Oz Cooper Reports H1 Underlying Loss

Australian explorer Cooper Energy February 24 reported an underlying loss, which excludes the impact of one-off items, of A$2mn (US$1.32mn) in the six months to December 31 (H1 2020) as against a profit of A$3.1mn in the same period of the previous year.

Net profit during H1 was A$6.3mn versus a loss of A$12.6mn recorded in the same period of the previous year. Cooper said the H1 2020 net profit "included a number of significant items considered to fall outside underlying operating performance which affected the result by a total of A$8.3mn". Revenue during H1 was A$39.1mn, up 8% yr/yr while production remained unchanged at 0.66mn boe. 

Cooper said it expects to record substantial growth in production, revenue, and cash generation during the six months to June 30 (H2 2020). “The commencement of gas sales from Sole is forecast to trigger and underpin the anticipated production and financial growth,” it said.

The company plans to issue revised guidance for FY20 production after Sole gas supply has started and the revised production outlook is known, it said. The expectation of production from other assets for the year is unchanged from the guidance provided in August 2019 being for output totalling 1.2mn boe, comprising gas production of approximately 5 petajoules and oil production of approximately 240,000 barrels. Sole is expected to add daily production of 68 terajoules/day (approximately 11,000 boe/d) at plant design rates, Cooper said.