Dragon Oil increases interim dividend by 67% as revenues up

DRAGON OIL announced a 67 per cent increase in interim dividend to 15 cents a share yesterday as the company reported interim results to the end of June within expectations.

The company, which is focused on Turkmenistan, said current production now stands at 70 thousand barrels of oil per day (70 kbopd). This compares to an average of 64.2 kbopd in the first half of 2012.

Dragon held $1.7 billion in cash as of June 30th.

Revenue during the first half of 2012 stood at $588.4 million, compared to $527.4 million for the first half of 2011, up 12 per cent.

Earnings per share increased by 1 per cent to 60.47, less than some forecasts, though Davy Stockbroker noted this was due to a $15 million non-cash charge arising from the company being in a net overlift position at the end of June. The company has spent $139 million on a $200 million share buyback programme, through which it aims to acquire up to 5 per cent of its share capital.

In terms of growth forecast, Dragon is estimating production growth of between 10 to 15 per cent for 2012.

Headquartered in Dubai, the company has a primary listing on the Irish stock exchange.

The company has also been diversifying its interests, expanding into Iraq and Tunisia.

“We continue our search for oil and gas assets in the regions of interest to us,” Dragon Oil’s chief executive Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa said yesterday, noting that the company has been pre-qualified for bidding for blocks in Afghanistan later this year.