(Alliance News) - Curzon Energy PLC on Tuesday said its performance in 2019 was hurt by challenging trading conditions.
The US-based natural gas projects developer said its pretax loss widened in 2019 to USD3.6 million from USD2.0 million a year earlier as it booked USD2.6 million on an impairment of exploration and evaluation assets, up from USD575,316 a year prior.
Administrative expenses, meanwhile, declined to USD913,572 from USD1.4 million a year ago.
During 2019, Curzon Energy said it was conducting due diligence on the Texas gas project, followed by a six month plus period of administrative and regulatory work required to complete a prospectus in order to raise funds to participate in and then invest in, this project. By the time these work streams were at an advanced stage, public equity markets were unpredictable due to Brexit and the US trade war uncertainties, and UK investor appetite for US oil investments was much depressed.
The company then implemented a new strategy and began discussions with a number of groups presenting fresh opportunities both in and outside of the oil & gas sector and had entered a period of exclusivity in order to conduct due diligence and to potentially acquire London Critical Metals Market, the metals trading exchange for critical metals.
"Following a challenging 2019, the subsequent global economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and the collapse in oil and gas prices in the first quarter of 2020 saw international markets largely shun the oil and gas sector. However, after a change in strategy, Curzon now finds itself with an opportunity to potentially transition from oil & gas into the trading of the key metals likely to form the nucleus of a more sustainable future," said Chief Executive Scott Kaintz.
Curzon Energy shares were trading 5.3% higher in London on Tuesday at 1.00 pence each.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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Curzon Energy (CZN)