LONDON (Alliance News) - Great Eastern Energy Corp Ltd Wednesday said revenue, earnings, underlying pretax profit and production all rose in the last financial year as it continues its vast drilling programme on its key asset in India.
The gas production, development and exploration company in India provides gas to the growing industrial region of West Bengal from its producing Raniganj (South) license area. The company extracts coal-bed methane gas, which is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds.
On the release of its preliminary results for the year ended March 31, the company said revenue increased by 9% to USD37.5 million from USD34.4 million, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation coming in at USD24.8 million, up 4% from USD23.9 million.
Profit before tax, the restatement of the foreign currency loans and derivatives, and the deferred tax expense rose by 13% to USD16.8 million from USD14.8 million.
Great Eastern Energy reported net debt of USD93.7 million at the end of March.
Operationally, the company said production in the year averaged 12.81 million standard cubic feet per day, up 10% from 11.7 million standard cubic feet per day a year earlier. In July, production averaged 15.06 million standard cubic feet, giving an early indication for the current financial year.
Average gas sales rose by 12% to 10.2 million standard cubic feet per day from 9.1 million standard cubic feet per day a year earlier. However average prices did fall in the year, in dollar terms the average price fell 2% year-on-year and in rupees it fell by 1%.
The company said it has 44.2 million standard cubic feet of gas to be sold under contracts and memorandums of understanding, which is up 3.9% from the amount under contract at the end of December.
Great Eastern Energy said it is "confident for the future" and said it has taken "decisive action" to maximise production at the Raniganj (South) block which is "setting the scene for further upside".
Currently, there are 150 wells on the block that are producing or de-watering on the block, and the company plans to drill a further 144 wells in the future. The company did not outline a time-frame of when those wells will be drilled.
Great Eastern Energy will continue to carry out work on existing wells to maximise production further. It also is pursuing sales opportunities in the highly industrialised region of Asansol-Raniganj-Durgapur through its own dedicated pipeline network, it said in a statement.
"Management's strategy is delivering good growth in revenues, sales volume, and profitability. We have the opportunity to sustain this growth through our current reserves and producing acreage alongside our production optimisation programmes. We are, therefore, looking forward to the future with confidence," said President and Chief Operating Officer Prashant Modi.
Great Eastern Energy shares were down 0.3% to 35.90 pence per share on Wednesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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