SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed KrisEnergy announced on Thursday that net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015, jumped to US$46.3 million (S$61.32 million) from a net loss of US$18 million in the year-ago period.

The upstream oil & gas company said this was largely due to the recognition of one-off gains from its acquisition of Block A Aceh and transfer of working interest for Block 105 and Block 120.

Revenue for the quarter was down 46.1 per cent at US$11.42 million from US$21.21 million as the average oil price realised by the group halved to US$53.20 per barrel from US$108.04/bbl in the year-ago period, and on lower gas prices.

Said Keith Cameron, KrisEnergy's chief executive officer: "There is no doubt that these are challenging times for the upstream oil and gas sector. The crash in oil prices is reflected directly on the bottom line but gas prices in Asia have remained relatively resilient. This supports our strategy of a balance of oil and gas in the portfolio, which will be underpinned when two oil developments in Thailand begin production in the second half of the year. These fields will bring our oil/gas production ratio to around 50:50. It is essential that we continue to focus on cost reductions in this lower oil price environment."

Earnings per share for the quarter stood at 4.4 US cents, while net asset value per share was 46 US cents.

No dividends were declared for the quarter.