28 Nov 2018 09:03
This announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014 and has been announced in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of that Regulation.
28 November 2018
Polo Resources Limited
("Polo" or the "Company")
HIBISCUS PETROLEUM - INVESTMENT UPDATE
Hibiscus Petroleum's Earnings Boosted by Two Asset Streams
Polo Resources Limited (AIM: POL), the multi-sector investment company with interests in oil, gold, coal, copper, phosphate, lithium, iron and vanadium, notes that its 8.75% investee company Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad ("Hibiscus") has announced its results for the quarter ended 30 September 2018. Hibiscus reports that its profit after tax ("PAT") rose by 827% to RM100.0 million (USD23.84 million) (1Q2018: RM10.8 million (USD2.57 million)) while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ("EBITDA") rose by 625% to RM209.2 million (USD49.87 million) (1Q2018: RM28.9 million (USD6.89 million).
Earnings Per Share ("EPS") for 1Q2019 on a fully diluted basis increased to 5.25 sen compared to 0.73 sen in 1Q2018. Hibiscus remains debt-free with a cash balance of RM302.2 million (USD72.04 million) as at 30 September 2018 compared with RM136.0 million (USD32.42 million) as at 30 June 2018.
The financial performance in the quarter reflects the contributions of Hibiscus' two producing assets - Anasuria in the UK and the North Sabah PSC in Malaysia. A total of approximately 1.1 million barrels ("bbls") of crude oil were sold in the quarter. This consists of about 524 thousand bbls from Anasuria sold at an average realised oil price of USD73.88 per bbl, and about 595 thousand bbls of oil from the North Sabah PSC sold at an average realised oil price of USD78.55 per bbl.
Commenting on the oil market, Hibiscus' Managing Director, Dr Kenneth Pereira, said, "While we have achieved high prices for crude oil sold in this quarter, world oil markets are experiencing increased volatility. The Group has seen oil prices at various levels; on some occasions lower and other times, higher, and we have managed to remain profitable throughout. This is primarily because our average unit production cost for both the Anasuria and the North Sabah assets have always been significantly below the average realised oil price. The careful management of costs to maintain low operational expenditure and the delivery of production enhancement projects are key towards achieving low unit production costs. This remains an area of focus for the Group."
The full details of this announcement can be found at http://www.hibiscuspetroleum.com/.
For further information, please contact:
Polo Resources Limited - Kudzayi Denenga, Investor Relations | +27 (0) 787 312 919 |
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated adviser & broker) - John Depasquale | +44 (0)20 3328 5657
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Blytheweigh (Public relations) - Julia Tilley, Fergus Cowan, Jane Lenton | +44 (0) 207 138 3204 |
About the Company
Polo Resources Limited is a multi-sector investment company focused on investing in undervalued companies and projects with strong fundamentals and attractive growth prospects. For complete details on Polo, please refer to: www.poloresources.com.