Birchcliff expands, while Trilogy waits

Article Excerpt

BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY $7.86 (Toronto symbol BIR; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-261-6401; www.birchcliffenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 152.3 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; No dividends paid) explores for, develops and produces oil and gas, mainly in the Peace River Arch area near the Alberta-B.C. border. About 87% of its output is gas. The remaining 13% is oil. In the three months ended March 31, 2016, Birchcliff’s cash flow per share dropped 41.7%, to $0.14 from $0.24 a year earlier. Sharply lower oil and gas prices offset a 9.2% rise in daily production. The company is now buying Encana Corp.’s Gordondale natural gas fields in northwestern B.C. for $625 million in cash. Encana (symbol ECA on Toronto) is a recommendation of our Successful Investor newsletter. The deal is a big one for Birchcliff: the purchase price is equal to more than half of its current market cap; and it will expand its daily production by 55%, to 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent from 42,000. To pay for the purchase,…