Soco aims to boost share price with buyback plan
SOCO International, the oil explorer, posted a rise in half year profits yesterday and said it might buy back shares to boost its flagging price.
The cash-rich company said it is exploring options, some of which include returning cash to shareholders, after a 21 per cent drop in its share price this year.
The explorer, focused in Africa and Asia, posted a pre-tax profit of $14.5m (£8.9m) for the period, up from $11.5m the previous year, on revenues that rose to $26.4m from $19.4m.
Soco confirmed earlier in the week that its Te Giac Trang field off the coast of Vietnam produced its first oil, adding yesterday that its output should rise to more than 50,000 barrels of oil a day by the end of the year, bolstering cash flow.
Shares in Soco gained 3.2 per cent yesterday to close at 293.9p.