Hurricane Energy and Capital Drilling boost profit despite coronavirus chaos
Energy firms have shown some signs of riding out the coronavirus epidemic today as Hurricane Energy swung back into profit.
Hurricane Energy, whose operations focus on oil drilling off the Shetland Isles, posted revenue of $170.3m (£147m) for 2019. It recorded profit after tax of $58.7m compared to a 2018 loss after tax of $60.9m.
That saw its shares jump 12.6 per cent to 10.5p.
“Unprecedented restrictions on travel and association have created a challenging, rapidly changing and unpredictable environment for society, and for Hurricane,” boss Robert Trice said.
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Mining firm Capital Drilling also upped its profit after tax from $7.7m in 2018 to $10.4m in 2019. And diluted earnings per share rose from $0.057 to $0.076.
Revenue at the Africa-focused miner, however, fell to $114.8m from $116m, prompting it to slash its dividend in half.
That sent shares in Capital Drilling down 12.12 per cent to 29p.
Executive chairman Jamie Boyton, said: “The performance of Capital Drilling in 2019 was one of significant progress on a number of key aspects of our growth strategy, which saw rig utilisation increase to a four year high, a broadening of our services into load and haul, significant investment into our fleet and operations, and a further consolidation of our leading position in the rapidly growing West African market.”
Both companies stated they are monitoring the impact of coronavirus on their operations going forward.