31st Oct 2013 15:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kea Petroleum PLC Thursday said its pretax loss widened in its full year as costs related to exploration write-offs hit company finances.
The oil and gas exploration and production company, with operations in New Zealand, said its pretax loss widened to GBP9.4 million for the twelve months ended May 31 from GBP3.0 million the previous year.
The company said it increased sales to GBP829,000 from GBP37,000 during the year as a result of sales of hydrocarbons associated with the testing of its Puka 1 and Puka 2 sites.
However, Kea said it took a GBP7.2 million charge on exploration costs related to its write-offs of the Mauku-1 well and the exploration permit PEP51155, accounting for the majority of its increased losses.
The company also said its administrative expenses increased to GBP3.1 million from GBP2.6 million during the period due to a reduction in the allocation of expenses to capitalised exploration and evaluation activities, as well as an increase in salaries for the period.
Kea Petroleum shares were down 23% to 2.30 pence, putting it in the top three AIM losers Thursday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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