Riverstone Energy delivers another quarter of NAV growth

Riverstone Energy issued an interim management statement on Wednesday, for the period from 1 January to 31 March, reporting that its net asset value stood at $1.722bn (£1.372bn) at the end of the period.

The FTSE 250 company said its net asset value per share was $20.38 or £16.24, and it turned a profit of $23.4m.

Its basic profit per share was 27.72 cents.

Market capitalisation as at 31 March was $1.314bn (£1.047bn), and its share price at period end was $15.55 or £12.39.

During the three months, Riverstone invested a total of $116m capital, which included $64m in Canadian International Oil Corporation, $14m in ILX Holdings III, $11m in Liberty Resources II, $10m in Three Rivers Natural Resources Holdings III, and $5m in Carrier Energy Partners II.

The remaining $12m was in aggregate to five other portfolio companies, including Castex Energy 2014, Eagle Energy Exploration, Meritage Midstream Services III, Canadian Non-Operated Resources and Origo Exploration Holding.

Total realisations during the period stood at $7m, by Riverstone Credit Opportunities, CanEra, Canadian International Oil Corporation, and Fieldwood Energy.

Riverstone reported a reduction in its commitment to CanEra during the period of $59m.

Its total gross committed capital as at 31 March was $1.868bn, with total net committed capital of $1.786bn, or 123% of net capital available.

Total net capital invested at period end was $1.298bn, or 89% of net capital available.

“I am pleased to report that REL delivered another quarter of NAV growth,” said chairman Richard Hayden.

“This reflects the company's focus on low-cost basins and the ongoing recovery in onshore North American energy production.”

David Leuschen and Pierre Lapeyre, Jr, co-founders of Riverstone, said in a joint statement that it had continued to grow its most profitable companies, deploying more than $100m during the quarter.

“The exercise of warrants in CIOC held by REL accounted for over half of the new investment in the quarter and will provide additional funding to the company as it expands production.

“In addition, Riverstone continues to adjust commitment levels to reflect the evolving opportunity set.”

Leuschen and Lapeyre said that had resulted in the company withdrawing commitments from CanEra III and Origo - the latter subsequent to quarter end - with limited capital exposure as it concentrated on the opportunities offering the “most attractive” risk adjusted returns to investors.

“We believe this highlights the strength of Riverstone's 'build-up' approach and has resulted in a portfolio of high-quality of investments focused in North America's premium basins.”