Total Q3 Profit Down On Weak Production, Prices; Lifts Dividend

(RTTNews) - French oil and gas company Total S.A. (TOT, TTFNF, TTA.L) reported Wednesday a decline in third-quarter profit, reflecting lower production and price in the upstream business, despite strong profit in refining & chemicals business. Further, the company, which recently lost its chief Christophe de Margerie in a plane crash, announced higher dividend.

For the third quarter, net income group share dropped 6 percent to $3.46 billion from last year's $3.68 billion.

Adjusted net income, which excluded certain items, stood at $3.56 billion, or $1.56 per share, while the prior-year adjusted figures were $3.63 billion, or $1.59 per share. Expressed in euro, adjusted earnings per share were 1.17 euros, a 2 percent decrease.

Adjusted operating income from business segments dropped 11 percent year-over-year to $6.13 billion, and adjusted net operating income fell 2 percent.

In the quarter, the upstream business was resilient, and the downstream performance was strong, the company noted.

Upstream profit dropped 10 percent, mainly reflecting lower Brent price, and profit from marketing & services declined 16 percent. These were largely offset by refining & chemicals business, which recorded a 70 percent growth in quarterly profit.

The firm's sales for the quarter dropped 2 percent to $60.36 billion from $61.84 billion in the previous year.

During the quarter, Hydrocarbon production was 2,122 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day or kboe/d, an 8 percent decline from last year.

The production was negatively impacted by the expiration of the Adco license in the UAE, while production growth from start-ups, mainly in Angola benefited the results.

Excluding Adco, hydrocarbon production dropped 1.5 percent.

Liquids production dropped 11 percent, and that of gas fell 4 percent.

The Brent price dropped 8 percent from last year to $101.9 per barrel. Average liquids price declined 12 percent, and both gas and hydrocarbon prices were down 11 percent each.

Further, the company announced interim dividend for the third quarter of 0.61 euro per share, 3.4 percent higher than last year, payable in March 2015.

Looking ahead, Total noted that the Brent price has been weaker since the end of the third quarter, and that it maintains a medium and long term outlook for the price that is higher than those seen since the start of October.

The company added that it is continuing to pursue the asset sales program, notably with the announcement of its plan to sell Bostik. The company said it will fully achieve its asset sales target for 2012 - 2014 period of $15 billion to $20 billion.

In Paris, Total shares were gaining 0.62 euros or 1.36 percent, and trading at 46.12 euros.