KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd was back into the black in its first quarter ended Sept 30, 2020 (1QFY21) with a net profit of RM10.03 million, from a net loss of RM145.2 million in the preceding quarter.

The oil and gas (O&G) gas group attributed its return to profitability to higher oil prices and greater output from its North Sabah, Anasuria Hibiscus and 3D Oil, VIC/L31 and VIC/P57 assets.

Revenue jumped 268.38% to RM145.49 million, from RM39.5 million in 4QFY20, according to the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia.

On a year-on-year basis, the net profit was down 38.18% from RM16.23 million in 1QFY20, while revenue fell 8.67% from the RM159.3 million.

Hibiscus did not declare a dividend for this quarter, as in the case of 1QFY20.
Hibiscus said it sold 842,790 barrels of crude oil in 1QFY21.

“The group has seen oil prices at various price levels, on some occasions lower and other times, higher than at the current time, but the group has managed to remain profitable throughout these fluctuations.

“This is primarily because our average unit production costs for both the Anasuria and North Sabah assets have been below the average realised oil price at the relevant times,” the group said.

This, it added, showed that the careful management of costs to maintain low operational expenditure and the successful execution of production enhancement projects are key towards achieving low unit production costs and the delivery of a continued healthy earnings

Hibiscus reiterated it has activated various plans to mitigate the effects of low oil prices over the 2020 period.

“These efforts have continued via the deferral of non-critical opex activities and prudent management of general and administrative expenses.

“The North Sabah asset team successfully completed the St Joseph Minor and Major Sands Redevelopment project in the current quarter, resulting in an instantaneous incremental 2,200 barrels per day of crude oil production and an addition of approximately four million stock tank barrels of incremental life of field gross reserves.

“The four new infill wells led to daily gross production capacity in North Sabah exceeding 20,000 barrels per day in September 2020,” it added.
Shares in Hibiscus closed 1.67% or sen lower at 61 sen apiece, giving it a market capitalisation of RM968.82 million. The counter saw 26.58 million shared traded.