Boosted by higher natural gas production from Israel's Tamar offshore field, Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, ended 2015 with a sharp fall in revenue but swung from loss to profit. Revenue in 2015 was NIS 6.356 billion, down from NIS 7.831 billion in 2014 but the company reported a net profit of NIS 7 million compared with a loss of NIS 765 million in 2014.
But for a fall in the value of financial investment assets, Delek would have reported a net profit of NIS 345 million. Gross profit was NIS 1.764 billion in 2015 compared with NIS 1.605 billion in 2014.
Revenue from natural gas climbed to NIS 1.67 billion in 2015 from NIS 1.4 billion in 2014, as the Tamar gas field reached peak production. Profit from natural gas production was NIS 254 million last year compared with NIS 93 million in 2014.
Delek Group president and CEO Asi Bartfeld said, “2016 will be marked by the advancement of the development plan of Leviathan, as well as continuing to identify opportunities and making strategic investments in the international energy market. We continue to look for synergistic and complementary investments to the Group’s activities.”
He added, “With regard to the recent Israeli High Court of Justice decision on the natural gas outline, most of the outline’s sections were upheld with the exception of the stability clause. One of our main goals in 2016 is to progress with the development of Leviathan. The latest plan, submitted to the Petroleum Commissioner, enables an accelerated schedule that will allow for first gas flow to the Israeli market in 2019, with maximum production capacity at the final stage of the first development phase at approximately 21 BCM per year. This represents an increase versus the 16 BCM per year under the previous plan, and was due to the growing demand for natural gas in our end-markets. We have already started discussions with the government ministries in order to reach a solution with regard to the stability clause, while implementing the Outline in accordance with the original plan.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 31, 2016
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