2016-04-27 20:30:00
TOTAL DOWN 40%
Oil refining helped Total return to profitability in the first quarter, though earnings remain well below the level of this time last year.
The French oil company said on Wednesday it had made $1.6bn in adjusted net income in the first three months of the year. This marks a turnround from the previous quarter, when it made a loss of $1.8bn, but remains some way below the $2.6bn it made in the first quarter of last year.
The profits beat analysts' forecasts of $1.2bn, and were boosted by better than expected performance by Total's oil refineries. Profits in the refining and chemicals division were 3 per cent higher than last year at $1.1bn.
This helped make up for a big drop in profits from Total's exploration and production business, which fell 63 per cent on last year to $498m.
These upstream activities have been the hardest hit by the falling oil price. For the first three months of this year, the average price of a barrel of Brent crude was $34. In the previous quarter it was $44, and a year ago it was $54.
-----
More:
