Cnooc Beats Estimates as Spending Cuts Cushion Crude Crash
- Profits fall 66% to 20.2 billion yuan, lowest since 2004
- Oil and gas industry facing `cold winter,' chairman says
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Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil and gas explorer, posted annual profit that exceeded analyst estimates as cost cuts countered a decline in energy prices.
Net income fell 66 percent to 20.2 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) from 60.2 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based explorer said Thursday. That beat the 17.7 billion yuan mean of 18 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Output rose nearly 15 percent, capital expenditures fell 38 percent to 66.5 billion yuan, and the company posted a 2.75 billion yuan impairment charge. Cnooc reported a final dividend of HK$0.25 per share.