AGL dips into red on CBM exit

AGL’s exit from the Australian coalbed methane (CBM: called coal seam gas in Australia) sector saw the company dip into the red in the six months to December 2015 as the company recorded a pre-tax impairment charge of AUS$795 million on its gas assets.

The company took a statutory loss of AUS$449 million in 2H15 – although underlying profit, which doesn’t include the writedown, remained a healthy AUS$375 million.

AGL announced in early February that it would quit the CBM exploration and production business after a strategic review of the company’s business, stopping development of the Gloucester Gas Project and ending production at the Camden Gas Project in New South Wales.

“AGL […] has taken a strategic decision that exploration and production of natural gas assets will no longer be a core business for the company due to the volatility of commodity prices and long development lead times,” the company said in a statement.

Edited by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/cbm/11022016/agl-dips-into-red-on-cbm-exit-2016-221/