25th Mar 2019 12:04
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sterling Energy PLC on Monday reported a significantly narrowed annual loss on lower costs.
Shares in the company were trading up 8.9% at 11.49 pence each.
For 2018, the upstream oil & gas company focused on Africa and the Middle East reported a pretax loss of USD2.0 million compared with USD9.0 million pretax loss a year ago.
This was due on a USD3.0 million loss from operations, reduced from USD9.5 million a year ago, and on halved administrative costs of USD3.0 million from USD6.0 million. The company expects to further reduce expenses by 15% in 2019.
In January 2018, the company's operations at Chinguetti, Mauritania ceased production, therefore reducing expenses.
Revenue meanwhile dropped to USD534,000 from USD4.4 million a year ago.
"In 2018, business costs were further reduced by continued overhead initiatives and a focus on treasury management," Chair Michael Kroupeev said.
The company ended the year with cash resources of USD46.3 million at the end of 2018 as it remains free of debt with its 2019 work programme "fully funded".
Kroupeev added: "The outlook for 2019 is exciting. Post Chinguetti the company is pursuing opportunities in our focus areas, utilising our technical expertise. Should market conditions worsen, we will preserve our capabilities, strengths and cash position to weather any storm."
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