Top Russian oil firm Lukoil's net profit rose 11 percent in 2004, but excluding one-off gains in the previous year it leaped by 72 percent due to high oil prices and rising output, the firm said on Friday. Lukoil, of which number three US oil firm ConocoPhillips owns 11 percent, said net profit under international accounting standards (US GAAP) rose to $4.12 billion, largely in line with analysts' expectations and the firm's own forecast.
Lukoil made a net profit of $3.7 billion in 2003, but excluding gains from the sale of a stake in a giant BP-led field in Azerbaijan, the figure was just $2.39 billion.
"We like Lukoil because its strategy, which is entrenched and being well executed, will enable premium volume growth in the future and steady to growing unit margins," said Adam Landes from Renaissance Capital.
Lukoil, which holds the world's second largest oil reserves behind US ExxonMobil, plans to boost output to 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent next decade. Last year it produced 1.7 million bpd, up more than 5 percent from 2003.
The firm's sales hit an all-time high of $33.85 billion, a 53 percent increase from 2003, when they were at $22.12 billion. Revenues from sales of crude oil increased by $3.9 billion, or 54.1 percent, and sales of refined products increased by $7.05 billion, or 54.5 percent.
"These maximise receipts in terms of dollars per barrel. We see this as a key element of Lukoil's strategy," said Landes.
For the last quarter of 2004, Lukoil posted a net profit of $1.02 billion, up from $636 million in the fourth quarter of 2003, but down 27 percent from $1.4 billion in the third quarter of 2004.