Tullow Oil Plc (LON:TLW) have announced a shift to an annual profit after a hike in revenues. The news has allowed the oil and gas exploration firm to reinstate its dividend for its shareholders.
The latest round of results announced that the company had produced 88,200 barrels of oil per day, and this informed their guidance for 2019, which stands at 94,000-102,000 bpd.
Tullow recorded a climb in revenues of 7.9% to $1.86 billion, with write-downs and costs – for instance impairments of property, plant and equipment – down from $539 million to $18 million on-year.
As a result, the company were able to post a pre-tax profit for the full financial year through December, with a figure of $85 million, up from negative $175 million the year before.
In response to a change in strategy, Chief Executive Paul McDade said,
“Tullow has worked hard over the past few years to become a self-funding, cash-generating business with a robust balance sheet, low-cost assets and a rigorous focus on cost and capital discipline,”
“This has allowed us to set a clear capital returns policy which will start with the 2018 final dividend announced today.”
“Our high-margin producing assets in West Africa, substantial development assets in East Africa and exploration licences in industry hotspots provide Tullow with a strong foundation for growth in the years ahead.”
Tullow as a portfolio candidate
The company announced a dividend of 4.8c per share, with share prices rallying in Wednesday trading, up 8.2p or 3.89% to 219.2p per share 13/02/19 17:09 GMT. Analysts from RBC Capital Markets have upgraded their stance on Tullow stock from ‘Sector Perform’ to ‘Outperform’, while Barclays Capital downgraded their rating from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight’ and Morgan Stanley reiterated their ‘Overweight stance’.