London-listed Tullow Oil doubles profits in the first half to £232m and starts the hunt for new CFO
- Irish firm made a gross profit of £232m ($321m) in the six months to 30 June
- This compares to £118m ($164m) during the same period in 2020
- It said the gains had been driven by a number of cost-cutting measures
Irish firm Tullow Oil doubled its profits for the first half of the year on the same time last year, a trading update shows.
The London-listed company made a gross profit of £232 million ($321 million) in the six months to 30 June, compared to £118 million ($164 million) during the same period in 2020.
It said the gains had been driven by a number of cost-cutting measures, with one being the reduction of non-payroll administration costs including outsourcing, information systems expenses and office rent.
Irish firm Tullow Oil doubled its profits for the first half of the year on the same time last year, a trading update shows
The London-listed company, which has been operating in Africa since 1986, said profit after tax came in at $93 million for the six months to 30 June, from a loss of $1.33 billion last year due to impairment charges.
Looking ahead, it has raised the lower end of its 2021 production target to reflect increased output from its Simba field in Central Africa, while it deferred the planned maintenance shutdown of the Jubilee plant in Ghana into 2022.
It now expects 2021 output of between 58,000-61,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) compared with its previous forecast of 55,000-61,000 boepd.
Commenting on the results Chief Executive Officer Rahul Dhir said: ‘Strong operational performance in the first half of the year and a transformational debt refinancing have put Tullow on a firm footing to deliver our Business Plan.
‘Our West Africa production assets have performed well, and we are narrowing production guidance for 2021 to the upper end of the range.
‘In Kenya, the revised development plan creates a robust project that has the potential to deliver material value to the Government of Kenya and other stakeholders.’
Dhir added that the firm is committed to being Net Zero by 2030 with ‘an emphasis on responsible operations’ to minimise its environmental impact.
Along with its results, Tullow Oil announced on Wednesday that it’s finance chief Les Wood will step down by the end of March.
The company, focused in Africa and South America, said the search process to find a new chief financial officer is expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2022.