LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Dominion Petroleum Ltd. posted a much wider first-half loss, hit by litigation costs, but expressed confidence of an 'extremely bright future' for the company.

For the six months to June 30, 2008, the Bermuda-based company's pretax loss widened to $15.06 million from $3.53 million a year earlier, hit by a litigation charge of $8.34 million. Other administrative expenses rose to $5.17 million from $2.33 million.

Dominion settled legal disputes with former finance director Carlo Seidel. Mr. Seidel retained his shares and options in the company and Dominion also paid $5 million to cover loss of office and costs.