Russian oil giant Rosneft yesterday said its net profit fell by 22% in the second quarter from a year earlier, a stronger result than expected as the weak rouble partly offset falling oil prices.
The company reported second-quarter profits of 134bn roubles ($1.99bn), after analysts interviewed by Interfax news agency had predicted profits of 92bn roubles ($1.4bn).
Rosneft’s earnings were below expectations, however, at 1.312tn roubles ($19.5bn).
Russia’s oil and gas sector has been hit by a 50% drop in oil prices since last year, but at the same time the ruble has lost the same amount of value, hiking rouble earnings for oil and gas sold in dollars.
Rosneft president Igor Sechin was quoted as saying in a company statement that the first half of 2015 “was characterized by high fluctuation of oil price and exchange rate, increased transportation tariffs and tax burden, as well as high interest expenses due to change in the interest base rate.”
“In these conditions the Company concentrated its efforts on maintaining the current production capacity while continuing a programme of optimisation of operational, administrative costs and capital expenses, and also on prioritising financing of new projects’ development,” Sechin said.
Rosneft said it was producing an average of 5.1mn barrels of oil-equivalent per day in the second quarter year-on-year, a figure down 1.0% from the first quarter of 2015.

Auchan
French supermarket group Auchan reported yesterday significantly lower first half 2015 profits due to heavy exceptional charges and continued sluggish activity in France.
Auchan said profits in the first half of 2015 dropped to €31mn ($34.8mn) compared to €221mn during the same period last year.
The company said profits for the first six months were reduced by exceptional costs of €50mn — which included restructuring in Italy — while the first half of 2014 had benefited from one-off income of 150mn euros.
“Without these exceptional elements, our net profit would have progressed by more than three%,” noted Auchan financial director Xavier de Mezerac.
Income from continuing operations declined 53.3% to €157mn, and operating income of €326mn was 31.9% lower than during the first half last year.
By contrast, operating profit as measured by earnings before interest, tax and amortisation increased 17% to €376mn due in large part to improved margins in Asia.  Excluding gasoline, Auchan said global sales grew by 2.6%, fuelled by business generated through expansion.
The group’s principal home market of France, however, continued to drag as lower household spending eroded Auchan’s sales by 2.9%.

Zimplats
Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum producer Zimplats reported a record $74mn loss for the full year yesterday after being hit by a hefty one-off tax repayment and falling global sales of the metal.
It was the only second time in the company’s history that it has reported an annual loss, the other being in 2009.
Zimplats, which is 87% owned by Impala Platinum Holdings, the world’s second-largest platinum producer, said it had to pay an additional $55.3mn in taxes during the year to June to cover the period 2004-2014, after losing a court case in a long-running dispute with the tax agency over payment of additional profits tax.
In addition, it said its revenue fell 29% to $408mn for the year after sales of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold declined 20%.
Platinum’s spot price XPT= is pinned near 6-1/2 year lows below $1,000 an ounce.
Zimplats said its production of platinum matte fell to 190,027 ounces, compared to 239,660 ounces in 2014, due to weaker demand.
Its full-year loss of $74mn after tax compared to a $97mn profit a year ago.
Zimplats said it had started upgrading its mothballed base metals refinery to process platinum locally but would still send it to South Africa for the last stages of refining.
The company is due to release full details of its annual results next month.

Bertelsmann
German media giant Bertelsmann said yesterday it expects sales and underlying earnings to increase in the whole of 2015 after a strong first half of the year.
“Bertelsmann achieved strong growth in revenues, operating (profit) and net income in the first half of 2015,” the group said in a statement.
In the first six months, net profit jumped by 55% to €398mn. Operating or underlying profit, as measured by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, climbed by 4.4% to 1.063bn euros and revenues rose by 2.5% to €8.04bn.
Bertelsmann, which is family owned and not listed on the stock exchange, owns the television group RTL, book publisher Penguin Random House and magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr.