Egypt’s pharos swings back to profit in 2022

Egypt's Pharos swung back to a net profit of $24.4mn in 2022, from a $4.7mn loss in the previous year, as higher oil and gas prices more than countered the impact of lower production.

Revenues climbed to $221.6mn from $163.8mn a year earlier, while cash generated from operations more than doubled to $110.7mn from $51.5mn and operating cash flow surged to $53.4mn from $10.8mn. Pharos also managed to shrink its debt to $28.9mn by the end of December, from $57.5mn a year earlier.

Production averaged 7,166 barrels of oil equivalent/day, versus 8,878 boe/d in 2021, in part reflecting Pharos' farm-down at its Egyptian assets to IPR in March 2022.

Pharos CEO Jann Brown said 2022 marked "significant change" for the company.

"Amidst the macroeconomic challenges and ongoing volatility specifically in Egypt, we delivered crucial milestones that have allowed us to rebuild resilience in the balance sheet, helping us to deliver on our strategy of creating long term, sustainable value for our shareholders via both regular cash returns and organic growth," Brown said. "Pharos is in a much stronger position with the 2023 work programme underway and a focus on sustainable cash generation with capital discipline to deliver returns to our stakeholders."

Pharos' 2023 production guidance is 6,050-7,500 boe/d.