20th Nov 2015 08:21
LONDON (Alliance News) - The Parkmead Group PLC on Friday said it swung to a big pretax loss in the year to the end of June due to impairment charges, lower revenue and higher costs, and said it first gas production has started at its Diever West gas field in the Netherlands.
The UK and Netherlands-focused oil and gas company said its pretax loss for the year to the end of June was GBP30.8 million, compared to a GBP1.0 million profit a year earlier.
Revenue for the group fell to GBP18.6 million from GBP24.7 million, impacted in line with the rest of the industry by the sharp fall in the oil price, particularly for the second half of its financial year.
The lower revenue was exacerbated on the profit line by a higher cost of sales, primarily due to its commitments on the Athena oil field in the Netherlands. It has since renegotiated the contract for Athena to bring down overall operating costs. In addition, the group booked a GBP12.9 million non-cash impairment charge in the year, related to the Athena field.
In a separate statement on Friday, Parkmead said first commercial gas production has started at the Diever West gas field.
"We are delighted to achieve first gas from the Diever West field in the Netherlands, which provides an important additional revenue stream for Parkmead. The company has already received revenues from the first gas sales from the field," said Executive Chairman Tom Cross.
"The new gas production from Diever West will act as a natural hedge to the low oil price environment at this key stage in Parkmead's growth," he added.
Shares in Parkmead were down 2.6% to 69.37 pence on Friday morning.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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