New Times Energy Corporation Limited provided earnings guidance for the six months ended 30 June 2017. For the period, the company announced that based on the Board's preliminary review of the unaudited management accounts of the Group for the six months ended 30 June 2017 which have not been confirmed or reviewed by the auditor of the Company, and the information currently available to the Group, the loss of the Group for the six months ended 30 June 2017 is expected to increase by over 800% as compared to the corresponding period of 2016. The increase in the loss of the Group was mainly attributable to (i) the recognition of the impairment loss on exploration and evaluation assets for the exploration and pre-spudding activities in respect of the Tartagal Oriental and Morillo Concessions operated by the Group in the Province of Salta in northern Argentina; (ii) the recognition of a loss on the change in fair value of financial assets through profit or loss in respect of the equity securities listed in Hong Kong held by the Group; (iii) the recognition of the impairment loss on the available-for-sale investments in respect of the Group's unlisted equity investments; and (iv) a decrease in gross profit mainly due to a decrease in revenue resulting from the low oil price environment that continues to persist in Argentina and in the international market and a decrease in the quantity of oil sold.