Topic: Energy Stocks

High debt and decreased production are hurting Bonavista Energy

This oil and gas company continues to have drilling success at its Western Canadian project sites, but a cut to its exploration and development spending has now impacted its production.

That 7.6% decline in output lowered cash flow by 18.5% in the most-recent quarter. The company also continues to shoulder its sizable debt.

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BONAVISTA ENERGY (Toronto symbol BNP; www.bonavistaenergy.com) explores for oil and gas in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan. Its output is 70% gas and 30% oil.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2019, the company’s cash flow per share fell 18.5%, to $0.22 from $0.27, a year earlier. The decline was mainly because production fell 7.6%, to 66,937 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 72,417.

Bonavista spent $164 million on exploration and development in 2018. That was down 43.4% from $290 million in 2017. It’s also why production was down in the latest quarter, despite the company’s ongoing drilling success. Bonavista will spend between $130 million and $170 million in 2019.

Energy Stocks: High debt makes this company more risky

To conserve cash, the company cut its $0.01-a-share quarterly dividend in May 2019. The stock currently trades at just 67% of the forecast 2019 cash flow of $0.78 a share.

However, Bonavista’s long-term debt now stands at $781.2 million, or an extremely high 5.6 times its very depressed market cap. That’s down from over $1.2 billion in early 2016, but it is still a big risk factor.

Recommendation in Canadian Wealth Advisor: Bonavista Energy is a hold.

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