Morning Star
By Anna Farley
LONDON (Alliance News) – Sound Energy PLC on Thursday said its pretax loss widened in the first half of the year due, in particular, to external interest costs.
In the six months ended June 30, the Morocco-focused upstream gas company recorded a GBP3.4 million loss, wider by 12% from its GBP3.1 million loss the year before.
Sound Energy’s GBP1.2 million external interest costs were a leading factor, multiplying from GBP45,000 a year prior.
Other contributors included a GBP4.1 million loss on administrative expenses, up from GBP4.0 million, and a swing to an GBP80,000 loss on derivative financial instruments from a GBP182,000 gain.
At present, Sound Energy is in its exploratory phase and reported no revenue from its upstream gas activities.
As at June 30, the company’s cash and cash equivalents stood at GBP14.7 million, less than half its GBP38.5 million cash the prior year. The company completed an GBP11.4 million equity raise post period end.
The company completed a partner-funded USD27.2 million seismic programme for its new eastern Morocco basin model in August; preparations for its first well there are complete with ground works underway. Discussions regarding a gas sales agreement at its existing Moroccan discovery are also in progress.
“Our priority so far this year has been the de-risking in eastern Morocco of both our existing discovery and our significant exploration potential. The company is now ready for this next, potentially transformational, period of exploration drilling,” the company said.
Shares in Sound Energy were down 0.1% at 39.26 pence on Thursday.
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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