Plans unveiled by Genel Energy PLC (LON:GENL) to buy back at least $50mln of its bonds were greeted warmly by the market.
Shares in the Kurdistan-focused exploration and production company rose by more than a tenth, as it also revealed that total proved (i.e. 1P) oil reserves at the 25%-owned Tawke field had increased by 21% to 387mln barrels, due to improved confidence over primary recovery rates across the field.
The timing of the move to reduce its indebtedness via a partial buy-back of bonds may have something to do with concerns over the balance sheet strength of Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited (LON:GKP), another oil company operating in the Kurdistan region, which were raised earlier this week when it released results.
Gulf Keystone's stock took a battering this week after it said its Shaikan wells may begin to show natural declines later in 2016 unless they get extra capital spending, and the market is not currently a good one in which to be seeking extra finance.
Genel, however, appears confident it can buy a meaningful chunk of the $730mln of bonds it has outstanding.
It is doing so by a reverse tender offer, at a price to be determined through a reverse book-build, otherwise known as a ‘Dutch auction’.
All of which was little consolation to holders of Gulf Keystone shares; the stock was off 12% at 8.26p this morning, and has lost a third of its value in the last week.
The FTSE 100 was looking chipper, up 16 points (0.3%), on the strength of resurgent miners, which continue to benefit from the weakening US dollar; mineral prices are quoted in dollars, so a slide in the greenback's value makes them cheaper to non-US purchasers.
The big names on London's junior market were doing even better, with the FTSE AIM 100 index up 13 points (0.4%) at 3,316, though the broader-based FTSE AIM 100's rise was more modest, up 1.6 points (0.2%) at 707.
Leading the AIM 100's advance were Hutchison China Medtech Ltd (LON:HCM), up 5.3%; Plexus Holdings PLC (LON:POS), up 5.1%; and Alternative Networks PLC (LON:AN), up 3.0%.
Photonstar LED Group PLC (LON:PSL), the designer and manufacturer of smart LED lighting solutions, was a bright spot, climbing 9.5%to 2.875p, after its application for a patent on wireless nodes with security keys was granted by the UK Intellectual Property Office.
The out-of-band secure commissioning patent is targeted at Internet of Things (IoT) lighting, sensors, actuators and other devices employed particularly in commercial applications where security vulnerabilities at the commissioning stage must be safeguarded.
Rare Earth Minerals plc (LON:REM, OTC:REMMY) shares pulsed 3.8% higher to 0.55p as the company said it is set to add Australia to its growing portfolio of lithium deposits.
REM, which already has stakes in sizeable lithium prospects in Mexico and the Czech Republic, will pay C$300,000 through a share subscription for a 15.5% stake in Toronto-listed MacArthur Minerals.
The spat between the board of low-cost airline Fastjet PLC (LON:FJET) and 12.6% shareholder easyGroup rumbles on, with the former not happy with easyGroup's decision to publish a letter it had sent to the Fastjet group without first raising its concerns with the company.
Fastjet holds easyGroup responsible for any damage caused to the business by the publication of this letter and is taking legal advice on the matter.
Fastjet shares lost almost a quarter of their value this morning.