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Jadestone Energy has made it over the hump at its new Akatara onshore gas project, and new management is promising a focus on cash generation after several disappointing years.
The Asia-focused oil and gas company’s end-of-year update last month showed record annual production, while there should be another increase in 2025. Major shareholder Tyrus Capital has bought in again. The firm, whose head of private equity is Gunter Waldner, bought 900,000 more shares on February 6 to increase its stake to 26.6 per cent.
Jadestone’s solid end to 2024 was accompanied by the surprise replacement of company stalwart Paul Blakeley as chief executive.
Blakeley turned Jadestone from a mere explorer to a producer of more than 24,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) — the exit rate as of December 31.
However, the share price has headed in the opposite direction to the production profile in recent years, hit by operational issues at the Montara field in Australia and, more recently, uncertainty over Akatara, Indonesia. From over 100p in 2022, the company has traded as low as 24p in recent weeks.
Tasked with turning this around in a weaker gas market is executive chair Adel Chaouch, who has taken on executive responsibilities having started as chair last March, a month after joining the board. The company is due to release 2025 guidance on Wednesday, and over the medium term is still working on sales agreements for Vietnam offshore discoveries that have been in development for years.
Stifel analyst David Round forecasts production of 23,100 boepd this year and a swing to an adjusted pre-tax profit of $83mn (£66mn) after losses in 2023 and 2024 (the latter figure is also a forecast).
GlobalData boss trims position ahead of main market move
Like many other companies in London’s Aim, data analytics group GlobalData is getting fed up with its stubbornly low valuation. Founder and chief executive Mike Danson has made his frustration clear, and a share buyback spree over the past year tells a similar story.
Now the company wants to leave Aim, where it has resided since the turn of the century, to join the main market in the hope of improving its visibility and attracting a broader pool of investors. With a market capitalisation just north of £1.6bn, the group currently trades at 11.6 times enterprise value/ebitda, a hefty discount to comparable peers.
Whether to boost liquidity or for other reasons, Danson has again trimmed his 57 per cent stake in the company. After selling £77.5mn worth of shares last year, the billionaire offloaded another 4mn for £7.9mn across two transactions on February 7.
A day earlier, the chief executive had said it was the “right time” to announce GlobalData’s main market move. The group aims to hit annual revenues of £500mn and a 45 per cent margin by the end of 2026, via a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.
The group has snapped up four companies since the sale of a 40 per cent stake in its healthcare business to private equity firm Inflexion last year. The acquisitions, along with share buybacks, reduced net cash from £188mn at the half-year mark to £2mn by year-end, but a newly agreed £340mn debt facility should provide plenty of headroom for more deals.
GlobalData expects to post revenues of around £286mn for 2024, up 4 per cent year-on-year. Against a tough corporate spending backdrop, all eyes will be on the full-year results next month to gauge whether its organic growth goals are also on the right track.
