Chesapeake highlights investor wariness

摘要

Chesapeake Energy, the second-largest US natural gas producer, is shrugging off speculation that it is sliding towards bankruptcy. But a 92pc drop in the firm’s share price over the last year highlights growing investor wariness towards the oil and gas sector, especially when companies are grappling with high levels of debt and falling cash flow. Shares in Chesapeake, once a poster child for the US shale boom, have fallen by almost two-thirds this year alone, compared with an 11pc drop in the US Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Chesapeake issued a statement on 8 February, clarifying that corporate restructuring specialist law firm Kirkland and Ellis has been among its legal counsel since 2010 and continues to advise it “to further strengthen its balance sheet following its recent debt exchange”. The company has no plans to pursue bankruptcy, according to the statement.