Seymour Pierce has said that oil and gas firm BG Group's third-quarter results on the whole represent a 'mixed bag of contradictory statements and transactions'.

BG reported a 16% increase in third-quarter earnings to $1.19bn, slightly ahead of the consensus forecast of $1.1bn.

Production was 5% higher driven by the strong performance in its LNG business. However, shares dropped on Wednesday after the firm announced that they would be surprisingly selling 40% of certain interest in its Queensland Curtis LNG project in Australia for $1.93bn, as well as a sale of LNG from BG's global LNG portfolio.

Shares were down 13.78% at 1,146.34 in mid-morning trade.

Seymour analyst Sam Wahab said: "The company currently has an asset divestment programme that remains ongoing to reduce their net debt exposure; this would suggest that the disposal of their Australian LNG interest was forced upon them rather than a strategic decision.

"With the company also confirming that production in 2013 would now be in line with this year, tempering market expectations, investors are unaware as to how the company will maintain current earnings. This is compounded by the company's significant investment in gas related exploration with diminishing spot prices."

Whilst Seymour Pierce does not have a rating and target price for BG Group, Wahab said: "In view of BP's consensus beating Q3 results this week, the market may see their shares as representing better value than BG's going forward."

Related share prices
BG Group (BG.) share price