Santos tables US$439 million profit
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The news: Santos has reported a first-half net profit of USD439 million ($677.3 million), which included a $119 million impairment from a damaged footwall at its Papua New Guinea LNG project.
The numbers: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion, amortisation, and exploration expense (EBITDAX), the company's underlying earnings figure, fell 5% to USD1.8 billion but was ahead of analysts' USD1.7 consensus, according to Visible Alpha.
First-half net operating cash flow touched USD1.1 billion, while sales revenue came in at USD2.6 billion.
The company declared a 13.4 US cents per share dividend, franked at 10%, for a total USD435 million.
The context: First gas from the in-development Barossa project is due to flow imminently, according to Santos' announcement, with development of the floating offshore platform 98% complete.
Jarden analysts said that while Santos' profit narrowly beat analysts' consensus, investors would be more focused on news that the XRG and Carlyle Group consortium had been granted a four-week extension to firm up their USD5.67 a share cash proposal to acquire the company.
What they said: "We still look for comfort regarding the risk to further extensions and how dividends would be treated in context of the bid," Jarden analysts wrote in a note.
"Our expectation [is that] Santos's share price will be driven less by its cash flow outlook and more by corporate activity news flow."
The sources: Santos, ASX Announcement
