Brazil's state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras announced Monday that it had a net profit of 6.92 billion reais (4.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2008 (1Q08), up 68 percent over the same period in 2007.
The company attributed the rise to an increase in the country's oil and gas production and in the international prices for those products, as well as to a reduction in its operational costs.
According to Petrobras, the average oil and gas production increased 2 percent in 1Q08 in relation to 1Q07, especially due to the fact that five platforms went online during the period. The company also highlighted an 11 percent rise in the production of kitchen gas.
Additionally, the end of Petrobras' exceptional expenses with its employees' pension funds last year contributed to the performance.
Another factor mentioned by the oil and gas giant was the 1-percent appreciation of the local currency real in relation to the U.S. dollar in 1Q08, which was less accelerated than in 1Q07 when it reached 4 percent.
Petrobras added that its earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization totaled 13.8 billion reais (8.3 billion dollars) in 1Q08, up from 11 billion reais (6.6 billion dollars) in the same period of last year.
The results exceeded all expectations stated by analysts, who had foreseen a positive performance, but not as good as the final outcome released by the company on Monday.
Source: Xinhua
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