Dual-listed New Zealand Oil & Gas has applied to cancel its stockmarket listing in Australia, as it continued its drive to save cash because of the downturn in global oil prices.
New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) has applied to the ASX to delist from the exchange, but will remain listed on the NZX. Australian shareholders will be able to migrate to the New Zealand shareholder register, NZOG chairman Rodger Finlay said.
‘‘The [NZOG] board of directors has noted that trading in the company's shares on the ASX consistently suffers from poor liquidity and low daily trading volumes,'' he said in a market statement.
An ASX delisting was also consistent with other recently announced initiatives to reduce costs. NZOG's board said the cost of a continued ASX listing ‘‘outweighs the benefits'', he said.
NZOG chief executive Andrew Knight said savings from the ASX delisting would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Last month NZOG reported its six months trading to December, having to post asset value writedowns and a $45million loss for the period, although group revenue was up by $11.3million to $65.4million, including a $28.5million contribution from Cue Energy and a $3.4million gain on foreign exchange.
At the time, Mr Finlay said despite the asset writedowns, NZOG was performing well and was cash-positive, with a strong balance sheet and the board was focusing on ‘‘minimising cash burn''.
Global oil prices had a negative $14.5 million impact during the trading period and lower sales reduced revenue by a further $6.1million. Shipments were deferred to exploit the potential for some price recovery.
Mr Knight said at the time NZOG had enough cash from long-term gas contracts to sustain the business through the oil price downturn.
