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French oil heavyweight TotalEnergies on Thursday reported slumping profits in the second quarter, blaming lower margins in refining and falling sales and prices for natural gas. Net profit shed seven percent year-on-year in April-June, to $3.8 billion, the company said in a statement. Analysts had forecast around $4.9 billion in surveys by Bloomberg and FactSet. TotalEnergies’ liquid natural gas (LNG) business saw its adjusted net operating income retreat 13 percent “in a context of lower LNG demand in Europe” sapping both sales and prices. There was a still steeper tumble of more than a third for its refining and chemicals operation, with TotalEnergies blaming “lower refining margins mainly in Europe… and the Middle East”. But elevated oil prices ensured the group’s exploration and production division, by far its largest, saw a 14-percent boost in its operating result. The electricity unit, which includes renewable energy, also scored a double-digit increase. Over the first six months of 2024, TotalEnergies’ adjusted net income fell 15 percent, to $9.8 billion. Chief executive Patrick Pouyanne nevertheless said that “TotalEnergies generated robust financial results in the second quarter”. The board had decided to keep in place a dividend of 0.79 ($0.86) euros per share, up 7.0 percent on 2023’s payout, the company said, along with agreeing a $2.0-billion share buyback scheme for the third quarter. Shareholders in May handed Pouyanne another term to push his strategy of a “balanced transition” based on oil and gas on one hand and renewables on the other.
by AFP