Oil exploration firm pushes ahead in challenging market

GETECH, the oil exploration company, said this morning it is expecting to deliver a strong set of results against a backdrop of difficult market conditions.

The Leeds-based business, which was a spin out from the University of Leeds and specialises in the provision of exploration data and geological exploration studies to oil companies, said the first part of the financial year witnessed lower spending across the whole oil and gas exploration sector.

However, the company said it had a strong end to its financial year, signing several new data and study contracts with an aggregate value of more than $5m.

In a pre-close trading update to July 31, unaudited preliminary results for the financial year are expected to show revenue of £6.6m, profit before tax of £1m, profit after tax of £1.4m and an estimated EPS of 4.6p.

Getech said it holds cash reserves of £3.4m which provides a strong balance sheet for expanding current operations, developing new business streams and to consider “strategic acquisition targets.”

Raymond Wolfson, chief executive, said: “The tight exploration market during the period since early 2013 made trading for many exploration service companies very difficult. While we were similarly affected, we have seen a significant upturn in recent weeks and consider that, under the challenging business environment, we have delivered a strong set of results.

“We ended the year 2013/14 with strong sales performance. We enter the new financial year with a sound balance sheet, an increased product library, an enlarged sales team, and with confidence that we can deliver substantially improved performance.”