Gazprom Net Profit Down 5% in First Quarter
August 10 2016 - 4:39AM
Dow Jones News
By James Marson
MOSCOW--Russian state-controlled gas giant PAO Gazprom said its
first-quarter net profit slipped 5% to 362 billion rubles ($5.6
billion) despite an increase in revenue, as operating expenses
rose.
Gazprom said revenue increased by 5% to 1.74 trillion rubles.
Gas sales volume to the company's most-lucrative European market
jumped 49% to 58.1 billion cubic meters, but sales revenue from the
region rose only 22% as the average price fell. Sales revenue in
Russia rose 2% to 292 billion rubles, even though sales volume
slipped 6%.
Operating expenses for the quarter were up 24% to 1.45 trillion
rubles. The company said this rise was mainly caused by increased
expenses for gas relating to an asset-swap agreement between
Gazprom and Wintershall AG, a unit of German conglomerate BASF SE.
Gazprom's bottom line was also hit by a foreign-exchange loss of 25
billion rubles as the ruble weakened compared with a year
earlier.
Write to James Marson at james.marson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 10, 2016 04:24 ET (08:24 GMT)
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