Helios Faces Funding Pressure After A$23.1m Annual Loss
Helios Energy has posted a A$23.1 million FY2026 loss after writing off A$21.35 million in exploration assets. Its Presidio project retains a 17.5 million-barrel-of-oil-equivalent 2C contingent resource estimate, but the company warns that continued operations depend on further funding.
- A$21.35 million exploration and evaluation asset write-off
- A$23.1 million FY2026 net loss
- A$1.73 million cash balance at year end
- 17.5 MMBOE 2C contingent resource estimate retained
- Farm-in partners sought for conventional and unconventional drilling
Exploration write-off drives sharp increase in loss
Helios Energy Ltd (ASX:HE8) has drawn a hard line through A$21.35 million of exploration and evaluation assets, turning a A$23.1 million FY2026 net loss into the central fact of its annual report. The charge was more than 30 times the previous year’s A$641,877 write-off and reduced the carrying value of exploration assets to A$23.15 million.
The company said the write-off followed a reassessment of the recoverability of expenditure across the Presidio Oil and Gas Project in Texas. It decided not to undertake further activities in areas including the Presidio 52#1 well, the Candelaria prospect and other projects outside its continuing core focus. The remaining assets relate principally to the Presidio 141#2, Quinn Creek 141#1 and Quinn Mesa 113-1 wells, petroleum rights, leases, exploration data and seismic interpretation.
The accounting loss was largely non-cash, but the funding picture remains pressing. Helios used A$1.25 million in operating cash during the year and held A$1.73 million in cash at 30 June 2026. The accounts identify a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern, with future operations principally dependent on further equity-market or debt funding and management of expenditure.
Presidio resource estimate remains contingent
Against that financial strain, Helios retained a net 2C contingent resource estimate of 17.5 million barrels of oil equivalent at Presidio, comprising 6.47 million barrels of oil, 46.5 billion cubic feet of gas and 3.26 million barrels of natural gas liquids. The wider 1C to 3C range runs from 13.3 MMBOE to 21.7 MMBOE.
Those figures are not proved or probable reserves. Under the SPE PRMS 2018 definition reproduced in the report, contingent resources are potentially recoverable from known accumulations but are not currently considered commercially recoverable because one or more contingencies remain. Helios also reported that technical work identified a 15,500-acre unconventional “sweet spot” across the Ojinaga Formation and Eagle Ford Shale, alongside five conventional targets including the Marshall and Croft proposed locations.
The company has begun sales processes for potential farm-in joint venture partners to fund two conventional vertical wells and a horizontal well in the unconventional area. No partner or binding drilling arrangement is disclosed in the annual report, leaving the next test of the Presidio thesis outside the company’s current balance sheet. Helios raised A$1.51 million through a placement at A$0.003 a share during the final quarter and issued a further 33.3 million shares to extinguish A$100,000 of convertible note debt, taking issued shares to 3.88 billion.
Bottom Line?
Helios has preserved a sizeable contingent resource on paper, but the next meaningful step depends on converting farm-in discussions into funded drilling before the cash position tightens further.
Questions in the middle?
- Can Helios secure a farm-in partner for the Marshall, Croft or unconventional drilling targets?
- What production and recovery economics will support the retained Presidio asset value?
- How much additional equity or debt funding will be required before drilling can advance?
