Soco International surprised investors with its starring role as the villain in Virunga, the Academy Award-nominated documentary about oil drilling in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It may have another shock in store: a dividend.
Oil companies have slashed spending and axed investor payouts in recent months in response to the collapse in the price of crude. The FTSE 250 explorer run by Ed Story, a Texan businessman known for his patronage of elephant polo, above, could buck the trend. The company unveils annual results on Thursday and analysts at Barclays believe Story could announce an investor handout of $60m (£40m). The dividend would be far less than last year’s $120m, but welcome nonetheless given the turmoil in the sector.
Soco, which has traded in relative obscurity on the London Stock Exchange since 1997, came under fire last year with the launch of Virunga.
The documentary portrays the battle by conservationists and locals to stop Soco from drilling for oil in the Virunga national park, a haven for mountain gorillas.