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Serica Energy PLC on Tuesday posted mixed financial results for the first half with profit impacted by greater costs and capital expenditure. The London-based oil & gas company with operations in the North Sea said pretax profit fell 30% to $188.5 million in the first half that ended June 30 from $267.9 million the previous year. Revenue increased 9.4% to $461.6 million from $421.8 million, as cost of sales jumped 38% to $254.7 million from $185.2 million. Production declined 11% to 43,700 from 49,350 barrels of oil equivalent per day with a split of 60% gas and 40% liquids. Capital expenditure increased to $123.8 million from $23.7 million. Serica Energy completed a $19 million buyback in the half and declared a flat interim dividend at 9 pence per share. Chief Executive Officer Chris Cox said: ‘We want to continue reinvesting our cash flows into our UK North Sea assets. As a reservoir engineer, I am encouraged that there are multiple attractive opportunities to invest in our portfolio to allow us to sustain production and deliver home-grown low-carbon energy in the medium term. ‘However, we will only be able to make these investments if the fiscal environment allows us to generate a fair return on your capital. We also have the option to add to our portfolio through acquisitions and that is why we will continue, intensively but prudently, to seek value-accretive M&A, both at home and abroad.’ Looking ahead, full-year production is expected to be at the lower end of the 41,000 to 46,000 boepd guidance range compared with 40,100 boepd in 2023. Serica Energy shares were down 4.3% at 112.10 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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