Sound Oil upbeat after transitional year

Shares of Italy-focused upstream oil and gas firm Sound Oil rose after it trimmed annual losses in a transitional year in which it reshaped its asset portfolio and restructured its management team.

The group, which sold off its non-operated Indonesian assets, said loss before income tax reduced to £4.8m for the year ended December 31st 2012 from £5.6m a year earlier. Basic loss per share from continuing operations narrowed to 0.20p from a loss of 0.35p a year earlier.

Sound Oil said it is re-focusing towards the European and Mediterranean region and has recently seen first gas from Rapagnano, giving Sound Oil its first revenue since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2005.

The group's year-end cash balance was £6.9m (2011: £6,286,000). At April 22nd, Sound Oil had a cash balance of £6.9m.

CJ