DAVY VIEW

Cairn Energy delivered a very solid first half, beating expectations on a number of fronts and also scoring highly on performance metrics. The group has positioned itself to increase its portfolio of producing assets over the medium term and it has also secured prospective exploration acreage positions. It is hard to pick holes in its performance but also note that, like its peers, it is struggling to break out of the cycle of oil price swings and market appetite for risk.