David Joe
Analyst · Northland. Please go ahead
Thank you, Jason. I also would like to reiterate that I hope you and your families remain safe and well during these challenging times. I will share some additional highlights of our financial results for our fiscal third quarter ended March 31. However, please refer to our press release yesterday for additional information and details for the full fiscal third quarter and look out for our Form 10-Q to be filed shortly. In the quarter, the company generated net income of $3.7 million, as Jason noted, marking a long consecutive streak of positive reported net income. Inclusive of a one-time $2.8 million income tax benefit related to enhanced oil recovery tax credits. The company generated cash flows from operating activities of $4.1 million in the quarter. The company also paid its 26th consecutive quarterly cash dividend and declared the next dividend. The company maintained a strong balance sheet with $20.7 million in cash on hand and an undrawn credit facility and no debt. And lastly, the company entered into NYMEX WTI oil swaps, covering a large portion of our production for the next eight months at a fixed price of $32 per barrel. Diving into a little more details. Total revenues were $7.7 million for the quarter, which generated $3.8 million in income from operations. Lower average realized oil prices was the primary driver of the decline in revenues when compared to the prior quarter, and to a lesser extent, lower sales volumes at Delhi, offset by a full quarter of Hamilton Dome production due to the effective date of the acquisition in the prior quarter. Delhi’s average oil price was down 15% to about $47 per barrel. This is inclusive of an LLS premium in the quarter of about $1.49, offset by one last month of temporary trucking charges for the planned repair to a section of the oil sales pipeline. Recall the pipeline repair project commenced in mid-November and was completed ahead of schedule in late January, and all Delhi oil sales are back through pipeline as of February 1, 2020. Delhi revenues per BOE in the quarter was about $41 per barrel, and the Delhi Field operating margin per BOE was about $24 per barrel. Total net production and barrels of oil equivalent per day increased about 2% to 2,164 BOEPD in the current quarter, compared to 2,124 in the prior quarter. This increase is attributable to a full quarter of production from Hamilton Dome field compared to the prior quarter, offset by lower production at Delhi due to, but not limited to, deferred conformance workovers, reduced CO2 purchases and natural decline. Production costs were $3.9 million in the current quarter, a decrease of 8% from $4.2 million in the prior quarter. During the quarter, Evolution was further impacted by the temporary closing of the CO2 supply line to Delhi, which the company has no ownership interest. The pipeline was taken off-line in late February due to a discovery of pressure loss detection. The operator is working on repairing the pipeline and has not yet determined an estimated date of reopening the pipeline. However, the recycle facilities are operating as usual, and these facilities provide approximately 80% of the injected CO2 volumes. The Delhi CO2 cost decreased in the current quarter by $0.6 million or 43%. Purchased CO2 decreased from 83.6 million cubic feet per day to 53.9 million cubic feet per day. Also contributing to the decrease was a 15% reduction in Delhi’s realized oil prices associated with its production. Slightly offsetting these decreases was a $0.2 million increase or 9% in other production costs, primarily due to the inclusion of a full quarter of Hamilton Dome operations. The company’s overall living cost per BOE in the quarter was $19.56 per BOE, a 10% decline from the prior quarter’s $21.67 per BOE. General and administrative expenses increased $0.1 million or about 2.1% to $1.5 million for the current quarter compared to the prior quarter. Increased G&A expenses are primarily attributable to slight increases in the company’s professional services expenses. Evolution continues to operate as a lean organization, especially for a public company having only full-time employees. Nonetheless, we evaluated areas where we could potentially achieve cost savings. This is an ongoing process, but to date, we have initiated cuts, primarily with third-party contracted personnel. We see that as a validation of our flexibility and our strategy of maintaining a small core team of employees and utilizing third-party personnel when required and able to pivot, if necessary, during a volatile price environment. In the quarter, we recorded a one-time income tax benefit of $2.8 million for enhanced oil recovery credits taken in tax years 2018, 2017, and 2016. This was the result of a project in search of tax savings opportunities over the last few years and included amending federal and state tax returns for multiple years, resulting in an income tax receivable of $3.2 million at period end. This somewhat obscured tax credit is only applicable to owners of qualified EOR projects. Furthermore, from 2005 to 2015, this EOR credit was not available and was phased out because of higher oil prices as set by the IRS. The EOR credit is phased out again in 2019. A determination has not yet been issued by the IRS for 2020. Overall, net income for the quarter was $3.7 million or $0.11 per diluted share, a 110% increase, compared to the prior quarter of $1.8 million and $0.05 per share. In the current quarter, we incurred $0.3 million of capital projects consisting of capital for projects at the Delhi Field, primarily for NGL plant and completion of a water curtain project. We do not anticipate any material net capital spending for the remainder of fiscal 2020, and as all remaining performance and capital work-over projects have been delayed based on recent decline in oil prices. The Delhi operator previously reported that capital was deferred for the phase five development project into at least 2021. Our working capital increased $1.4 million from the prior quarter to $23.1 million. The increase in working capital is largely attributable to the income tax receivable resulting from the EOR credits previously mentioned, offset by a decline in oil sales receivables due to the lower average realized prices. The company ended the quarter with $20.7 million in cash, no debt and an undrawn credit facility. On April 27, 2020, the company completed its annual spring redetermination and as expected, the redetermination of the borrowing base decreased from $40 million to $27 million, primarily due to the steep decline in oil prices. In the current quarter, we did repurchase about 150,000 shares at an average price of $4.80, totaling about $733,000. There remains approximately $960,000 left on the previously approved $5 million stock program. In summary, despite the current economic environment facing our industry, Evolution reported yet another solid financial quarter, all the while remaining committed to returning cash back to our shareholders with our 27th consecutive dividend declared. The company remains in excellent financial shape and is poised for new growth opportunities. Additionally, our mark-to-market hedge book value was $2.5 million as of March 1, 2020, including a realized gain of approximately $642,000 for the April settlement. This concludes our review of financial results and operations for our third quarter. I will now turn the call back over to Jason for final remarks.