YPF YPF Sociedad Anonima

MADRID—Repsol SA said Thursday its first-quarter net profit fell by almost half as falling energy prices hit Spain's largest oil company.

Repsol said net profit in the first quarter was €434 million ($498.7 million), down 43% from a year earlier.

The oil producer said adjusted profit, which excludes gains or losses in the value of inventories and one-off items, fell 38% to €572 million in the three months to March from €928 million a year earlier. Net profit in the first quarter of 2015, Repsol said, had been boosted when the company received compensation from Argentina's government for its nationalization of Repsol unit YPF SA.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, known as Ebitda, rose 6.7% in the first quarter to €1.03 billion, compared with the first quarter of 2015.

Repsol's net debt was €12 billion in the first quarter of this year, well above the €126 million reported a year earlier. Repsol's purchase of Talisman Energy has swelled the company's debt load.

Net debt was slightly higher compared with the fourth quarter.

Average prices of Brent, the global benchmark for oil, fell to a 12-year low of $26.21 on Feb. 11, Repsol highlighted in a regulatory filing. The average Brent price was $33.90 a barrel during the first quarter of this year, 37% less than the first quarter of 2015, the company added.

Repsol has stepped up cost-cutting efforts in recent quarters as the price of oil has tumbled. In February, Repsol lowered its dividend to save cash after reporting a €2 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2015.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2016 03:55 ET (07:55 GMT)

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