HOUSTON, Aug. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucas Energy,
Inc. (NYSE MKT: LEI) ("Lucas" or
the "Company"), an independent oil and gas company with its
operations in central Texas, today
announced its first quarter results for the period ending
June 30, 2016 and the filing of its
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, on August
12, 2016.
"With the shareholder vote on the proposed acquisition of oil
and gas properties from a consortium of sellers and Segundo
Resources just a couple of weeks away, the recent financial results
will be less meaningful if the transaction is approved," said
Anthony C. Schnur, Chief Executive
Officer of Lucas Energy, who continued, "As previously disclosed,
we entered into an agreement last December to acquire the working
interests in producing properties and undeveloped acreage in
Texas and Oklahoma that would add about 1,000 net
barrels of equivalent (BOE) oil production to our existing
productive base if the deal is closed.
"As demonstrated in the current quarterly financial results, we
continue to diligently reduce our overhead and operating costs,
excluding the impact of transaction costs associated with our
acquisition. We resumed our workover program in late June as
we returned several shut-in wells back into service, and we saw a
resulting uptick in our production volumes. We expect to see
an increase in production from our legacy wells continue throughout
the remainder of this year. Going forward, our outlook for
the Company as outlined in our year-end earnings release that we
published on July 13, 2016, remains
unchanged. We are excited about the course we have chosen,
and we are eager to bring it to a close."
Fiscal 2017 First Quarter Results
For the three months ending June 30,
2016, Lucas reported a
fiscal year net loss of $1.4 million,
or a loss of ($0.80) per share,
compared to a net loss of $1.0
million or loss of ($0.73) per
share in the three months ending June
30, 2015. The net loss increased primarily because of
a $0.2 million decrease in sales
revenues and an increase of $0.1
million in operating expense.
Total revenues from the sale of crude oil for the fiscal 2017
first quarter were $0.15 million
compared to $0.39 million in the same
period a year ago largely reflecting a 24% drop in the price of
crude oil coupled with a 49% decline in crude oil volumes. The
decline in crude oil prices reduced revenues by approximately
$0.09 million and the lower
production volumes reduced revenues by another $0.15 million when compared with the same period
last year. The Company has implemented several workover plans
in the later part of the current reporting period in order to get
these wells on-line and increase production flows, funding
permitting. Additional production declines can be attributed
to workover drilling and lateral programs with higher front-end
production in the prior reporting period coupled with interference
from offset activity in the current period.
Lease operating expenses of $0.28
million for the fiscal 2017 first quarter increased by
$0.11 million from $0.16 million for the same period a year ago,
principally because several workovers were completed in the current
quarter. The Company implemented the workover programs in the
later part of the fiscal 2017 first quarter in order to address
wells that had been shut-in for a significant period of time.
As a result of these workovers, production volumes rose in the
latter part of the quarter and are expected to continue to increase
over the next few quarters.
General and administrative (G&A) expenses (excluding
share-based compensation) increased by approximately $0.12 million in the fiscal 2017 first quarter
compared to the prior year's first quarter primarily related to
transaction costs associated with the pending Segundo
acquisition. Excluding those transaction costs, certain other
G&A expenses have decreased significantly, reflecting improved
efficiencies in daily operating activities as a result of internal
restructuring initiatives. Share-based compensation also
decreased, by about 30%, reflecting cuts in employee stock-based
options and compensation. Last year's expenses included
$0.3 million of legal expenses,
investment banking fees and other transaction costs related to
strategic initiatives that were subsequently abandoned.
Depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion (DD&A)
expense decreased for the current quarter as compared to the prior
year period by approximately $0.1
million primarily related to lower production volumes of
3,428 BOE compared to the previous period. The production
decrease was primarily due to numerous wells being shut-in during
the early part of current reporting period and drilling and lateral
programs with higher front-end production when compared to the
prior period.
SELECTED FINANCIAL
DATA
|
|
|
Three Months
Ending 06/30/2016
|
|
|
INCOME STATEMENT
($000s)
|
06/30/2016
|
06/30/2015
|
Net Operating
Revenues
|
$153
|
$394
|
Operating
Expenses
|
|
|
Lease
Operating Expense
|
276
|
163
|
G&A
|
658
|
550
|
Other
Operating Expenses
|
161
|
313
|
Total Operating Expense
|
1,095
|
1,026
|
|
|
|
Interest Expense
& Other
|
(428)
|
(400)
|
|
|
|
Net Loss,
reported
|
($1,370)
|
($1,032)
|
|
|
|
|
About Lucas Energy, Inc.
Based in Houston, Texas, Lucas
Energy (NYSE MKT: LEI) is a growth-oriented, independent oil and
gas company engaged in the development of crude oil and natural gas
in the Austin Chalk and Eagle Ford formations in South Texas.
For more information, please visit the updated Lucas Energy web
site at www.lucasenergy.com.
Safe Harbor Statement and Disclaimer
This news release includes "forward looking statements" within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. Forward looking statements give our current
expectations, opinions, belief or forecasts of future events and
performance. A statement identified by the use of forward
looking words including "may," "expects," "projects,"
"anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimate," "should," and
certain of the other foregoing statements may be deemed
forward-looking statements. Although Lucas believes that the expectations reflected
in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements
involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future
activities and results to be materially different from those
suggested or described in this news release. These include
risks inherent in natural gas and oil drilling and production
activities, including risks of fire, explosion, blowouts, pipe
failure, casing collapse, unusual or unexpected formation
pressures, environmental hazards, and other operating and
production risks, which may temporarily or permanently reduce
production or cause initial production or test results to not be
indicative of future well performance or delay the timing of sales
or completion of drilling operations; delays in receipt of drilling
permits; risks with respect to natural gas and oil prices, a
material decline which could cause Lucas to delay or suspend planned drilling
operations or reduce production levels; risks relating to the
availability of capital to fund drilling operations that can be
adversely affected by adverse drilling results, production declines
and declines in natural gas and oil prices; risks relating to
unexpected adverse developments in the status of properties; risks
relating to the absence or delay in receipt of government approvals
or fourth party consents; and other risks described in Lucas's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other
filings with the SEC, available at the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual
results or developments may differ materially from those projected.
The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of
the date hereof. The Company takes no obligation to update or
correct its own forward-looking statements, except as required by
law, or those prepared by third parties that are not paid for by
the Company. The Company's SEC filings are available at
http://www.sec.gov.
Contacts:
|
Carol Coale / Ken
Dennard
|
|
Dennard - Lascar
Associates LLC
|
|
(713)
529-6600
|
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SOURCE Lucas Energy, Inc.