Santos swings to half-year profit

Australian LNG player Santos turned to a net profit in the first half of the year following a half million net loss in the same period of 2017. 

The net profit was at $104 million, with the company’s underlying profit reaching $217 million, almost doubling from the $109 million in 2017.

Santos managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said, “strong free cash flow has enabled the company to reduce net debt to $2.4 billion and reinstate dividends to shareholders.”

He added that the company is on track to achieve its net debt reduction target, over a year ahead of schedule.

The first half result includes a net impairment of $76 million primarily related to the company’s Asian assets which are held for sale.

Gallagher added, “We continue to advance our key major growth projects, with the Barossa development moving into FEED in the second quarter and good progress being made toward building partner alignment in PNG for three additional trains on the PNG LNG site.”

He noted the company is also in discussions regarding a proposal received for Santos to farm-in to the P’nyang field in PNG and could benefit from third-party access to its foundation PNG LNG infrastructure.

“Our Western Australia gas business continues to deliver strong results, with higher customer demand driving production up 12 percent in the first half,” he concluded.