WELLINGTON: New Zealand Oil & Gas plans to delist its stock from the Australian exchange, saying the shares are little traded and the move would reduce costs by about $400,000. “The board of directors has noted that trading in the company’s shares on the ASX consistently suffers from poor liquidity and low daily trading volumes,” chair Rodger Finlay said.
“Delisting is also consistent with other recently announced initiatives to reduce costs. The board considers that the cost of continued listing on ASX outweighs the benefits.” NZOG’s move to delist its Australian shares is part of a broader strategy by the oil and gas explorer to reduce costs to cope with a sharp fall in oil prices.
The Wellington-based company is pulling back on its exploration spending, with no intention to spend further on exploration beyond its contractual obligations, and is curbing spending on directors’ fees by not replacing former chairman Peter Griffiths.
ASX, which operates the Australian exchange, has indicated it will consent to the delisting, subject to compliance with certain conditions, which NZOG said it would meet. Should the move go ahead, any shareholdings remaining on the company’s Australian register would be transferred to its New Zealand register, and the company would continue to be listed in New Zealand. No date has yet been agreed for the change. The company didn’t detail how much the move would save.
NZOG’s New Zealand shares last traded at 48 cents, and have gained 13 per cent this year. In Australia, the stock last traded at 43 Australian cents and has risen 7.5 per cent this year. The stock’s average daily volume traded in Australia over the past year is 14,594, according to the ASX website.
