Formerly AIM-quoted Ithaca Energy Inc (LON: ITH) has returned to the London market at a tough time, given the extension of the oil and gas windfall tax. The offer price was 250p a share and trading commenced on the Main Market on 14 November, after a few days of conditional deals. The share price ended the week at 196p.
Jersey-registered Ithaca Energy says the Energy Profits Levy should not be hit hard by the changes because of its capital investment in the North Sea. The full details are not available, so the exact potential impact is difficult to assess.
Delek Group bid 120p a share for Ithaca Energy in 2017. That valued the company at £510m. Following the bid, Ithaca Energy went into acquisition mode and became one of the largest independent North Sea oil and gas companies. It has interests in 29 producing oil and gas fields in the North Sea and is the operator of eight.
At the end of June 2022, Ithaca Energy had 2P reserves of 244MM barrels of oil equivalent. In the first six months of the year net average daily production of 66,685 barrels of oil equivalent. In the first half, net cash from operating activities was $989m.
In 2022, average daily production is expected to be between 72,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Production is expected to continue to increase at least until 2026.
The latest fundraising will contribute to repaying debt to the Delek Group, which remains the controlling shareholder with 89.4%. The offer raised £262.5m. The market capitalisation has fallen to £1.97bn. Ithaca Energy intends to pay $400m in dividends for 2023.
