Seplat Petroleum Development Posts Lower Profit As Revenue Falls

LONDON (Alliance News) - Seplat Petroleum Development Co PLC Thursday reported a lower profit for the first nine months of its financial year, hit by a fall in revenue and higher general and administrative costs.

The Nigerian oil and gas company said average working interest production for the first nine months to end of September was 29,014 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 8% on the same period last year.

It added that it is maintaining is average working interest guidance of 29,000 to 33,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for the full year.

However, Seplat said that crude revenue, after lifting adjustments, for the nine month period was down 8% to USD576.6 million, due to downtime. Gas revenue increased by 24% year-on-year to USD17 million, it said, on increased production from well work-overs, upgrade works on the Oben gas plant and higher offtake from the Sapele gas plant. Overall, revenue for the period came in a USD592.5 million, down from USD642.9 million the prior year.

The company said its profit after tax fell to USD227.9 million, down from USD444.2 million the year before, having booked USD54 million in one-off costs during the first-half. Its pretax profit was USD227.9 million, compared with USD349.5 million the prior year, hit by higher general and administrative expenses and higher finance charges.

General administrative expenses increased to USD112.2 million, significantly higher than the USD44.3 million in expenses it booked the prior year.

"Production performance is strong, and we are well capitalised to take advantage of the current and new growth opportunities available to us," said Chief Executive Officer Austin Avuru, adding: "However, like all producers, we are closely monitoring the oil price environment and have challenged ourselves to respond by redoubling efforts to improve efficiency and maximise profitability," he added.

The company said it will pay an interim dividend of USD0.06 per share.

"The company has maintained a strong financial position with cash at bank of USD435 million at period end," it said.

Seplat Petroleum shares were untraded Thursday morning, at 204.00 pence.

By Rowena Harris-Doughty; rowenaharrisdoughty@alliancenews.com; @rharrisdoughty

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