31st Jul 2015 06:32
LONDON (Alliance News) - BG Group PLC Friday reported a slump in revenue in the second quarter leading to an almost halving of earnings by one measure, as a large rise in production was not enough to offset the fall in oil and gas prices.
The FTSE 100-listed multi-commodity company reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of USD1.37 billion in the second quarter of 2015, down from USD2.64 billion a year earlier as revenue slumped to USD3.97 billion from USD5.50 billion.
A 19% rise in E&P production volumes and a 17% lift in LNG delivered volumes was not enough to offset the fall in oil and gas prices compared to a year earlier.
Earnings before interest and tax plummeted to USD627 million from USD1.95 billion, but pretax profit rose to USD2.96 billion from USD2.12 billion a year earlier.
BG Group maintained its interim dividend of 14.38 cents per share as expected.
"We achieved a number of key milestones during the quarter while continuing to deliver on our cost and efficiency programmes. Production reached record levels, more than doubling in both Australia and Brazil, and we now expect output for the year to be in the upper half of our forecast range," said Chief Executive Helge Lund. "This performance reflects our actions to stabilise and de-risk the business and our teams remain focused on delivering our 2015 commitments."
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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