text: Dear Shareholder, 
  
  I am pleased to report that 
  in 2004 Santos continued 
  to deliver on its strategy to 
  transform the Company into a 
  truly international exploration 
  and production business with 
  world-class operations. 
  
  While the year saw many 
  positives in terms of development 
  and exploration success, it did 
  not get off to a good start with 
  the incident on New Year’s Day 
  at the Moomba processing facility 
  in central Australia. 
  
  In addition to our focus 
  on shareholder value, Santos 
  takes its corporate social 
  responsibilities seriously and 
  is committed to sustainability 
  as a core value in all operations. 
  The Company’s first Sustainability 
  Review was released during 
  the year. 
  
  I am confident that the 
  significant achievements made 
  during 2004 provide Santos with 
  a solid platform from which to 
  achieve future growth with 
  increased value for our 
  shareholders. 
  
  Group sales revenue increased by 
  2.5% to a record $1,501 million, 
  earnings before interest and tax 
  improved by 23% to $574 million 
  and net profit after tax rose by 
  16% to $380 million. 
  
  Santos continues to be 
  recognised for the high quality 
  of its corporate governance, 
  receiving a measure of five out 
  of five for corporate governance 
  for the third successive year 
  in an independent report prepared 
  by leading accounting and 
  management firm, Horwath, 
  and the University of Newcastle. 
  
  A large proportion of the costs 
  and foregone revenues associated 
  with the repair of the damaged 
  plant and the reduced oil and 
  gas production volumes are 
  being recovered under 
  insurance policies. 