28th Sep 2018 10:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - Serica Energy PLC on Friday reported a significant swing to an interim loss due to the production shut-down at its Erskine field for much of the period.
Erskine, in the North Sea, was suspended in mid-January due to a blocked export pipeline. A new section has been completed recently. Production is set to restart shortly.
Revenue for the six months to June was USD4.6 million, well down on the USD21.9 million recorded a year earlier, as oil and gas sales slumped.
Serica swung to a pretax loss of USD10.9 million from a profit of USD11.2 million. The figure was also hurt by USD4.8 million of costs related to its acquisition of the Bruce, Keith and Rhum North Sea field from BP PLC.
Despite the Erskine issue, Serica's balance sheet "remains robust", with no debt other than a facility with BP as part of the purchase of the three fields.
Serica made good progress on the Columbus development, with a field development plan submitted in June, while it is also making good progress on other prospects such as Rowallan and in Ireland.
Commenting, Chief Executive Mitch Flegg said: "The company has made good progress in the first six months of 2018 despite the issues related to the Lomond condensate export pipeline.
"Serica has a solid cash base and is about to enter an exciting period of activity. Production from Erskine is expected to restart shortly, final approval of the Columbus field development proposal is due before the end of the year and the high-impact, fully-carried Rowallan exploration well will spud in December," Flegg continued.
"Most importantly, the Bruce, Keith, and Rhum transaction is targeted to complete at the start of November. Preparations are almost complete and the company has developed the necessary capabilities and processes to assume operatorship of these assets."
Shares were 3.0% higher on Friday at 89.00 pence each.
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