LONDON (ShareCast) - AIM-listed oil and gas firm Europa Oil & Gas saw shares jump on Friday after the firm swung to an annual profit despite bottom-line growth being held back by one-offs.

Europa achieved “significant milestones” at two of its most highly prospective projects during the year ended July 31st, according to Chief Executive Hugh Mackay, “each of which has company-making potential”.

The firm agreed a farm-in with Kosmos Energy for two blocks offshore Ireland which effectively brought forward the 3D seismic acquisition programme by a year to July 2013. Meanwhile in France, a large shallow gas prospect in France was identified with mean un-risked resources of 416bn cubic feet, while the permit was renewed as the company looks for potential farm-in partners.

Group revenue fell from £5.1m to £4.5m during the year, though this was slightly ahead of the £4.4m forecast by Northland Capital Partners.

Reported pre-tax profit came in at £0.4m, compared with a loss of £12.1m previously. However, adjusted profits – which exclude exploration write-offs and impairments – halved from £1.2m to £0.6m.

Northland was expecting a slightly better figure (£0.8m) but still labelled it as a “year of excellent progress” for the firm.

The firm was up 6.87% at 8.95p before the close of trade.

BC

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