San Juan Basin Royalty Trust Cancels June Distribution, Net Deficit Nears $7M
Summary
San Juan Basin Royalty Trust announced it will not declare a June cash distribution, citing a growing net deficit of $6.94 million from excess production costs and low natural gas prices. This marks the latest in a series of missed distributions as the Trust continues to face significant financial challenges.
Key Events
-
No June Cash Distribution
The Trust will not declare a monthly cash distribution to unitholders for June 2026, extending the period of missed distributions to over a year.
-
Growing Net Deficit
The cumulative net deficit from excess production costs increased to approximately $6.94 million, up from $6.36 million reported last month.
-
Conditions for Resuming Distributions
Distributions will not resume until the excess production cost deficit is fully repaid, a $2 million cash reserve is replenished, and the $944,470 outstanding balance on the Line of Credit is repaid.
-
Ongoing Financial Distress
This announcement follows previous reports of negative distributable income, a going concern warning, and depleted cash reserves, indicating a deepening financial crisis for the Trust.
Analysis
This filing confirms the ongoing and worsening financial distress for San Juan Basin Royalty Trust, which has now missed distributions for over a year. The growing net deficit from excess production costs, now at $6.94 million, combined with continued low natural gas prices, means the Trust is unable to generate distributable income. The conditions for resuming distributions are increasingly challenging, requiring repayment of the deficit, replenishment of a $2 million reserve, and repayment of a nearly $1 million line of credit. This situation fundamentally undermines the purpose of a royalty trust, which is to provide regular cash distributions to unitholders, and reinforces the previously disclosed going concern warning, especially as the stock trades near its 52-week low.
At the time of this filing, SJT was trading at $3.12 on NYSE in the Energy & Transportation sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $145.4M. The 52-week trading range was $3.09 to $6.84. This filing was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 9 out of 10.