Canadian Oil Sands raises dividend 50%. (Even more in USD)
cdnoilsands.com
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/28/11 -- All financial figures are unaudited and in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.
Canadian Oil Sands Limited ("Canadian Oil Sands", "COS" or "we") (TSX: COS) today announced first quarter 2011 results. Cash flow from operations in the first quarter of 2011 more than doubled to $478 million ($0.99 per Share) compared with $225 million ($0.46 per Share) in the first quarter of 2010. Net income for the first quarter of 2011 rose to $324 million ($0.67 per Share) compared with $176 million ($0.36 per Share) in the first quarter of 2010. The improvement in financial results reflects an increase in production and higher crude oil prices.
COS today declared a dividend of $0.30 per Share payable on May 31, 2011 to shareholders of record on May 26, 2011. COS has a variable dividend strategy; dividend amounts will vary over time depending largely on crude oil prices and the investment cycle of Syncrude's capital projects.
"Stronger crude oil prices combined with better clarity on future Syncrude capital requirements have led us to increase the dividend to $0.30 per Share for the second quarter of 2011," said Marcel Coutu, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We also are encouraged by the recent strong operational performance at Syncrude, with first quarter 2011 production being the best first quarter on record."
Sales volumes during the first quarter of 2011 averaged 121,000 barrels per day compared with 99,000 barrels per day for the first quarter of 2010. Operations reflect improved capacity utilization in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the first quarter of 2010, which was impacted by the turnaround of the LC Finer and associated upgrading units.
Higher sales volumes resulted in lower per barrel operating expenses for the first quarter of 2011, which averaged $35.53 per barrel compared with $37.89 per barrel in the 2010 first quarter.
Syncrude's total recordable injury rate for the first quarter of 2011 was 1.22 compared with a rate of 0.39 for the same period of 2010. Syncrude recently adopted ExxonMobil's Incident and Injury Reporting Guidelines that capture more types of events, therefore the rates for 2010 and 2011 are not directly comparable.
"This quarter, we are following through with our undertaking to provide investors with a multi-year capital cost profile for our mine train replacements and relocations and other large projects. Although the estimates are still variable because the detailed engineering has not been completed, we are confident at this point that we can fund these projects from our cash flow without any significant equity dilution," said Coutu. |
