Harbour Energy PLC (LSE:HBR) shares were on the back foot, down 8% in Thursday morning’s dealing, after the UK’s ‘largest independent’ oil producer reported lower year-on-year revenues – on lower production volumes.
The company said the decline, of around 10%, was mainly due to planned shutdowns as well as pipeline outages.
Harbour reported average production of 186,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (evenly split between oil and gas) in 2023, versus 208,000 boepd in the prior year. Whilst significantly lower year-on-year, the company described the production performance as “within guidance”.
It said full-year revenue amounted to approximately $3.9 billion, down from $5.4 billion a year ago, meanwhile, the company said that its capital expenditure for the year came in at around $1 billion including $300 million for decommissioning.
Free cash flow was said to be at around $1 billion after tax and shareholder distributions.
It was another year of substantial debt reduction, with the company closing the year owing $200 million, down from around $800 million a year ago and $2.3 billion at the end of 2021.
Operationally, the highlights included the start-up of the Tolmount East gas field in the North Sea during the fourth quarter, a successful exploration campaign in Indonesia, and an important regulatory milestone for the Zama field development project in Mexico.
"We made significant progress against our strategic goals in 2023,” chief executive Linda Cook said in a statement.
“We continued to maximise the value of our UK production base while ensuring disciplined capital allocation, resulting in significant free cash flow and shareholder returns over and above our base dividend.
“We also advanced our UK CCS projects and our international growth opportunities in Indonesia and Mexico, delivering against key milestones. And, at year end, we announced the transformational acquisition of the Wintershall Dea portfolio.”
She added: "Looking ahead to 2024, our priorities are for the continued safe and responsible operations of our existing portfolio and the successful completion of the Wintershall Dea acquisition.
“We are proud of our achievements over the past year and excited about the future of the company."
In London, Harbour shares traded close to 25p or 7.8% lower to change hands at 291.85p.