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Highlights

  • Beach Energy is an oil and gas exploration and production company with headquarters in South Australia
  • Its first gas from the Waitsia Gas Plant expected in CY2024 and from the Enterprise well site in the Otway Basin in 4QFY24
  • Seven Group Holdings Limited has the maximum stake in the firm with a shareholding of nearly 30%

Beach Energy Limited (ASX: BPT) headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia, is an ASX-listed firm. Established in 1961, Beach Energy engages in oil and gas exploration and production. Presently, the company operates in five basins spanning Australia and New Zealand, contributing to its oil and gas production activities. Moreover, the firm is engaged in undertaking exploration drilling in the Cooper and Perth Basin.

Major projects of BPT are near completion. Construction work is advancing at the Waitsia Gas Plant and the first gas is expected in CY2024. Furthermore, the first gas is targeted at the Enterprise well site in the Otway Basin in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2024 (4QFY24).

In the first half of FY24, sales revenue jumped 16% YoY to AUD 941 million, while underlying NPAT decreased by 10% YoY to AUD 173 million and operating cash flow dropped by 13% YoY to AUD 350 million.

Top 10 shareholders of BPT

The top 10 shareholders of BPT have over 45% shareholding in the company, while the top four have nearly 39.29% of the shareholding. Seven Group Holdings Limited and Macquarie Investment Management Global Ltd. have the maximum stake in the firm with a shareholding of ~30.02% and ~4.45%, respectively.

Recent business activities

On 24 April 2024, the company released its quarterly results for the period ended 31 March 2024. The period saw 4% QoQ rise in its production to 4.5 MMboe, supported by increased production from the Taranaki and Otway basins, offset partially by weather affected Coooper Basin. While, total sales dropped by 21% QoQ to 4,841 kboe because of the lack of one oil lifting.

During the reported period, sales revenue was AUD 392 million, a decrease of 28% over the previous quarter. This was driven by decreased sales volumes and a fall in realised oil prices, partially offset by an increase in realised gas prices.

Outlook

Recently, the firm has revised its production guidance from 18.0 – 20.0 MMboe to 18.0 – 18.5 MMboe for FY24. Capital expenditure in FY24 is expected to be towards the upper end of the guidance range of AUD 900 – 1,000 million.

Under the strategic review, the firm intends to cut its workforce by 30%, with more than 20% targeted by the end of April.

Share performance of BPT

BPT shares closed 1.26% up at AUD 1.61 apiece on 29 April 2024. With this, BPT’s share price has increased by 9.52% in the past 12 months and has dropped by almost 12.26% in the last one month.

The 52-week high of BPT is AUD 1.925, recorded 5 April 2024, while the 52-week low is AUD 1.30, recorded on 18 May 2023.

BPT Daily Technical Chart, Source: REFINITIV

Note 1: Past performance is neither an Indicator nor a guarantee of future performance.

Note 2: The reference date for all price data, and currency, is 29 April 2024. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from REFINITIV.