(Alliance News) - Caspian Sunrise PLC on Monday said a "tougher" operating period affected by sanctions against Russia affected its interim profit and revenue.
The Kazakhstan-focused oil and gas exploration and production company said in the six months ended June 30, pretax profit fell by 21% to USD7.9 million from USD10.0 million a year prior, as revenue dropped 32% to USD17.3 million from USD25.6 million the year before.
Caspian noted that the impact of sanctions against Russia has meant its operating conditions have been "significantly tougher", with revenue from oil production down by almost a half to USD12.5 million, while revenue from drilling activities decreased slightly by 17% to USD1.0 million.
Nevertheless, Caspian generated revenue from sales trading of USD3.8 million, compared to none a year ago.
Looking ahead, the company said that while the oil price remains "internationally strong", it will continue to sell at domestic and local mini refinery prices due to "Russian sanctions related reasons."
"We have not yet found a solution to close the huge price differential between what we should receive and what we would actually receive for international sales. We are however learning to live with the sanctions related operational issues," the company said.
Chair Clive Carver said: "The impact of the ongoing Russian sanctions on the Group's performance is clearly reflected in these results. Nevertheless, with contributions from our new oil trading operations and from our drilling services operations and despite a 32% fall in headline revenue, we are reporting a marginal increase in profit after taxation."
Shares in Caspian fell 3.2% to 3.00 pence each in London on Monday morning.
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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Caspian Sunrise (CASP)