MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian gas giant Gazprom reported a surge in second-quarter net profit, beating analysts' expectations, as it benefited from rising energy prices.
It said second-quarter net profit jumped to 259 billion roubles ($3.8 billion), from 48 billion roubles in the year-earlier period and above a forecast of 228 billion roubles in a Reuters survey of analysts.
Gazprom's shares were up 1.1 percent after the results, outperforming the broader Moscow stock market, which was 0.8 percent higher.
Gazprom shipped more than 101 billion cubic metres of natural gas to the EU and Turkey in the first half of the year, up 6 percent year-on-year and accounting for around a 34 percent share of Europe's gas market.
It said its average gas export price rose by a quarter to 13,858 roubles per 1,000 cubic metres in the first half of this year.
Total sales in April-June increased to 1.83 trillion roubles, from 1.39 trillion roubles in the second quarter of 2017.
($1 = 68.0330 roubles)
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
