By Alexander Kolyandr
MOSCOW--Russia's second largest natural gas producer OAO Novatek
(NVTK.RS) said Friday its 2014 net profit more than halved,
reflecting lower natural gas prices and ruble weakening.
The company, targeted by the Western sanctions in response to
Moscow's policy toward Ukraine, said its net profit for the year
fell to 37.3 billion rubles ($610 million) from 110.0 billion
rubles in 2013.
The company blamed a sharp depreciation of the ruble, which lost
about a half of its value against the dollar in 2014, for the
decline of its profit.
Novatek said it sustained a RUB46.7 billion loss from the ruble
depreciation, mostly due to the revaluation of its
dollar-denominated debt.
However, the company said the effect will be mitigated by the
rise of ruble income from the export sales.
Novatek's revenue for the year increased by a fifth to RUB357.6
billion.
The company said Western sanctions doesn't significantly impede
its operations and business activities, nor does it affect the its
assets and exchange-listed shares and debt, and doesn't materially
affect the company's financial position.
Write to Alexander Kolyandr at alexander.kolyandr@wsj.com
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