AssessmentI would appreciate your assessment of Athabasca's recent quarter. The 8 year tax exemption and approximately 100 year oil reserve life reported must be unusual when compared to other oil companies. EPS of $0.03 missed expectations of $0.07 and revenues of $315.93M missed expectations of $322M. It produced 34,490 boe/d, which was in line with its annual guidance of 34,500. Adjusted funds flow was $295M and cash from operations was $306M. Management was able to spend below its guidance for CAPEX, and returned 94% of excess cash flow to shareholders through a share buyback program in 2023, and plans to allocate 100% of free cash flow to shareholders through continued share buybacks in 2024.
Its 10+ year tax-free horizon due to its tax pools is not a common feature among oil companies, and its 100 year oil reserve life is also not common among many oil companies.
Overall, we think ATH looks good here and its expectations for share buybacks and allocation of free cash flows are encouraging. (5iResearch)