EnQuest books $335 mln in impairments after oil price plunge

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - North-Sea-focused oil producer EnQuest (LSE: ENQ.L - news) booked $335 million in impairment charges last year due to the sharp decline in oil prices and reported a slight decrease in full-year pre-tax profit of $363 million.

EnQuest, which specialises in maximising oil output from mature fields that are not profitable enough for big oil producers, reported a 5 percent year-on-year rise in revenue as it produced more oil from its growing portfolio.

The oil producer had already announced earlier this year it would slash its 2015 spending programme by 40 percent and on Thursday confirmed its spending target of $600 million.

The company said it had hedged 10 million barrels of its 2016 output and that it was targeting annual production of 33,000-36,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for this year. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps. Editing by Jane Merriman)