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i3 Energy PLC on Wednesday said its profit and revenue both fell in the first half of the year amid higher production costs and a tough macroeconomic backdrop, but the firm nonetheless increased its total dividend.
Shares in i3 were up 8.4% at 13.72 pence in London around midday on Thursday.
The UK and Canada-focused oil and gas company said pretax profit for the first six months of 2023 was £14.5 million, down 29% from £20.5 million in the first half of 2022.
Basic earnings per share decreased to 0.91 pence from 1.30p, and diluted earnings fell to 0.90p from 1.20p. Revenue meanwhile fell 26% to £75.5 million from £101.6 million.
i3 said average production during the period increased 8.9% to 20,640 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 18,950 boepd the year before. Production costs, however, increased 11% to £36.4 million from £32.8 million.
Revenue from sales of oil and gas fell 27% to £83.2 from £114.6 million. i3 added that oil prices trended lower due in part to diminishing concerns over potential Russian oil curtailment as the war in Ukraine continued, and the ‘more sluggish than expected’ recovery of China’s economy.
Natural gas liquid prices also fell in the second quarter due to lower underlying oil and gas prices.
i3 said its monthly dividends during the half year totalled 0.855p per share or £10.215 million, up from 0.60p per share or £6.9 million the previous year.
i3 had previously revised its annual dividend guidance in June to a monthly equivalent of 0.0855p per share, down from 0.1710p. In September last year, it was paying a monthly dividend of 0.1425p per share.
Looking ahead, i3 intends to prioritise growing its Canadian business through deploying capital into its undeveloped reserves base, improving uptime and field performances, and ‘strategic upsizing’ in key areas.
It said it will endeavour to maintain its flexibility to adapt to economic challenges and continues to evaluate opportunities to strengthen its balance sheet while maintaining tight cost controls.
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