MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - World's largest nickel producer, Norilsk Nickel, said Monday its net profit calculated to Russian Accounting Standards was 77.947 billion rubles ($3 billion) in the first half of 2007, up 31 times from 2.494 billion rubles ($98 million) in the same period last year.
In the second quarter, the net profit was 43.286 billion rubles ($1.7 billion), up 24.8% quarter-on-quarter from 34.679 billion rubles ($1.36 billion).
The company, co-owned by Russian tycoons Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov, explains the surge in profits by increased prices for its products - nickel, cobalt, and copper.
