Today, veteran oil and gas sector developer Pyramid Oil, which has been fielding acreage candidates and drilling wells since 1909, punched out some very nice FY11 and Q4 (ended Dec 31, 2011) financial data.
FY11 data offers a clear view of the company’s solid growth vector:
• Sales – up 26% to $5.7M (from $4.5M in 2010)
• Total Revenue – up 18% to $5.7M (from $4.8M)
• EPS – up 359% to $0.23 (from $0.05)
• Operating Cash Flow – up 47.1% to $2.5M (from $1.7M)
• Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Short-Term Investments – up 30.4% to $6M (from $4.6M)
• Long-Term Debt – under $25k
• Total Current Assets – $7.2M, with $6.5M in working capital and a ratio of 10:1
Sales rose on the strength of rising prices, which were up 38.8% per average BOE, to $104.78 (from $76.04 in 2010). Revenue data here is especially nice when considering that a portion of total revenue in 2010 was attributable to the $321k gain in Q3 from sale of a portion of PDO interests in a Texas gas venture.
Serious bottom-line growth was obtained by the company through this period, with operating income up sharply to $1.2M, compared to just $54k in 2010, even though there was some $727k in non-cash valuation allowances in 2011 (attributable to two new wells that failed to meet anticipated production results).
President and CEO of PDO, John Alexander, cited the sustained strength of the price environment for crude, combined with the company’s lean cost structure and production from PDO’s core properties, as making the 2011 report the most powerful in years. Projected exploratory operations and analysis of drilling prospects for 2012 on company leases in Kern County, CA, in conjunction with broader evaluation of external growth opportunities, will join with ongoing drilling at the company’s Carneros Creek property on Santa Fe #20 (started Q1 this year and projected to wrap up within days), leading to as many as three wells thus far PDO looks to drill this year (depending on rig availability).
The Q4 data rounds things out, with crude oil prices revenue and operating income in line with the year-long data:
• Total Revenue – up 18% to $1.4M (from $1.2M in Q4 FY10; 32.5% increase avg. BOE price)
• Operating Income – $435k compared to a loss of $91k
• Net Income and EPS – $344k, or $0.07/share, compared to a net loss of $27k, or $0.01/share
Even with ICE-traded oil futures for 2015 Brent off by almost $30, it is very clear that the underlying fundamentals do not support cheaper oil, and as we clear the middle of the week, France, the US, and the UK are even in talks about a possible release of strategic oil stocks. With Iran slated to drop serious capacity by the end of the month (as much as 14%), the EU embargo on Iranian oil only three months away, and US/EU sanctions being prepped with the aim of shutting down Iran’s nuclear program, the immediate vectors are clear. Even as crude throughput rises, serious shortfalls in global refining capacity continually crop up on the radar.
For more information on the financials, or to learn more about Pyramid Oil Company, please visit the company’s website at: www.PyramidOil.com
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