Vermilion Energy - Back to basics

Vermilion Energy’s geographically diverse portfolio spreads geopolitical and pricing risk across different economies. The company has grown both organically and inorganically, and has delivered on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) objectives, being highly rated across multiple ESG rating platforms. Notwithstanding this, Vermilion has been affected by COVID-19 and has had to reassess its strategy on cash returns to shareholders. The board suspended the dividend, appointed Lorenzo Donadeo and Curtis Hicks as executive chairman and president of the company respectively, and created an executive committee. The committee’s mission is to reinstate Vermilion’s core business principles and restore investor confidence in this diverse, flexible operating company. We have updated our valuation using FY21e metrics, resulting in a blended valuation of C$9.6/share. However, the valuation remains highly sensitive to commodity price assumptions.