Source: Sharecast
Canaccord Genuity said Harbour's H1 results pointed to strong production levels, reduced operating costs, "excellent" free cash flow generation, and an "impressive" reduction in net debt.
The Canadian bank also noted that Harbour announced a $100m share buyback for 2025, in addition to the approximately $455m of dividends guided to, for a total of roughly $550m of shareholder returns for 2025.
"Given the uncertainties some have had over the upside potential of the Harbour/Wintershall DEA combination, we believe the progress made in H1 should put most to rest with the Harbour team proving its operational prowess over multiple jurisdictions," said Canaccord Genuity.
"In our view, the area of most interest is the FCF performance and net debt reduction achieved in the first half. Thanks to better-than-expected production, timely hedging and improved cost management, the free cash has really driven the material reduction in net debt. While we do expect a slight reversion here in H2, this is our first real sign of what the combined businesses can do."
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com