the second quarter of 2015 to date, production has averaged 19,700 barrels of oil per day, Bankers said.
Oil sales averaged 20,283 barrels per day in the quarter, which is higher than production leading to stockpiles decreasing to 270,000 barrels at the end of March from 315,000 barrels at the end of December 2014. This compares to oil sales totalling 20,619 barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2014 and 18,435 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2014.
Bankers spent just under USD50 million on capital expenditure in the first quarter, drilling 21 wells comprising of 20 horizontal production wells and one lateral re-drill in the main area of the Patos-Marinza oilfield. Capital expenditure was down from USD72 million in the previous quarter and from USD60 million a year earlier.
"The company continues to execute on its three-part strategy to deliver reliable and repeatable low cost horizontal wells through the primary drilling program, expanding its product margin through surface-level improvements and accelerate the enhanced oil recovery program," said the company.
In the second quarter, Bankers will drill a further 11 horizontal wells, nine of which will be on the Patos-Marinza oilfield, one on the Kucova oilfield and the last well will be a horizontal water disposal well.
At the end of March, the company had a cash balance of USD58 million and working capital of USD174 million. It has so far drawn down USD111 million of its USD224 million credit facilities.
Still, Bankers Petroleum shares were up 1.3% to 195.00 pence per share on Thursday afternoon.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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