i3 Energy PLC (AIM:I3E, TSX:ITE, OTC:ITEEF) first quarter financial results confirmed a robust performance, with improved cash flow, though its corporate activities had the most impact.
The company reported $15 million of free cash flow, versus $9.9 million in the same period last year.
Production in the quarter averaged 19,410 barrels of oil equivalent per day, only slightly lower than the preceding quarter as the company took capital conservation measures in response to a softening of gas prices. Extreme cold in the winter period also resulted in some downtime.
The quarter was, meanwhile, marked by “intense corporate activity” chief executive Majid Shafiq highlighted.
It saw an important refinancing of debt, which saw C$57 million repaid to close an outstanding facility with Trafigura.
Since the quarter’s close, i3 also struck a definitive agreement to sell most of its royalty assets for $24.81 million – which was 6.9 times the forecasted cash flow this year for the assets.
i3’s remaining $21 million debt at the quarter’s end was extinguished after the royalty deal.
These manoeuvres significantly strengthened our balance sheet and increased liquidity, Shafiq noted.
“This financial restructuring supports the long-term sustainability of our total shareholder return model and sets the company up for a busy operational period for the second half of the year, during which we will drill a diversified inventory of drilling locations across our Canadian portfolio, designed to grow production and advance development of some key assets,” Shafiq said in a statement.
“We look forward to updating the market as the year progresses.”