Urals Energy posts FY2010 net profit of $53 million

Russian independent oil company, Urals Energy, has posted a FY2010 net profit of $53 million under IFRS.

The bottom line was a major turnaround from a FY 2009 net loss of $304 million, with normalized EBITDA also improving to $2.4 billion, which compares to a negative $2.7 million for FY 2009, despite revenue declining to $59.3 million from $69 million posted a year earlier.The Company attributed its growing net result to the gains from “non – cash transactions associated with the impairment release of property, plant and equipment in Arcticneft and Petrosakh and divestiture of Dulisma and Taas.” However, revenues were downdue to a decline in sales following transfer of the assets, offset by higher oil prices. The Company also noted the improved net debt position that was largely due to positive cash flow from operations, private placement at the end of December 2010 and restructuring of its borrowings with Petraco, with Alexei Maximov, CEO at Urals Energy, marking the latter as one of the major events for the Company in 2010.“We would like to thank our shareholders for their on going support, and to reassure them that the Board is focused on restoring the fortunes of this Company. 2010 has been a year of stabilisation but the legacy issues are now largely behind us, leaving Urals well positioned to create a leading Russian focused E&P company. We look forward to updating the market with innovations in due course. The restructuring of the Petraco loan has been a major milestone for Urals and, combined with the successful private placement, led to a strengthening of our balance sheet. As we look to continue the trend of increased profitability, we are committed to working towards additional increases in production from our existing portfolio, and potentially identifying new opportunities to expand the reserve base.”