SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / September 10, 2020 / Jadestone Energy Inc. (AIM:JSE) ("Jadestone" or the "Company"), an independent oil and gas production company and its subsidiaries (the "Group"), focused on the Asia Pacific region, reports today its unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (the "Financial Statements"), as at and for the six-month period ended June 30, 2020, and announces its maiden interim dividend. Management will host a conference call today at 9:00 a.m. UK time, details of which can be found in the release below.
Paul Blakeley, President and CEO commented:
"I'm pleased to provide a first half 2020 report that underscores the resilience of our business. Despite one of the most challenging periods our industry has ever faced, we have not compromised on our commitment to sustainability, and all our personnel remain safe with no recorded incidents of COVID-19, and no lapses in safety or environmental responsibility. Against the backdrop of benchmark commodity prices 40% lower than the same period last year, our assets have remained essentially unimpaired. In addition, through quick action in both managing our capital spending commitments and driving deeper efficiencies and cost savings throughout the entire business, we have kept our balance sheet strong. These decisive steps through the first half of 2020, have ensured we maintain our financial strength and preserve our cash for what we expect to be a market recovery through next year. We generated positive operating cash flows of US$57.1 million in H1 2020, we doubled our net cash position to a record high of US$78.3 million, and we are now in the final phase of repayment of our reserves based loan. We expect to be entirely debt free at the end of Q1 2021.
"I see Jadestone's performance as a strong differentiator, and I am pleased to be able to translate this performance directly into shareholder returns through our maiden interim dividend of 0.54 US cents per share, declared today. In addition, our H1 performance has facilitated ongoing execution of our growth strategy, including the Lemang acquisition in Indonesia, announced in June. We are making excellent progress toward satisfying the closing conditions for Lemang and also for the New Zealand Maari acquisition, which remains on track for completion before the end of the year.
"Our focus on cost containment has extended to the deferment of several well workovers, and other non-critical interventions, as I see little point in chasing short term production volume into a profoundly weak crude oil market. In addition, these activities could only have been achieved, if at all, by spending significant additional dollars to deliver the necessary equipment, spares and manpower, in a world constrained by COVID-19 related restrictions. As a result, we are revising 2020 production guidance downwards to 11,000-12,500 bbls/d, to reflect our conscious decision to curtail all investment for the last eight months, and will only now restart these activities in response to recent price recovery. We're nevertheless re-affirming the Group opex/bbl guidance, despite lower production, in part due to the over US$28.0 million of Project Clover initiatives implemented to date, and the capital expenditure guidance for this year as we target new investment recommencing in the new year.
"With an improved higher oil price, we are now executing a steady stream of workover and growth activities to re-build uptime performance and to grow production. All equipment required for drilling the delayed infill wells from this year has been ordered, and the necessary drill rig availability has been secured for mid-2021. Progress on both the Vietnam Nam Du/U Minh and Indonesia Lemang gas developments provide us optionality in pushing forwards with final investment decisions next year, with more detail on this to come as part of 2021 guidance. These decisions will always be balanced by market conditions, as will our approach to inorganic activity, where we see a number of very material opportunities emerging across the region for 2021. The key will be to remain disciplined, remembering our strict evaluation criteria to ensure ongoing value add for shareholders, but having weathered the storm I'm now excited by what lies ahead."
2020 FIRST HALF RESULTS SUMMARY
· Capital expenditure of US$19.5 million incurred during the period, down 37% compared to the prior period, due to the deferral of Nam Du/U Minh development in Vietnam this year and the 49H infill well last year;
· Net cash at June 30, 2020 of US$78.3 million, roughly double the amount at December 31, 2019 of US$39.3 million;
· A maiden interim dividend of 0.54 US cents/share has been declared, a total distribution of US$2.5 million, in line with guidance for the year of a full year dividend of US$7.5-12.5 million, split approximately one-third/two-thirds between interim/final.
1 Realised oil price represents the actual selling price, net of marketing fees, and before any impact from hedging.
2 Unit operating costs per barrel excludes workover expenses, inventories written down and movement in inventories, but includes operational right-of-use assets lease payments.
Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser, to view the full announcement.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5950Y_1-2020-9-10.pdf
Enquiries
Jadestone Energy Inc. | +65 6324 0359 (Singapore) |
Paul Blakeley, President and CEO | +1 403 975 6752 (Canada) |
Dan Young, CFO | +44 7392 940 495 (UK) |
Robin Martin, Investor Relations Manager | |
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Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nomad, Joint Broker) | +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 (UK) |
Ashton Clanfield / Callum Stewart / Simon Mensley |
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BMO Capital Markets Limited (Joint Broker) | +44 (0) 20 7236 1010 (UK) |
Thomas Rider / Jeremy Low / Thomas Hughes |
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Camarco (Public Relations Advisor) | +44 (0) 203 757 4980 (UK) |
Georgia Edmonds / Billy Clegg / James Crothers |
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SOURCE: Jadestone Energy Inc.