Russia’s largest oil company said Wednesday its net profit in the third quarter of the year rose nearly 10 percent to reach $2.8 billion despite higher taxes.
Rosneft said in a report that its profit rose from $2.6 billion in July-September last year to $2.8 billion in the third quarter this year. Revenues went up nearly 60 percent, to $24.6 billion.
But Rosneft’s net profit remained unchanged compared to the second quarter.
Analysts had expected the oil firm to post weak results because this is the first full quarter since its key new field, Vankor, lost its export duty preferences.
Rosneft is the first major Russian oil company to report third-quarter results this year.
Alexei Kokin from Moscow-based investment bank UralSib said in a note to investors earlier this week that he expected the state-owned producer to do worse than most other companies in quarter-on-quarter terms as its tax burden increased to the industry average.
But the higher taxes were offset by a weaker exchange rate of the ruble and strong production results. Rosneft’s crude output rose by 3 percent compared to a year ago.
The Moscow-based company in August teamed up with U.S. Company Exxon Mobil in a multibillion-dollar deal to develop offshore oil fields in the Russian Arctic — one of the last regions with immense and untapped hydrocarbon deposits — in return for access to resources in the Gulf of Mexico.
Rosneft also announced Wednesday that it had hired a BP executive to advise its chief executive on offshore issues. Laurence Bates previously served as a vice president at BP’s Russian venture, TNK-BP.
Rosneft quoted its CEO Eduard Khudainatov as saying that this appointment is designed to boost the company’s performance and “ensure a rapid switchover to the best global business practices.”
The government has recently confirmed its commitment to drive down its share in the company by selling 15 percent next year for about $6.7 billion, but it intends to keep control.
Rosneft’s shares were up 3.4 percent on the MICEX stock exchange Wednesday evening, less than an hour before the closing.
