8th May 2015 06:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - IGas Energy PLC Friday said its Chairman and Co-Founder Andrew Austin will be stepping down from his role as the company announced it would cut its workforce by more than 25% in response to lower oil prices.
Austin has passed on his role to Chief Financial Officer Stephen Bowler, with the pair working together for an undeclared amount of time to ensure a smooth transition and whilst a search for a new CFO is conducted.
The onshore oil company focused in Britain said it has undertaken a review of its cost base in response to lower oil prices. The company said it is working with suppliers to make "meaningful" savings across the group and said it has decided to reduce its workforce and the amount of consultants it employs.
IGas did not reveal how many jobs would be lost, but said the headcount reductions would be "more than 25%", including the closure of the Dart office in Stirling, Scotland.
The company said it is already feeling "significant benefits" from the cost reductions, and said total charges for operating costs and general and administrative expenses are expected to be around USD39.4 per barrel for the full year due to end March 2016. This excludes reorganisation costs of GBP2.6 million which will be incurred in the period, it said.
Production for the year ended March 31 reached 2,737 barrels of oil equivalent per day, slightly down from 2,783 barrels per day a year earlier. IGas said the aim is to keep production at around 2,750 barrels of oil equivalent per day net to the company over the next 12 months.
IGas said its hedging programme in the second-half of the financial year resulted in GBP5.4 million in receipts being received from its hedging customers, however this is down from GBP8.0 million in the same period a year earlier.
At the end of March the company had a cash balance of GBP19.0 million and net debt of GBP90.9 million. Cash fell from GBP29.0 million at the end of March 2014, but net debt has shrunk from GBP134.9 million at the end of the last financial year.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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