Gazprom profit falls

Russian gas giant Gazprom said Friday that it made net profit of 454.5 billion rubles (12.6 billion euros/18.5 billion dollars) in the first nine months of 2007, down 5.7 billion rubles over the same period for the previous year.
Gazprom's turnover rose five percent over the same period to 1,660 billion rubles (46.1 billion euros/67.5 billion dollars) from 1,581 billion rubles in 2006, said a group statement giving the latest figures.