Hibiscus Petroleum replies to Bursa query on share price plunge
PETALING JAYA: Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd was slapped with an unusual market activity (UMA) query yesterday following a sudden plunge in its share price to an all-time low.
However, in response to Bursa’s query, the company said it was unaware of the reasons that put pressure on its shares, but highlighted that its subsidiary in Australia and a jointly-controlled entity in Norway, are currently drilling two wells as announced on Oct 16 and 26, and further updated on Nov 2 for the Australian well.
“As at the current time, there are no results of a price sensitive nature from both these wells that are available to the company. With regard to our drilling programme offshore Australia, we only anticipate to commence drilling into the reservoir section of the well on Nov 4 and we will make the necessary disclosures as soon as reliable results are available,” it said.
Besides that, Hibiscus Petroleum also believes that there may be some shareholders who have been subject to margin calls on the shares that have been collateralised and are being asked to regularise their margin positions.
Shares of Hibiscus Petroleum plummeted as much as 26 sen or 50.49% yesterday to 25.5 sen, the lowest since its listing in July 2011. At the close, the stock dipped 17.5 sen or 33.98% to 34 sen.
It was the most actively traded stock yesterday with some 292.9 million shares changing hands.
The volatile trading in Hibiscus Petroleum shares came after it issued a statement on Monday, saying the Sea Lion1 exploration well has reached preliminary casing depth at 1,008 metres and is currently running casing as planned.
“The well is being drilled by the West Telesto jack up rig, which arrived on site on Oct 22 and commenced drilling on Oct 26,” it said, adding that operations are expected to be completed within approximately two to three weeks.
For the three months ended June 30, 2015, Hibiscus Petroleum posted a net loss of RM34.27 million while 18-month net loss came in at RM74.22 million. Its financial year end has been changed from Dec 31 to June 30.
Hibiscus Petroleum had recognised its share of an impairment of the carrying value in the Sharjah East Coast Concession amounting to RM10.2 million, due to uncertainties in determining the timing of the drilling programme in the Sharjah concession as a result of current economic conditions affecting the oil and gas industry.
In addition, it had also incurred RM7.6 million for a comprehensive one-off inspection of the Britannia Rig that was then used to develop detailed cost estimates and an integrated schedule for the conversion of the rig to a mobile offshore production unit for the West Seahorse field.