The shares of Xcite (LSE: XEL) dropped 5% to 105p this morning after the North Sea oil specialist revealed that talks are still ongoing to farm out production of its premier project, the Bentley oil field.
After generating maiden revenues of over £13m last year, Xcite has yet to derive any sales from oil in 2013. Despite this, the company recorded an exceptional £9.6m net profit in the first nine months of the year, driven by the sale of the Bentley well test data for $15m.
Discussing the results, chief executive Rupert Cole added:
“It has been a very busy and successful 12 months for Xcite, in which we have appraised a major, strategic asset and delivered clear value for Xcite, as well for others in the industry. We are now engaging, through data sharing and a collaborative approach, in the process of finding a suitable and robust partner for the Bentley development.”
With a market cap of £322m, AIM listed Xcite’s shares offer no prospective dividend.
