Woodside Profit Falls 39%, Weighs on Dividend Payout
August 18 2015 - 09:50PM
Dow Jones News
MELBOURNE, Australia--Woodside Petroleum Ltd.'s (WPL.AU)
half-year profit fell by 39% after the company was hit by the
recent slump in oil prices.
The weakened earnings weighed on the energy company's interim
dividend payout--cutting it by 41% from a year ago.
Net profit fell to US$679 million in the six months through
June, from US$1.11 billion a year earlier, Woodside said
Wednesday.
Stripping out one-time items, including a US$31 million gain the
year before on the sale of assets, earnings for the period were 40%
lower, also at US$679 million. That was in line with the US$673
median of five broker forecasts compiled by The Wall Street
Journal.
Chief Executive Peter Coleman said the company continued to
focus on cost-cutting opportunities and efficiency. The company
also said it would pay an interim dividend of US$0.66 a share, down
from US$1.11 last year.
Australia's largest oil-and-natural-gas producer by output
behind mining and energy company BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) last month
recorded a 47% fall in second-quarter sales revenue, as production
dropped 15% and sales volumes declined by 9.3%--due to the fall in
oil-linked gas prices and maintenance at its Pluto liquefied
natural-gas plant.
The Perth-based company reiterated on Wednesday that it was
targeting production for the year of between 86 million and 94
million barrels of oil equivalent.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2015 21:35 ET (01:35 GMT)
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