By Ilan Brat
MADRID--Spanish oil major Repsol SA (REP.MC) said Thursday its
second-quarter profit increased 95% on the year, driven by capital
gains from the sale of stock in its former Argentinian unit and
bonds the company received in compensation for its
nationalization.
Repsol said net profit was 520 million euros ($700.1 million) in
the quarter, compared with EUR267 million a year ago. In the
spring, Repsol settled the legal dispute that arose with Argentina
after it nationalized YPF SA (YPF, YPFD.BA) in 2012 and reaped more
than $6 billion by selling shares in YPF and compensatory
Argentinian government bonds.
However, adjusted net income--a figure that excludes gains or
losses in the value of inventories and one-off items--decreased
2.7% to EUR390 million from EUR401 million in the same period a
year earlier.
The adjusted result was well above a forecast of EUR279 million
based on an average of 34 analysts' estimates compiled by
Factset.
Analysts had expected the protests and security concerns that
shuttered Repsol's highly profitable main production area in Libya
during the quarter to weigh more on its results. Total production
decreased 5.8% in the quarter to 338,000 barrels of oil equivalent
a day, in part because output that ramped up in Bolivia, Peru and
other parts of the world helped offset a lack of output from
Libya.
Higher oil and gas prices, as well as profits from the
downstream refining and petrochemicals, helped offset lower
production.
Write to Ilan Brat at ilan.brat@wsj.com