In September 2012, Niko's board of directors decided to suspend the Company's quarterly dividend in connection with the commencement of the Company's significant exploration drilling program. The timing and level of future dividends, if any, will be reviewed periodically by the board of directors.
In December 2012, the Company repaid its Cdn$310 million convertible debentures due December 30, 2012 at par plus accrued interest, using the net proceeds of $273 million of offerings of common shares and convertible notes, along with cash on hand and advances under the Company's credit facility. The Cdn$115 million principal amount of convertible senior unsecured notes issued in December 2012 mature on December 31, 2017 and bear interest at a rate of seven percent, with interest payable semi-annually in arrears on June 30 and December 31 of each year, commencing June 30, 2013. The notes are convertible at the option of each holder into common shares at a conversion price of Cdn$11.30 per share. After December 31, 2015, the notes are redeemable by the Company, in whole or in part from time to time, provided that the market price of the Company's common shares (defined as the weighted average trading price of the common shares for the twenty consecutive trading days ending five trading days prior to the issue of the notice of redemption) is at least 130% of the conversion price. The Company has the right to use common shares to satisfy some or all of its obligations for the notes.
At December 31, 2012, the Company had unrestricted cash of $44 million and working capital deficit (current assets less current liabilities) of $19 million.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2013, funds from operations are forecast to be approximately $25 million and capital expenditures, net of proceeds of farm-outs and other arrangements, are forecast to be approximately $25 million.
For fiscal 2014, the Company's planned capital spending will be focused on development activities in India and exploration activities in Indonesia and Trinidad. The level of capital spending is flexible with decisions about capital spending to be made throughout the year. The Company is currently in negotiations with various third parties regarding farm-outs, non-core asset dispositions and other arrangements and the Company is confident that the combination of ongoing funds from operations from its producing properties and the proceeds it expects to receive from some or all of the farm-outs, asset dispositions and other arrangements that the Company has been working on will provide appropriate funds for the Company's capital spending plans.
The Company has a number of contingencies as at December 31, 2012 that could significantly impact liquidity. Refer to note 14 to the consolidated financial statements for the nine months ended December 31, 2012 for a complete discussion of these contingencies.
SUMMARY OF QUARTERLY RESULTS
The following tables set forth selected financial information, in thousands of U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated, for the eight most recently completed quarters to December 31, 2012:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30, Dec. 31,Three months ended 2012 2012 2012 2012----------------------------------------------------------------------------Oil and natural gas revenue (1) 71,434 55,099 58,080 46,515Net income (loss) (183,324) (92,121) (28,573) (93,709)Per share Basic and diluted($) (3.55) (1.78) (0.55) (1.64)---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30, Dec. 31,Three months ended 2011 2011 2011 2011----------------------------------------------------------------------------Oil and natural gas revenue (1) 94,168 88,277 86,810 74,789Net income (loss) 6,234 (54,983) (43,916) (40,405)Per share Basic and diluted($) 0.12 (1.07) (0.85) (0.78) (1) Oil and natural gas revenue is oil and natural gas sales less royalties and profit petroleum expense.
