Australia's Cooper Energy reports A$5.6mn underlying loss in FY23

Cooper Energy, an Australian energy company, on August 29 reported an underlying loss of A$5.6mn ($3.6mn) for the fiscal year that ended in June (FY2023), attributed to increased unit depreciation costs. This comes after the company recorded an underlying profit of A$14.4mn in the previous year.

The company announced record annual production and achieved growth in underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation, and exploration expense (EBITDAX), as well as operating cashflow.

The annual production increased by 7.8% year/year to reach 3.56mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe), driven by enhanced performance at the Orbost gas processing plant. Operating cashflow saw an 8.7% year/year increase, amounting to A$62.8mn. EBITDAX demonstrated substantial growth, rising by 35.4% year/year to A$109.3mn.

“Finalising the Orbost acquisition and taking operatorship of the plant was instrumental for Cooper Energy in FY2023,” CEO, Jane Norman, said. “We now have the opportunity to instill our own values and expertise on site, to drive operational excellence and achieve the performance improvements and resulting incremental cashflow that unlocks future growth for the company.”

Looking ahead, Cooper Energy envisions building on the performance achieved in FY2023. The company aims to leverage the improvements in Orbost's performance to guide measured production growth in FY24. This projection anticipates a range of 58.5 to 65.2 terajoules per day (TJe/d).

The Orbost plant processes gas from Cooper's Sole gas field located offshore Victoria, supplying customers in the southeast region of Australia.