LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - AIM-listed oil and gas exploration and development company IGas Energy said earnings slipped as revenue in the nine months to the end of December more than halved.
Revenue fell to £25.1m from £58.2m for the year to the end of March as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation slipped to £18.3m from £21.6m.

At the same time, the company posted a loss after tax of £44.8m compared with a profit of £5.2m, mostly on the back of impairments and write-offs.

Net assets at the end of December amounted to £98.8m versus £146.6m at the end of March, while net debt reduced to £73.3m from £86.4m.

IGas said its results were hit by the continued decline in the oil price, with an average realised price of $58.9 a barrel compared with $94 the previous year.

Average net production, meanwhile, fell to 2,570 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 2,737 and production for 2016 is expected to be between 2,500 and 2,700.

Chief executive Stephen Bowler said: "In the period, we have continued to move the business forward significantly against a very difficult oil price environment, importantly reducing operating costs by 25% and strengthening our balance sheet through the farm-out to INEOS.

"The progress we have made with the production assets has resulted in a 2P reserves replacement of over 150% in the period. This is largely due to a combination of reduced operating costs, better than anticipated field performance and our work on maximising economic recovery from existing assets."

At 1055 GMT, IGas shares were down 4.3% to 15.55p.

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