Jadestone Energy profits surge as oil prices boost revenue

(Sharecast News) - Jadestone Energy said on Tuesday that it swung to an interim profit as revenue soared amid rising oil prices, though second quarter production was impacted by planned downtime and poor weather.
The oil and gas production company posted a profit before tax of $44.6m for the six month period ended 30 June compared to a loss $19.8m for the same period last year, as revenue jumped from $35.8m to $171.7m.

The average price of oil during the second quarter was $71.70 a barrel, up 6% from the first quarter, helping second-quarter revenue to come in 105% higher than in the first quarter at $115.3m.

The AIM-traded company achieved three production liftings during the second quarter, setting a new quarterly record of 1.6mm barrels sold, or a total of 2.3mm barrels for the six-month period to June 30, 2019, up from 0.6mm barrels during the first half of 2018.

Production for the three-month period averaged 13,315 barrels a day, almost triple the level of the same quarter last year but down 8% from the first quarter due to planned downtime and an unusually late cyclone season.

Still, full-year average group production guidance was reconfirmed in a range of 13,500 to 14,500 barrels a day, within the larger range set out in the first quarter of 2019, while opex guidance for the full year was also maintained in the range of $21 to $24 a barrel.

Paul Blakeley, president and chief executive of Jadestone, said: "I'm very pleased to report Jadestone's results to June 30, 2019, with record quarterly revenue, profits and cash generation, and providing almost $100m cash from operations for the first half of the year.

"We are building a material business that is strongly cash flow generative, while providing growth through organic investment, both within our existing producing assets in Australia, as well as the new gas developments in Vietnam."

Jadestone Energy shares were down 1.80% at 54.50p at 0956 BST.