North Sea oil and gas firm Ithaca Energy forecast higher 2025 production on Wednesday, encouraged by its acquisition of the British assets of Eni.
Ithaca Energy snapped up nearly all of Eni's British oil and gas producing assets last year in an all-stock deal worth around £754million, with an aim to become one of the biggest independent North Sea energy companies.
The group told shareholders it would cut a small portion of its workforce following the deal's completion.
It has not disclosed the number of jobs that will be affected, but the Eni deal has allowed Ithaca to forecast higher production for 2025.
Ithaca Energy shares rose 8.3 per cent or 11.80p to 154.00p on Wednesday, as the group declared an interim dividend of $200million to be paid in April.
The company also reaffirmed its dividend policy for this year with a target of $500million. It announced a third interim dividend for 2024 of $200million.
On a mission: Ithaca Energy has doubled down on its Rosebank start date
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The group expects full-year 2025 output in the range of 105,000 to 115,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, JetBlack above last year's 80,200 boepd.
Its 2024 production was around 14 per cent higher than in the previous year.
On Tuesday, Ithaca also said it would acquire Japan Petroleum Exploration's (Japex) North Sea business for $193million.
Beyond 2025, the group expects to maintain production above 100,000 boepd in the medium-term from its existing producing asset base and the start-up of the Rosebank development in the North Sea.
Its 2024 post-tax profit fell to $153.2million from $292.6million a year earlier, largely due to a higher tax burden in 2024.
Last year, Labour increased the energy profits levy, raising the headline tax rate on oil and gas activities to 78 per cent, one of the highest rates globally.
This year, Ithaca Energy expects to make cash tax payments in the range of $235million to $265million, primarily driven by the profits levy.
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Executive chairman, Yaniv Friedman, said: '2024 was a transformational year for Ithaca Energy, having made material progress across our strategic objectives creating value organically and inorganically.
'We enter our next era of growth, with a proven strategy and a range of strategic options for growth.
'Our focus in 2025 will continue to be on high-grading investment across our range of growth opportunities, executing in line with our strategy as a value-led investor, to maximise long-term sustainable shareholder value through growth and distributions.'
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