MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian-British joint oil venture TNK-BP said on Thursday its US GAAP net profit had dropped 58% year-on-year in January-March 2009 to $747 million.
The company's revenues in the reporting period declined 50% to $6.33 billion.
Operating expenses declined 23% to $883 million, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 50% to $1.49 billion, and operating cash was down 45% to $1.18 billion.
The company's net debt shrank 20% to $5.97 billion and organic CAPEX declined 16% to $711 million while major project spending was stable at $321 million in January-March 2009.
"This is a strong performance, despite a very challenging environment compared to last year. Safety performance has continued to improve, production levels are higher, and investment discipline has been maintained, with healthy cash generation," TNK-BP CEO Tim Summers said in a statement.
In the first quarter of 2009, the price for the Russian Urals export blend fell by 53% to $43.7 per barrel relative to the same period of last year, the company said.
TNK-BP is currently carrying out prospecting and exploration of oil deposits in West Siberia, the Volga-Urals region, East Siberia and on Sakhalin Island.
