Island ‘will ride out €2.5m losses’

ISLAND Oil and Gas has said it is confident in riding out the economic downturn, despite posting a loss of £2.24 million (€2.5m) for the first half of its financial year.

The loss generated by the Dublin-based company — which reports in sterling and has its shares listed on London’s AIM market — for the six months to the end of January, compared negatively to a profit of £418,000 for the same period last year.

Similarly, an operating profit of £900,000 for the first half last year turned into a loss of £400,000 for the latest six-month operating period. There was also a loss per share of £1.92, which was down from earnings per share of 15p last year.