Niko Resources Plunges After Gas Reserves Cut

Niko Resources Ltd. (NKO), a Canada-based natural-gas producer, dropped the most in 19 years today after the company’s gas reserves fell more than estimated.

Niko tumbled 39 percent to C$13.21 at the close in Toronto, the most since April 1993. The shares have declined 73 percent this year.

Niko, which owns a 10 percent interest in the D6 block off India’s east coast, cut the estimate for its share of reserves to 193 billion cubic feet as of March 31, the company said in a statement yesterday after the close in Toronto.

Niko’s total reserves on March 31 were 377 billion cubic feet, the company said. That’s about a 69 percent decline from a year earlier before adjusting for production, Alan Knowles, a Calgary-based analyst at Haywood Securities Inc., said in a note today.

“The magnitude of the change is considerably greater than our expectations,” Knowles said.

Investors had been expecting a drop of about 10 percent to 20 percent, Rafi Khouri, a Calgary-based analyst at Raymond James Ltd., said in a note today.

“We recommend Niko shares to investors seeking exposure to high impact exploration plays, with a tolerance for risk,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Liezel Hill in Toronto at lhill30@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net; David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net