ABU DHABI: Dana Gas plans to list its shares in London to gain a wider investor base and boost its stock value, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
Dana, the Gulf’s only listed natural gas company, has seen its stock decline 14.8 percent in the last six months due to weak investor sentiment in the United Arab Emirates.
"It is part of the company’s plan. We are evaluating it," said investor relations manager Nasir Akram. He gave no timeline.
Dana’s chief executive Ahmed Al Arbeed earlier told regional daily The National that the board has been considering a London listing to lift the company’s share price which has been hurt by political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.
"Our share price is not representing the quality of assets this company has. But many others are in the same boat," he was quoted as saying in the newspaper interview.
"Then there’s the nature of our business. It is not understood by the investors in the region because the governments here control the oil and gas."
Dana’s price target was cut by 10 percent this month by research firm AlembicHC, which warned that receivables at the gas company are expected to balloon temporarily in the short term as the Egyptian government defers payments.
Dana has significant operations in the UAE, Iraq and Egypt. Last year, Dana’s Egyptian operations had average production rates of 42,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), a 20 percent increase over the previous year.
The company plans to boost its production in Egypt by over 20 percent in 2011, followed by a similar output increase in 2012 when the company’s third gas processing plant comes on stream, chief executive Al Arbeed said.
"We have increased our proved reserves in Egypt by 90 percent to 89 million barrels of oil equivalent," he said.
In the Kurdistan region of Iraq the company has raised production by 76 percent and continued to deliver to two power stations. "In Sharjah we are moving ahead with the development of the Zora Field," he added.
