Troubled exploration company Ramco expects to sell its Seven Heads gas field off Ireland's south coast by the end of the year.

Speaking at the publication of interim results showing a near £19 million (€27.9 million) fall in turnover, chairman Steve Ramp said negotiations for the sale of the field were in their final stages.

Afterwards, managing director Steven Bertram said the London-listed company was aiming to sell the property by the end of the year, but added that it could not guarantee a timeframe.

He would not comment on the identity of any prospective buyers.

The company was forced to take a once-off charge of £93 million last year after it emerged that the Seven Heads field was not producing gas at the rate the company had predicted before bringing it into production.

It also meant that it was forced to buy gas on the open market to honour supply contracts it had completed on the basis of projected production from the field.

Yesterday, Ramco's results showed that turnover in the first six months of this year plummeted to £7.3 million from £25.5 million in the same period last year.

The drop in sales was almost entirely due to lower gas sales from the Seven Heads field.