Petro Matad swings to loss in first half

AIM-listed Mongolian oil explorer Petro Matad said on Friday that it swung to a loss in the six months to the end of June.

The company - which does not generate any revenue - made a first-half loss of €2.5m compared to a profit of $93,000 in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the company's cash balance at the end of June was $10.9m compared to $0.49m at the same time last year.

In its last set of interim results in August 2016, the company attributed its profit to cash calls received from BG Group to fund operations under the farm-out agreement prior to receipt of BG's exit notice.

Exploration expenditure in the first half declined to $378m from $2.2m the year before.

Petro Matad said preparations continue to begin drilling targets in blocks IV and V, following the signing of a contract with Sinopec International Petroleum Service. It expects to issue a full operational announcement by mid-September 2017, which will include a full update on drilling rig preparations and expected spud date.

At 1020 BST, the shares were up 2.5% to 12.68p.