Israel's Delek moves to Q3 loss on investment writedown
JERUSALEM
Nov 29 Israeli energy company Delek Group swung to a loss in the third quarter due to a write-down in the value of its financial investments.
Delek posted a quarterly net loss of 261 million shekels ($67.3 million), compared with profit of 150 million in the year earlier period.
Excluding the impairment of 336 million shekels, Delek recorded a quarterly profit of 75 million shekels.
Delek, through its subsidiaries, has major shares in a number of significant gas fields off Israel's coast. Profit from exploration and production was 87 million shekels in the quarter, compared with 38 million a year ago.
Revenue fell to 1.7 billion shekels from 2.0 billion due to lower distillate prices at its Delek Israel unit.
The company, likely to list its shares in New York in 2016, has shifted its focus solely to energy, selling its remaining holdings in U.S. insurance business Republic Companies in September.
In October it bought a 20 percent stake in North Sea-focused oil producer Ithaca Energy for $66 million.
"We are continuing with our strategy to identify opportunities in the international energy sector for further investments," said Delek Chief Executive Asaf Bartfeld.
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| Delek Group's Chief Executive Officer, Asaf Bartfeld |
"The strategic investment we have made in Ithaca Energy is a direct continuation of our strategy, whereby our focus is centred on the Eastern Mediterranean energy sector, along with the creation of a strong and stable arm of operations in the international energy market."
Delek along with Texas-based Noble Energy control the Tamar natural gas field, with estimated reserves of 10.6 trillion cubic feet, off Israel's coast. Tamar produced 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas in the third quarter to reach peak production, up from 2.2 bcm a year earlier.
Delek and Noble also control the nearby Leviathan field, with 22 tcf of gas reserves that is set to begin production later in the decade. Last week, a preliminary deal was signed to sell 4 bcm of gas a year from Leviathan to Egypt for 10 to 15 years.
Delek said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 80 million shekels, down from 120 million shekels in the second quarter.
($1 = 3.8790 shekels) (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Dominic Evans)
