Repsol Net Profit, Excluding YPF, Up 12.4% To 643 Million Euros
Repsol said Thursday that in the first quarter of the year it posted net income of 643 million euros, 12.4% higher than the 572 million euros reported in the year- earlier period. Including YPF, quarterly net profit rose to 792 million euros, an improvement of 3.5% from 765 million euros the previous year.
The improved results are mainly due to the improvement of Repsol’s crude oil and gas realization prices, which increased 15.5% and 12.1% respectively, as well as the return to normality of activity in Libya and the excellent results achieved by the LNG division.
Repsol’s operating income rose 8.7% to 1.33 billion euros in the first three months of the year compared with 1.223 billion euros reported in the year-earlier period.
Business management led to a 33.5% growth in the Upstream unit’s operating income and a 37.4% improvement in the LNG division’s results. The Downstream unit’s operating income declined 24.6%, directly affected by the financial crisis that had an impact on Chemicals, LPG and Marketing. The increase in refining margins in Spain and the greater optimization of production partially offset this impact.
The Repsol Group’s net financial debt, excluding Gas Natural Fenosa and YPF, was 4.174 billion euros at the end of the quarter–a reduction of 662 million euros compared with the net debt at the close of 2011. Especially significant is the high EBITDA generated in the period, reaching 1.926 billion euros, 10.5% higher than the 1.743 billion in the year-earlier period.
In addition, shares held by Repsol as treasury stock representing 5% of were placed among professional and qualified investors in January 2012, for 1.364 billion euros. In the first quarter, the interim dividend for 2011 paid was paid for a total amount of 635 million euros.
Repsol said it retains a strong financial position with sufficient liquidity to cover 3.5 times its short-term debt maturities. The net debt to capital employed ratio, excluding Gas Natural Fenosa, YPF and Repsol YPF Gas was 12.8% at the end of the period, 22.1% when taking preference shares into account.