Enquest Plc (LON:ENQ) shares fell in Thursday morning’s deals as the oiler stayed cautious over full year guidance.
Production averaged 66,055 barrels of oil equivalent over the first six months, yet the company has retained its guidance at 63,000 to 57,000 boepd.
It did note that it currently expects it will land towards the “upper part” of the range.
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COVID-19 has not materially affected operations and the Kraken field achieved a strong performance, up 19% on H1 2019 at 38,967 bopd gross (27,472 bopd net to Enquest). Kraken presently is forecast to yield 30,000 to 35,000 bopd gross for the full year.
First half revenue amounted to US$450.7mln, versus US$858.2mln in H1 2019, while earnings (EBITDA) was reported at US$274.9mln down from US$525.9mln in the first half of last year. Enquest generated US$283.2mln from operations, while free cash flow was reported at US$87.5mln.
It announced US$251.6mln of non-cash impairments amidst lower oil price assumptions. Net debt was marked at US$1.35bn, down from US$1.41bn at the end of 2019.
"The group continues to perform well in challenging conditions, including COVID-19 and the early shutdown of a number of our assets,” said Amjad Bseisu, chief executive.
He added: “Our difficult and early decisions to shut down our higher cost assets have resulted in a substantial cost reduction programme, which is on track.
“We remain confident that we will achieve our 2020 targets, with free cash flow breakeven for the full year at c.US$33/Boe. We continue to target free cash flow breakeven of c.US$27/Boe in 2021.”