LUKoil, Russia's largest privately-owned oil company, posted a 28.5% year-on-year increase in its 2010 net profit to $9.006 billion to US GAAP, LUKoil said on Thursday.
LUKoil's sales revenues in 2010 grew 29.4% year-on-year to $104.956 billion, the company said in a statement.
The company's net profit was lower compared than analysts' expectations in a RIA Novosti poll, whose average net profit forecast amounted to $9.4 billion, while revenues exceeded analysts' expectations of $104.293 billion.
LUKoil's 2010 EBITDA rose 19.1% to $16.049 billion, the oil giant said, attributing the increase primarily to higher prices for hydrocarbons in 2010.
Capital expenditure, including non-cash operations, increased 4.7% to $6.8 billion in 2010. The company's strict financial discipline helped generate record free cash flow, which hit $6.930 billion in 2010 compared to $2.360 billion in 2009.
MOSCOW, March 10 (RIA Novosti)
