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Novus Energy posts higher Q1 profit; shares advance

Published: 14:59 28 May 2013 EDT

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Novus Energy (CVE:NVS), a junior oil company focused on western Canada, said its profit in the first quarter rose 79 percent, topping estimates, as output and funds flow reached all-time high levels.

Net income for the three months that ended March 31 rose to $5.08 million, or 3 cents a share, from $2.84 million, or 2 cents a share, the Calgary, Alberta-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Production revenue for the quarter grew 45 percent to $26.85 million.

An analyst was modeling a per-share profit of 2 cents, while the average of two analysts was for $26.60 million in revenue.

Funds flow, a key measure of the company's ability to pay for new projects and drilling, grew 49 percent to $15.91 million compared with a year earlier, while net capital expenditures for the January-to-March period increased 10 percent to $19.96 million.

The company's average daily production for the first quarter rose 49 percent to 4,085 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared with the year-earlier period.

Novus said its average crude oil and liquids output for the quarter increased 52 percent to 3,340 barrels a day, whereas natural gas output rose 37 percent to 4,470 million cubic feet per day.

Novus said it has been focused on lowering its drilling and completion costs. The firm's operating costs dropped 22 percent to $9.06 per barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter. In the long term, the company expects it will be able to maintain its cost structure at historically attractive levels, according to the statement.

The company plans to recommence drilling operations in early June in the Dodsland region, after almost three months of drilling inactivity on Spring breakup.

Novus shares advanced as much as 2.3 percent to 89 Canadian cents in Toronto on Tuesday after the statement was released.  The stock has dropped 15 percent this year, compared with a 22 percent loss for the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX).

Novus, with a market value of C$168.5 million, has a total of 1,500 net high quality risked Viking oil drilling locations on its 220 net sections of land in its Viking light oil resource play.

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