Dana Gas swings to Q2 loss on impairments amid lower oil prices and Covid-19

The company is continuing the sale of Egyptian assets that was delayed by the coronavirus which has impacted the global economy

A Dana Gas facility in Kurdistan - the company is pressing on with the sale of its assets in Egypt. WAM

Dana Gas, the Sharjah-based energy company, swung to a second-quarter net loss, as impairment charges amid lower oil prices affected its quarterly earnings.

Net loss for the three months to June-end, came in at $36 million (Dh131m), compared with a net profit of $105m reported for the same period in 2019, the company said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares trade.

The company booked an impairment of $33m during the quarter following the a drop in crude prices. Excluding this impairment, Dana Group’s net loss came in at $3m, compared to an adjusted net profit - excluding exceptional income and impairment - of $24m reported for the same period in 2019.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the second quarter declined to $25m, down from $137m recorded for the year-earlier period.

Brent, the international crude benchmark, averaged $30 per barrel during the second quarter and touched a low of $13 per barrel on April 2020 before recovering to above $40.

Dana Gas ended the second quarter close to breakeven, “demonstrating its ability to stay resilient even in a low oil price environment, given its fixed price long-term gas contracts”, the company said.

Dana Gas’ net profit for the first six months of the year came in at $18m compared with $52m from a year earlier on a like-for-like basis, excluding one-off impairments, earn-out amounts, and deferred income.

“The company has demonstrated a strong and resilient financial and operational performance in the first half of 2020. We generated an operational net profit (before impairments) of $18m, which demonstrates our ability to operate successfully in low-cost environments,” Patrick Allman-Ward, chief executive of Dana Gas, said.

“Our gas sales account for approximately half of the company’s income and are sold under long-term gas sale contracts with host governments, providing us with sustainable revenues even when oil prices are low.”

The company said its cost cutting measures, achieved $2m in saving during the first half and it expects more savings in the second half of 2020. It cut capital expenditure by 72 per cent to $25m as all non-essential work was postponed.

Dana Gas said it is continuing the sale process of its Egyptian assets although it has been delayed due of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company expects to make a further announcement during the second half of this year.

It also exploring various financing options to pay down its outstanding sukuk and has hired financial advisors to assist it in evaluating various options.

In April, the company reiterated plans to use the proceeds from the sale of its Egyptian assets to pay down its sukuk due in October.

Dana Gas secured an agreement in 2018 to restructure and refinance the company's $700m sukuk, which had been the subject of a protracted legal dispute. A restructuring deal was agreed last year through which the company bought back $133m of sukuk.

It is due to pay $397m of outstanding sukuk in October and could also tap into its cash position to pay off its dues, Mr Allman-Ward said in February.

The company's shareholders earlier this year also gave the green light to progress a study into splitting the company into two separate entities, demerging its upstream and midstream businesses to create two publicly traded companies on the ADX.