Russian energy giant Gazprom on Thursday reported a 44-percent jump in first-quarter net profit, driven by a rise in the value of exported gas. The state-controlled group reported a net profit of 535.9 billion rubles ($8.2 billion, 7.4 billion euros) between January and March 2019, compared with 371.6 billion rubles during the same period last year.
Sales climbed by seven percent to 2.2 trillion rubles, Gazprom said. That was "mainly due to an increase in sales of gas to Europe and other countries and sales of crude oil and gas condensate and refined products," a statement said. Although the volume of gas sold in the first quarter of 2019 was 13 percent lower than in the same period a year earlier, the rise in price - 30 percent when calculated in rubles and by 12 percent in dollar terms - more than made up for the decline.