Dana Gas, described as the Middle East’s largest regional private sector natural gas company, Tuesday announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31.

First quarter 2015 group production remained strong, with the company delivering an average of 68,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from its assets in Egypt and in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

Group production has remained stable on a year-on-year basis (Q1, 2014: 68,800 boepd) and the company continued to be profitable despite the significant fall in global energy prices, the difficult macroeconomic environment in Egypt and the unpredictable security environment in Iraq.

The company delivered gross revenues of $115 million in the first quarter, although this represents a year on year decline (Q1, 2014: $180 million) due to the impact of lower hydrocarbon prices. Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were $55 million (Q1, 2014: $106 million). Similarly, net profit was positive but also lower at $12 million (Q1, 2014: $ 45 million) mainly due to lower hydrocarbon prices.

The company’s average realized net price for the first quarter of condensate and LPG was $51 and $41 per boe respectively as opposed to $106 and $76 per boe in Q1, 2014, in line with falling crude prices. The company managed to partially offset the first quarter’s lower hydrocarbon prices with a further reduction in G&A costs and lower royalty and tax charges.

As at March 31, 2015, the cash balance at $144 million was lower compared to $184 million at the end of 2014.

The reduction in the cash balance was due to expenditure linked to the remaining equity investments required for the Zora project together with the sukuk profit payment, while the company received no additional payments from the KRG linked to the peremptory order issued by the LCIA in October 2014, and the $18 million cash advance for local sales of condensates made in September 2014 was unwound.

The Zora project term loan achieved financial closure during the quarter with $29 million drawn down till March 31, 2015. Additionally, Dana Gas Egypt signed a financial lease with CorpLease for certain equipment (equipment lease tranche) for an amount of $12.2 million.

Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO, commented: “Dana Gas has maintained a high-level of production across our operations and has delivered positive revenue and profit numbers despite the steep fall in hydrocarbon prices, the difficult macroeconomic environment in Egypt and the unpredictable security environment in Iraq. Our operational success and financial stability can also be attributed to our continued focused approach to capital expenditure and our cost discipline.”

Dana Gas’s average quarterly net production from Egypt and KRI was 68,700 boepd (Q1, 2014: 68,800 boepd).

At the company’s AGM on April 30, shareholders elected a new, 12-member board of directors for a 3-year term. The new board elected Hamid Dhia Jafar as chairman and Rashid Al-Jarwan as vice chairman.