RE: Oil Market Gears Up for $9 Billion Index Buying Spree10 Jan 2021 16:36
Fortune favours the brave
Bloomberg ticker Share price p/shr Target p/shr
I3E LN 4.05 10.7 163% 700.1 841.1 37.1 50.3
Since i3’s two deals were proposed in H1 this year, realised oil and gas prices have risen materially, making the already discounted transactions look even cheaper. Edmonton Light oil prices have risen by over 100% and AECO gas c.65% since the effective date of the larger (Gain) transaction. Since the portfolios were acquired entirely unhedged, this has an immediate impact on group cash flow, with our FY20 operational CF forecasts more than doubling as a result. On the ground operations are also performing ahead of expectations, with production currently running at c.9,400 boepd. We forecast FY21 EBITDA of US$30m and FCF of US$17m, of which we expect c.US$4.9m to be paid out in dividends. At the current share price of 4.05p/shr, this implies an impressive yield of 13.3%. We reiterate our BUY stance with an updated 10.7p/shr target price.
Higher commodity prices bolster the coffers and underpin FY21 distributions: Consistent with the rise in forward strip prices we have updated our Q4 2020, FY21 and FY22 price assumptions (+21%, +4% and +3%, respectively on a blended basis). After also factoring in better than expected production figures, we estimate an additional US$6.8m of EBITDA over Q4, with FY21 and FY22 also increasing by 9% and 5%, respectively. To put this into context, the ‘extra’ cash flow in Q4 ‘20 alone more than covers our forecasted US$4.9m to be returned to shareholders next year in the form of dividends. Cash not earmarked for distributions will be used for growth, with the majority of capital likely to be allocated to acquisitions where returns are higher at present. With the company aiming to return some 30% of free cash flow to shareholders, further deals should incrementally boost i3’s already impressive >13% yield.
Completion draws a line under the transactions and allows the focus to shift to operations: To date Toscana had been managing the Gain assets under a management and administrative services agreement. Now that the Toscana transaction has completed, the assimilation of the assets should be seamless and immediate (all Toscana staff are being retained) and i3 can now focus on maximising the potential of the new assets. While our forecasts assume natural decline in production, we expect opportunities within the acquired portfolios to boost near term production. Some 200 boepd of Toscana production remains shut in following the drop in oil prices during Q1 this year which we expect to be brought back onstream in due course. Other easy wins, such as infrastructure debottlenecking and well workovers, have the potential to further up production over the coming months.
Valuation and share price catalysts: We have nudged up our target price by 7% to 10.7p/shr driven largely by our updated near term price assumptions (as before set at the midpoint between PDP and 2P NAV). This represents c.165% upside fr