Repsol posts profit, beats expectations

MADRID, November 3, 2016 – Spain’s Repsol, the fifth-largest oil and gas company in Europe, posted a larger-than-expected Q3 profit on Thursday and said the firm had almost fulfilled its yearly cost-optimisation target.

At EUR 307 million, net income was up some 93% year-on-year, beating the expectations of analysts surveyed by Reuters, which averaged at EUR 296 million.

Though the company lost some EUR 28 million in upstream operations, that was an improvement from the EUR 395-million loss in Q3 of last year.

All units were in the black for the first nine months of the year, including upstream, which posted a profit of EUR 35 million, compared to a EUR 633-million loss in the first nine months of 2015, according to a company statement.

“Additionally, the company has increased its savings and synergies target for the full year to EUR 1.4 billion following the achievement of 98% of the initial objective of EUR 1.1 billion,” the press release said.

The company’s balance sheet was helped by the sale of a stake in Gas Natural.

By mid-day on Thursday, Repsol’s shares were up some EUR 0.14 to EUR 12.49 per share.